I'm not a Dash lover by any means, though I've stated in the past that it's one of the coins I've liked.  I don't own any and have never done anything to seriously hype it, nor have I ever owned more than about 12 Dash at any given time.  I've always said I liked it because of the low transaction fees and quick confirmation times and its somewhat bad-boy reputation as being originally intended for use on the dark markets (which I've never had a part of).  I've always stated that I'm aware of its shady beginnings, the instamining and all of that.

As far as that situation with the 3000 BCH, I did pose a question in the thread about what happens in situations when a deal is underway and then a fork happens, i.e., who keeps the forked coins.  I can also tell you that I don't completely understand what that whole situation was about, much less what Lauda's role in it really was.  I often find myself reading claims on bitcointalk and not knowing all of the background or who's telling the truth, since there are so many scammers and liars here. 

I'm not trying to use ignorance as an excuse in the case you're referring to--I'm genuinely ignorant of what that deal was about, but I knew enough to question whether there was something arranged between the parties involved beforehand about the forked coins.  If you've got an investigation you can bring forth about Lauda, why don't you just do it instead of talking about it.  Then I'd like to hear the honest opinions from a variety of senior and/or trusted members. 

I don't appreciate being called an ass licker of Lauda.  I just happen to be loyal to people who've supported me, but not to the point of endorsing scamming behavior, and if that's what happened in that escrow deal then I don't condone that (but I'll need proof that's dumbed-down enough for me to follow)--but I'll always respect Lauda's scam- and spam-busting activities and general attitude.  But don't think for a minute that I'm in anyone's pocket, because I'm not.

I definitely don't feel pressured, and I didn't even ask to be a merit source to begin with. 

I still haven't figured out how the source merits get replenished.  It seems like I'm chronically out of them, and if it weren't for Foxpup giving me all those merits (I still can't figure out why he's given me so many), I wouldn't have been able to disperse as many as I have been.  Right now I'm out of source sMerits and earned sMerits.  Fortunately I did find a Jr. Member in the Economics section who wrote a fairly thoughtful post that I merited, but I think I'd do a better job as a merit source if I got more source merits.  Then I might be able to give out 5 at a time or something like that.  As it stands, there's no way I could do that with what I've got.

I'd love to know who those members are myself, as I'd be more than happy to give out some merits to them--assuming they're deserving of it by my standards, of course.  I think cryptohunter is looking for quality posts in the altcoin section specifically, and that's a monumental task if you're doing so by the old-school method of reading through threads.  There's so much garbage in all of those subsections that it's almost impossible to find lower-ranked members making good posts.  

Even in Economics, where I do the most reading, it's the Hero & Legendary members who always seem to take the time to write the most detailed and constructive posts.  I'm still trying to find Newbie-Full Member ranked people to give merits to, but most of them are just shitposters.

Cryptohunter IMO is just a cranky contrarian who thinks everyone's brain should function with the logic of a computer, and yet he has this obvious bleeding-heart liberal mentality which manifests itself in him constantly thinking there's some underdog situation on bitcointalk whereby a cabal of senior members are keeping the lower ranks down, like slaves on a 19th century Louisiana plantation.  I just don't see it that way, and I've put him on ignore.  I'm just tired of reading his posts, which are probably made with good intentions but are consistently way off the mark.

Yeah, inflation does depend on those things.  In the US where I live, and for the things I buy, inflation is nowhere near 7-10%.  Inflation hits some goods & services more so than others, and the data the US government gives is based on a "basket of goods" if I'm not mistaken, and it certainly doesn't measure everything that's bought or sold.

Anyway, if your investment doesn't at least keep up with inflation then you're obviously losing money.  One of the facts that precious metals hucksters keep repeating over and over is that a silver quarter can still buy a gallon of gas and therefore silver is the best hedge against inflation.  Do I believe that?  Absolutely not, though I don't think it's a horrible idea to buy some metals right now.  They've taken a serious beating since 2011 and may go up again if any sort of crisis hits.

Bitcoin, though?  Come on, I couldn't think of a worse inflation hedge, even at the price it's selling for right now.  Why?  Because any safe-haven, inflation-hedging asset should not be as volatile and prone to bubbles and crashes like bitcoin is.  It may be an excellent way for a trader to make money from, assuming that the price appreciates in the long- or short-term, but there's no way I'd feel safe using it as a hedge.  It's around $3400 as I write this, and it could drop to $1000 by tomorrow morning for all I know.  There's too much uncertainty and too much volatility, and traditional inflation hedges lack those two features. 

Even though I don't buy into the propaganda the gold & silver permabulls keep promulgating, I agree with their point that neither metal is going to drop to zero, since both have actual real-world uses.  Bitcoin probably won't drop to zero, but there's more of a chance of it doing so than metals--or even stocks with solid companies behind them for that matter. 

I'm hoping that this discussion turns out to be pointless and that we're not staring down a global economic crisis, but I do feel the bad vibes that are going around and I do get the feeling that something bad is going to happen.  I can already see some of it in the stock market, though I've been expecting a major correction for quite some time now.  For bitcoin, I'm hoping 2019 turns out to be a better year than this one.

The rules aren't stupid, nor are they even that numerous compared to other forums I'm familiar with.  I suspect that you're only thinking they're stupid because you broke them and got multiple accounts banned as a result.  Better luck next time, boyo.

I'm really glad for two things:  1) that members are catching these cases of plagiarism, and 2) that mods are taking quick action against them.  Ban appeal threads are annoying as all hell, but I'd rather they keep appearing than the alternative, which would be a situation that would go far past annoying.  Keep up the good work, guys.

It's so very ironic that Ponzi himself got busted for what he did with his scheme, yet the governments of the world have learned so very, very much from him.  The United States certainly did with its social security scheme, which is much like what you described and I know you don't live in the US.

2030?  I hope to be still alive and working, as I don't care for idle hands all that much.  Not sure what the fate of bitcoin is going to be, but I'm actually more curious as to how bitcointalk is going to look like that far down the line.  I wonder if it'll still exist in its present state, whether there will still be signature campaigns and shitposters, and whether we'll still be waiting for the new forum software to be implemented.  2030 may seem like it's a long ways away, but it really isn't--but a lot of things could change in 11 or so years.

Man, I hate contemplating the future.

I don't know for certain if that's true, but I suspect it is.  I do think that there ought to be broad merit source coverage of as many sections of the forum as possible, and I'm pretty sure there are sections where good posts are being made and going un-merited. 

I support ETFbitcoin's application anyway, since he's been a solid member of the forum.  If he can cover an underrepresented area of bitcointalk (as far as merit sources go), then all the better.  As I've said in other recent application threads, however, I'm not sure if Theymos is actively looking for new merit sources after adding the 36 new ones back in September.  Hopefully he is, because I do think we need more.

Yeah, but there aren't that many who are actually active posters.  Many are inactive accounts and a lot of them are brand new ones that have never made posts.  I don't know how many actual members post day-to-day, though I'm sure that figure is available.  Whatever it is, I think the number of merit sources ought to be closer to 200-250 than however many we have now. 

On the other hand, there are so many shitposts being made that I swear it's getting even harder to find posts worthy of merit.  It's not supposed to be easy for newbies to rank up anymore, but I think it might be taking the decent posters a bit too long to rank up.  In any case, good luck to ETFbitcoin.  Hope Theymos sees this and makes you a merit source.

I have some sympathy for you, but being suicidal about being banned from a discussion forum is a bit over the top.  Nobody ought to be this dependent on signature campaigns for their living, because they could easily become a thing of the past.  Look at how few of them there are now compared to 2015.  What would you do if the campaign you were in suddenly just ended?

I wouldn't ridicule a member like you, because you're not the typical shitposting noob who gets caught for plagiarism, but buying posts is never a good idea, nor is giving someone else access to your account.  In the end, you're the one who's responsible for the ban.  Just calm down, take a few deep breaths, and think of a way to go on living. 

The excuse isn't unique; I've heard it before, and it certainly could be true.  But it doesn't matter in the end, because the rules about copy/pasting are enforced pretty much without prejudice or preference.  I'd also add that I'm not exactly sad about him getting banned, but it is indeed unfortunate and I do feel bad for him.

I'd say that depends.  Right now there isn't really any short-term trend with bitcoin--it's just kind of trading sideways day-to-day.  In the bull market that led up to btc hitting $20k, then yeah I'd agree with what you said.  That was a trend that probably no news could have stopped.

In a market like the present one, I'd say that if we got some really bad news (and I'm not talking about something like the ETF being rejected), the price could crash to the floor.  I don't think such a thing is likely, but it could happen and OP does have a point.  Since bitcoin isn't a business, you can't analyze things like earnings, dividends, or who the board of directors are.  News and rumor are pretty important IMO.

I tagged him for now, which seems the best way to get people to address scam accusations. 

Not being a techie, can someone explain to me like a 5-year old what he's selling exactly?  Is it a method of stealing something?

There's very little censorship of language on this forum, and calling an enormous group of people retarded is not the worst insult I've ever heard.  Not even in the top 1000.

OP, markets can get very irrational and what I think a lot of these bulls are hoping for is another stretch of severe irrationality, i.e., bitcoin going to $100k or more.  I mean hell, bitcoin already reached $20k at its peak, so it's not outside the realm of possibility that it could hit $100k one day.  If your definition of retarded is being so hopeful that bitcoin is going to make you 100x your original investment that you can't realistically see all the barriers and problems and you invest more money than you can afford to lose, then I'd agree with that definition.

People like Peter Schiff drive me nuts and also would fall into the category of being retarded, even though he's extremely successful.  The problem with him and others like him is that they're constantly telling people to buy! buy! buy!, whether it's gold or bitcoin.  And when any market has just been through an extreme bull run, like gold in 2011 or bitcoin in 2017, there are going to be people losing their heads worrying that they might be losing out on an opportunity that just...maybe...the market is only cooling down a bit.  

What happens is that they end up with the result of every bubble (pop!), and they buy in right when the price is falling (or is staying flat).  I probably wouldn't insult them with epithets, but they're definitely greedy and blinded by the fear of missing out.  Nice provocative thread you got going here, OP.

I used to think that bitcoin could never get to $1 million because of fees, but then I started understanding things like you mentioned, plus the possibility of doing OTC transactions as well.

I don't see any problem with that thread being in Bitcoin Discussion other than visibility, i.e., it's an appropriate section but as I said it's probably going to get avalanched by shit threads in no time.

Just a tip:  there's a rule against posting consecutively here, and people have gotten temp-banned for doing so.  You should consolidate your answers to multiple posts into a single post of your own instead of posting 3 times in a row.

Finally, an understanding of what the consequences of plagiarism are here.  Now that you understand this, please lock the thread and move on with your life.

Edit:  By the way, if I had a nickel for every lie I've read by plagiarists on this forum, I'd be a wealthy man.  It doesn't matter how much you deny what you did or what excuse you come up with, nobody is going to believe in a coincidence like you're claiming--and most importantly, the mods don't which is why you got banned.

The thread is fine and I just posted in it, in fact.  I merited a post you made in it, as it cleared up a tiny uncertainty I had about running a full node and also to diss PIVX.  

You got plenty of merit for the OP of that thread, so I don't see what the problem is and why you need people's approval.  If it seems like nobody's posting in your thread, that's because it's in Bitcoin Discussion, which is infested with shitposters.  Any thread you start there is going to get buried in a matter of minutes unless the thread title is some sort of simple question that spammers can write a short answer to--that's the sad but true fact about BD.

Yeah, that is no easy task in that section.  I'd say at least 90% of posts there are complete crap even if some of the threads themselves are useful.  I hate to have BD on ignore, but I just don't see a point posting there.  If I do, my post is either going to be ignored or deleted when mods occasionally delete threads en masse.  Plus it clogs up my new topics feed with threads I know I'm never going to post in.

I get the reason for running a node, but I don't have the spare memory/computing power to do so--and there's no reward for running one, so I temporarily un-ignored this section and voted "no" because I saw your thread in Meta. 

Don't laugh at me or call me names, but I was experimenting with earning interest through PIVX and downloaded the whole blockchain and kept it running, and it just made everything else on my computer run really slow.  I'm not a huge computer guy, don't own any spare laptops or anything, and my internet connection isn't the greatest, so I nixed that whole idea.  As an aside, I think I bought the PIVX when it was around $3 and look where it is now: $0.49.  So I'd like to say screw PIVX in addition to everything I wrote above.

That's good advice for any trader in any market, actually.  I've seen stock traders fall in love with certain stocks to the point that they hold onto them until the company goes bankrupt and they lose everything.  And as far as crypto goes, I'm not sure how anyone can get attached to any of the new shitcoins coming out, because IMO they're all just a bunch of garbage and I have yet to hear of one that has any advantage over bitcoin or even ETH. 

I agree, emotions are liabilities to any trader, and they normally appear as greed or fear.  As to your second point, how the hell does one judge the "fundamentals" of a shitcoin?  Most are just ripoffs of something better, and I think all the good ones have already been created.  If and when something comes along that's better than bitcoin or ETH, by all means invest in it.  Until then any money you put into the shitcoin market is just gambling.  There aren't any fundamentals to analyze as far as I'm concerned.

I'm sure you're well aware there's a bell curve for human intelligence and I'm sure the intelligence and/or knowledge of bitcointalk rules, culture, and how things usually go down in ban appeal threads among plagiarists also has a normal distribution.  This guy is obviously a 2-sigma, left-tail idiot for doing what he did here. 

Can't say I'm unhappy about that, however.  Wish more of of these copy/pasting simps were this ignorant.

That article was plagiarized yet again today here, which I've reported already.  I don't know what these morons are thinking.  You know when a newbie writes a post in a journalistic style, it's plagiarized.  It's a subtle distinction but a dead giveaway that non-English speakers don't understand.

Yeah, you did.  There's no chance in hell google translate is responsible for all of those words coming out in the same order and format.  That's one of the lamest excuses I've ever heard yet, and I've heard plenty.  Nobody here is buying your excuses when the evidence is clear you copied someone else's post.  Just forget about it.

Here is a great example of what bitcointalk is all about ^^.  It's a free market, he says, but whales are manipulating it, and meanwhile that has nothing to do with what OP was writing about.  This is signature campaign shitposting at its finest.

OP, the ICO market is nothing more than a bunch of suckers trying to get rich and scammers trying to sell them snake oil, like you said.  And I agree that people are making outlandish claims about blockchain tech's ability to solve problems.  However, if you have a real idea that could work, go for it.  The experts here, and not the stupid 3rd world idiots who are only trying to make a quick buck, will see the value in it.  Yes, there is a huge element of marketing involved, but that's something any business person should know.  That should come as no surprise to you.  The problem is that if you try to start a legitimate ICO on this forum, you're going to get out-competed by the dishonest motherfuckers who employ spammers to bump their ANN threads, for example.  

Maybe someone else has better advice for you, but this forum is a cesspool of ignorance and greed and I don't think it's the best place (right now) to get investors or to promote an ICO.  It's like the smooth-talking hustlers have run off all the legitimate projects.  I don't think Satoshi would have minded if people ditched this forum if it became this bad.  Evolution has to happen eventually.