Congestion is different from normal traffic, so the use of the word 'congestion' on your supposed problem is somewhat off. You can always follow the optimum fee at a given moment in time to get your transaction confirmed within the next block if you are in a hurry. Also, the optimum fee varies greatly depending on the time of the day, so there's also that. Bottomline is, your transactions will be prioritized based on the fees you paid for. As simple as that.

The definition of 'money' from a bank's point of view is very limited, and therefore expect some statements like this wherein banks reiterate their limited control of bitcoin and due to that, they cannot consider itas 'money'. Long before banks existed, people have been using different of forms of money that is not being controlled by a central authority, and had worked for millenia. Say what the bankers want to say, but in the end, people will choose what form of money are they going to use.


Great point. A Casascius coin would be nice.

Yes, it will just ask for which wallet do you want to open anyhow, so you can have two wallet files on a single Electrum client.

Or you could do this instead if you don't want the hassle of having to access two different wallets:

File > New/restore > Standard Wallet > I already have a seed > Options (tick the box for BIP39) > Enter Seed > On the derivation path text box, change 44' to 49' > the rest is just a bunch of clicking next until you're done.

Your addresses and balance with appear once the wallet is done syncing, all on a single wallet file.

Tom Lee has been the cryptoworld's most jinxed guy after a lot of his predictions went the other way around of what he expected. Still, props to the dude for continuing his predictions even though he already made his name somewhat a laughing stock in the cryptoworld. Every time I see a bullish prediction from Tom Lee, I already think about the other way around as was always the case even on his previous predictions. I mean, it's okay to be a permabull but you need to have some sensible predictions on a multitude you give out.

I don't think a 'hardfork' greatly affects in determining or keeping the value of bitcoin. If anything, hardforks are just versions of bitcoin that were ultimately rejected by the consensus process, and are separate entities from the main bitcoin protocol that most people are still using now. Since 2010, forks are happening, although it is of very recent dates that these forks have become speculative events that people use for their trading ventures. If you're asking me whether bitcoin still has that same ethos since it was established in 2009, yes, it still has it, but monetary value of bitcoin after the hardforks? I don't think one can come to a good estimate at that.

Ahh, this explains why the lab I'm working at halted the procurement for Palladium for internal works, as the price has spiked yet again. Idk what effects will it have on independent labs that uses the metal for catalysis (well our lab has since stopped buying in the mean time) and certain experiments but for sure, car manufacturers would surely place the price spike on top of their automobiles. Though somewhat pricey and valuable, the volume for Palladium isn't that great compared to precious metals like gold and silver, as the target market for these bad boys are the large manufacturers and laboratories and not really for investment and whatnot.

Fair points given by the guy, and it has been bothering me too as to why the US is too keen on what's happening in the middle east and trying to assert dominance over the countries in there. Also, not once had Saudi Arabia been the first ones to introduce hostility to the middle-eastern governments, it was always the US going in on the front lines followed by Saudi next. Though I'd like to believe that in part, the US is backed by oil, it still is far-fetched, considering how fast banks print USD without any hesitations whatsoever on what they're doing.

Extremely limited supply cap (such as the 42 coin and One coin) ultimately defeats bitcoin in terms of rarity, but that does not make them better coins in any way. Also, fancy features found on a coin and 100% anonymity does not guarantee a coin to get the lion's share of the market. At the end of the day (at least at these current days), speculative purposes and market activity is what entices people to buy whichever coin they want. Bitcoin gets the huge market share over any other altcoins out there but its features are somewhat behind over the current altcoins that devs are introducing, so again, cool features and rarity does not guarantee an altcoin a spot at the top when it comes to market share.

My political view is somewhat swayed over to the right, and I believe that there are some occasions in which government interference should be absent and that the society themselves should be the primary movers of the community, and not the government. While I see myself as a rightist, I still also believe that the government is vital in making things happen in which the society alone cannot stand alone properly e.g. universal healthcare and other government-funded activities and programs.


This is true. Most of the time, pioneers have become extremists since their beliefs, ideals and what they're doing somewhat deviates from the societal norm. Nowadays, people and governments are slowly accepting the concept and idea of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, so the term 'extremist' especially 'right-wing extremist' do not apply to a bitcoiner anymore--not that it ever applied to every bitcoiner since the conception of the white paper, except Satoshi, perhaps.

Same scenario happened back in 2016 wherein people were playing $200-$300 profit margins until we broke the previous ATH of November 2013, and from that point forward, it seems that bitcoin was an unstoppable force and it just broke a lot of records that no one ever thought were possible. Oftentimes, this back-and-forth between the highs and the lows of the range are somewhat becoming the precursor for crazy gains because we know that people are silently accumulating in the background. I could be wrong and my knowledge is limited about the matter but this is just late 2016 starting all over.

Visa seems to be interested in creating their own cryptocurrency and embedding some of their technology to produce an ever faster, more secure and more efficient payment system. We literally know that they will never leave fiat alone knowing that's where the bulk of their profits came from, and perhaps this is just another service they want to offer people through a different medium and by riding the hype of blockchain and cryptocurrencies lately. You know it's serious when even the world's largest payment processor wants to get a taste of crypto action, be it directly or indirectly, embedded on their services.

Switzerland used to be one of the world's bitcoin centers knowing how many retailers and merchants are accepting bitcoin on the said country. Also, some of the world's first bitcoin conventions were also held in Switzerland IIRC, so it's great that the large supply chains and retailers of the said country is now accepting bitcoin and cryptocurrencies on their checkout screens. I just hope that they won't pull this decision after a few months unlike any other retailers who silently removed the bitcoin option on their checkout pages.

Most of the purchases and transactions I make everyday are done by cash, the rest: coffee, sandwich and other mini items that I need to acquire quickly are done through digital payments (debit cards mostly). I still find cash convenient in some cases, especially in the public marketplace where only a handful are accepting digital payments since the market is for the townspeople and commoners like me. But if I am given the chance to pay using crypto or through my debit card, I'd go for those options as they are pretty convenient and transactions are processed almost instantly without having to wait for change, especially in the mornings.

I currently live in the Philippines, btw, if you're going to ask.

Back then people thought that the ETF is what bitcoin needs for it to gain traction and create another dramatic bull run which will net them a lot of profit. Those delusions and wrong assumptions ultimately waned and faded because SEC wouldn't give in, and people have shifted their attention towards something more doable on their terms without relying on the authority to make the move. See, just like the Chinese back in 2015 who lost its charm on the market over time, the ETF is also experiencing the same scenario albeit having a direct effect on the market given that most people bank on it. Even the futures market hype has died out after the ATH has withered..

Don't get me wrong but a lot of services and people have been paying potential users of bitcoin in exchange for simple tasks and jobs ever since bitcoin started, yet every time bitcoin receives a fall after a huge bull run, people tend to stay away and never look back. Heck, services like the now-defunct CoinLearn have been around for quite some time urging users to learn about bitcoin and get paid for doing so, yet it ultimately received not much adoption and attention for bitcoin. People need services and merchants advertising bitcoin or letting them know that they support the said crypto by accepting it on their checkouts. People follow where huge names go, and this, IMO, is one key factor into getting that elusive mass adoption that every one of us is hoping for.

Have you already factored in the cost of transfers in between the two exchanges and also the fees that they are getting from every successful trades? Arbitraging is not as simple as people put it to be, and you need to factor a lot of things before diving in to this simple yet tedious task of trading. Liquidity at a given time of the day is also important, because if you can't liquidate your BTC no matter how big the spread is or the potential profit is, that's already a waste of time and a possible loss in value.

I'd also agree that precious metals are still the most sought-after hedges during a financial crisis, but as you pointed out, it has become inflated over the years, and may be in a bubble for all we know. Though even if that's the case, a lot of people will chose these metals than any other investment out there as they know that other people would be looking at the same options, too, and if the need for fast cash arise, they can easily sell it to some other people who's also looking for these metals. Supply and demand with these metals will just even out the scale, and would therefore cause no steep inclines on either side of the spectrum, making its value somewhat stable compared to other options out there.


That's why it's better to get a house fully-paid first before getting something that you'll have to pay over the course of a few years (like a new car). Anyway, perhaps I'm just lucky enough to have made some good profit off of the previous bull run and bought myself a house, established a small business and bought an ancient, 20-year old car that still gets me to places whenever I need to. I'm still a bit short on investments and am still looking for alternatives, though I must say that the local stock market scene is quite promising at this time of the year, and should a financial crisis be knocking at our doors come 2020, I may have made some good profit on stocks already if I start investing now.

It can easily be manipulated by people if they see enough reason or incentives to do so, but until then they'll just stick into traditional markets wherein the action and trade volume is guaranteed for the most parts of the day and they won't be having a hard time dumping if they need to immediately leave the market. For now, people are just playing the long game for bitcoin with the sudden surge in volume since February while the prices remain to be hovering between $3500 and $4000. This to me seems like the accumulation phase and once everything sparks come Q2 or Q3 2019, another bull run might be in store for the bitcoin markets.

Nope, never had any crashes or freeze in between trades here in my machine. Perhaps it has something to do with the specifications of what machine you're using? I'm currently looking at their mobile app as I'd like to trade, or at least try to trade on mobile and see whether I can juggle between trading and doing real work at the same time when I'm away of the house.

Anyway, here's the specifications of the machine that I'm currently using for Binance (if this helps, because it could be your system that is the problem):

i5-4690k
16GB RAM
GTX 1660TI
1 TB SSD

In a way, yes, currencies are "stores of value" but not reliable at all times. Ever since the gold standard was removed and the world introduced the fiat money system, currencies have since become poor stores of value and are just reliant on having a strong government to maintain their value. Gold and bitcoin, however, defies all that, and are still excellent stores of value and currencies at the same time depending on the situation. While the three are being traded in different currencies and are, at times, volatile on their own accord, only the two proved to be great in keeping that value over time (gold and bitcoin) while the USD keeps on devaluing every year, until such time that banks and governments would conspire yet again to reverse the ill-effects of a weak dollar.