There're plenty of ways to get past these environmental concerns by switching to green energy. Bitcoin's impact on the environment is the least of our issues when it comes to discussing what is more detrimental to it. As we've seen from this company, even heat, which is wasted energy, can be taken advantage of for heating purposes. Generally, there are ways to decrease mining's carbon footprint but it's yet to be applied. Miners generate a ton of heat which we haven't fully grasped that can be used in a variety of ways. Not long ago, I had also seen heaters that were mining Bitcoin simultaneously, but the whole ordeal wasn't too effective or efficient, but miners with a few modifications could possibly even heat whole rooms.

Finally, someone mentioned it. I also don't believe that none of these Bitcoin ATM operators managed to legally license them; there's no way in hell that they simply woke up one day and decided to install them in a specific location. The FCA is likely to have declined their registration and resorted to the extreme measure of operating them without a proper license. On the one hand, I understand why governments don't want Bitcoin ATMs because they open a loophole to avoid taxation, but on the other hand, this common misconception that cryptocurrencies are only to be used for money laundering and illegal activities needs to stop.

I'm not sure where you're from and what kind of incentives credit cards provide there, but 3% cashback isn't that insignificant, it's the most I'm able to get from my credit card and only applies to petrol, and as someone who's regularly using my car, the cashback quickly adds up. It's not necessary to use your cryptocurrency to make purchases through Binance's debit card, you can even use fiat currencies or even stablecoins.
Exactly, if something happens and Binance crashes, then BNB is also doomed no matter where you're storing it. Thus, I don't see why it's a bad idea to hold BNB and take advantage of the debit card if it's useful for yourself.
The cashback incentives isn't something new, it's an old feature and I remember it from the first day I signed up on Binance, which is quite a few years ago. Thus, your claim about Binance trying to attract investors to hold in their exchange is irrelevant.

Binance is offering their own debit card, with which you're given a cashback ranging from 0.10% to 8% per successful transaction, no matter where this transaction has been conducted. 8% is absurd because it requires you to hold over 600 BNB, which is impossible for the average investor. However, you can receive up to 2% to 3% cashback for 1 and 10 BNB, respectively, which is a reasonable amount of BNB to own, provided that you're interested in the BNB coin itself.

Cashback is usually a feature of credit cards; I've got no clue what percentages and what kind of incentives are offered abroad, but using my credit card, I'm getting 1% of all purchases in commercial stores in Greece and abroad and 3% at a specific gas station franchise. Thus, Binance's debit card is able to offer as much as 2% to 3% only by holding 1 to 10 BNB; the latter is a decent amount of money indeed, but my point is that the average credit card out there doesn't give out such a large cashback. You can even receive cashback for paying taxes and, generally, any random purchase.

Is Binance's cashback enough incentive to hold and stake your BNB coins on their exchange, or do you prefer decentralized methods, such as the Metamask wallet, Beefy, or other similar platforms?

Actually, we've had a few members here, mostly newbies, who claimed to have borrowed money or taken a loan in order to purchase Bitcoin. It's still unclear if their story is valid or if it was an attempt to seek attention, but despite what it truly was, I'm positive that there are members who actually went ahead and invested with borrowed money. I'm curious to know how it turned out for those people. While I understand and admire their enthusiasm about Bitcoin investing, I find the whole argument extremely risky and reckless. There's a great chance these people lost their money.

I fully get that the halving is due to happen and people are both frustrated and enthusiastic about it, but that's no excuse to disregard basic common knowledge; this shouldn't even be investment advice that you must not spend money that you don't have and can't afford to lose.

I'm not fond of banks either; your money is sitting there losing value while they're profiting from your deposits, and in return, you receive a mere interest rate that won't yield more than a few euros per year. On top of that, the government has full access to your spending and how much money you have. In the recent filing of taxes, there was a detailed list of how much money has been spent from each bank account I own. It's insane to think how much information they can see about us with zero privacy whatsoever.

The issue, however, lies in the fact that we can't 100% depend on cryptocurrencies for our daily spending; it's not the most convenient thing unless we use a card such as Binance's or Crypto.com's or a few other cryptocurrency cards that are out there, but even then, banks can't be completely avoided.

Bitcoin is not a panacea that will solve worldwide issues; it won't solve poverty in third-world countries, but certainly it can assist economically, but mostly on a personal level. Personally, I've been occupied with cryptocurrencies, specifically Bitcoin, since a young age, which has made a huge difference as an individual. Not only am I investing, but I'm also simultaneously saving money every month without needing to rely on a bank that keeps track of your every move. Bitcoin has proven to have huge potential; the previous ATH suffices to make such a claim, but as I mentioned earlier, it can't solve broader issues, and on top of that, it's not supposed to be an anti-poverty measure just because it's an anti-inflation investment. Those who live in poverty don't have access to Bitcoin or investments.

Personally, money isn't exactly the reason I'm not purchasing Bitcoin; it's mostly a budgeting issue, and it's not the ideal timing for me to make extra expenses, even if those are for investment purposes. Thus, I prefer to stick to holding my signature campaign earnings, which on average would be a decent purchase plan, supposing that I was buying Bitcoin on a monthly basis. So far, my signature earnings are solely for saving and investment purposes; I can afford not to use them, so I'll stick to holding for as long as possible. So far, I've "failed" twice and have converted to fiat, but this time I'm determined to last till we're at least close to the previous ATH.

There's no way in hell that I'd store money inside my house; that's a huge hazard and an extremely unsafe practice. Hiding money beneath the mattress isn't up to today's standards. As much as I don't prefer the banking system, it's necessary for the economy to function, and it's probably the safest option to store fiat and be able to use it at any time.

You're mentioning that fiat currency is tangible; I understand your point; however, cryptocurrencies can be converted at any time through an exchange, centralized or not, without too much hassle. Thus, I don't see any significant inconvenience regarding cryptocurrency usage. It's mostly because we prefer not to use cryptocurrencies due to their being deemed valuable investments rather than a means of payment.

I don't believe that there's any guarantee or security with either of them. Some, at least, seem to be a little safer than others. USDC did indeed face some issues a little over a month ago, which resulted in the coin losing parity with the U.S. Dollar, but recovery came within a day or two at most. So far, most if not all major stablecoins such as USDC, USDT, TUSD, and BUSD have shown that even when 1:1 parity is lost, the recovery is usually imminent in less than a day or two. Certainly, there are exceptions to this rule; UST was one of the largest in capitalization but still suffered huge losses due to the Terra incident.

Even TUSD, which the article is referring to, recovered within one or two days at almost 1:1 parity, and a few days later, it was back to normal, suffering zero losses. I believe that the FUD around a possible depeg on stablecoins creates a broader issue than the depeg itself.

Bank deposits are perfectly safe for individuals; at least in Europe, they are protected up to €100.000 in the event anything happens, such as a bankruptcy. I don't believe that there's any valid reason to question the safety of bank deposits; it's extremely unlikely for a citizen to suddenly lose their money, unless we're talking about rare cases of capital controls similar to those that happened in Greece, and even then, no money was lost; only the withdrawals were limited.

The only risk you're taking when depositing money is inflation, which means that the money you're saving practically depreciates in value year by year. Apart from that, I don't see any reason to question the bank's safety. No other platform, such as an exchange or a different service, can guarantee the safety of your funds.

You can't blame someone for being skeptical regarding how they spend their money. As someone who's an overthinker, I hesitate to make such choices. It's not necessarily because I'm not confident about Bitcoin; on the contrary, it's due to being a hesitant person overall. For instance, I've been trying to purchase some BNB for quite a few months now, but I've been constantly postponing it for the reasons that were mentioned above. The halving will occur in approximately a year from now, and while it's not guaranteed that it'll result in a bull market, statistical data has proven that there's a positive correlation between Bitcoin's price and halvings. Thus, it's relatively safe to expect a major recovery somewhere in mid-2024.

So do I. I've been here since 2014 and had very limited to zero knowledge regarding cryptocurrencies; my only exposure was through faucets, from which I acquired my first Bitcoin. Some of which were in my possession until a few years ago, when they were sold during COVID-19 quarantine and repurposed to be used for staking purposes, which was extremely popular and profitable during that period. I'm not sure if I regret repurposing that money because Bitcoin skyrocketed a few months later, but generally, I find it almost impossible to hold for such extended periods; eventually, you'll be tempted to sell.

The ideal would be to have bought Bitcoin in 2014. The amount of BTC I had in my possession was too small to make a huge difference now, so holding it until now wouldn't matter too much.

Litecoin used to be in the top five coins in Coinmarketcap; although it has lost interest the past few years, LTC has gained decent ground throughout 2023 and has been performing quite well the past few months. Despite the current upsetting market situation, it has doubled in price in less than 12 months. Certainly, the halving won't affect its price as much compared to Bitcoin, but I'm quite positive that Litecoin is preparing for a great comeback in the cryptocurrency scene. Only in the past seven days has it been met with an increase in price of over 15%; that's a great number, if you ask me.

I'm not expecting miracles to happen after the halving, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see an even larger recovery that will at least increase its value to half of what the ATH was (approximately $400).

I'm 25 years old and in a 5-year relationship already. I can't be 100% sure that it's my lifelong partner, but if things turn out okay, it probably is. I currently don't have a stable job because I'm deployed in the army, which is mandatory in Greece for 9 to 12 months for all male citizens, but I think that it's a bit irrelevant supposing that I want to settle down. We're currently in the process of looking for a home to rent in order to live together after I return, but as someone who's not religious, I wouldn't get married; I'd form a civil partnership instead.

I don't have huge expectations, nor do I want to go after money; I'd be satisfied with a decent house to live in and two jobs that provide enough to live comfortably.

Different altcoins serve different purposes, while diversification is necessary for cryptocurrencies. Some provide better privacy, others fast and affordable transactions; Bitcoin isn't a panacea. The truth is that there are a ton of crap coins that serve no purpose whatsoever, which is the main reason the SEC targeted Binance because it was listing random tokens and altcoins. Anyway, altcoins are necessary for the cryptocurrency ecosystem, and if you opt out of the scam coin, the altcoin world offers great opportunities, and the different blockchains such as Binance Smart Chain, Polygon, and plenty of others offer great staking capabilities.

The era of faucets has passed; they used to be a great starting point for newbies to collect some petty, in terms of value, amounts of BTC in order to introduce them to Bitcoin. However, most faucets have stopped operating, and those that still do are paying a mere amount of satoshis that can be counted with the fingers of your one hand. It's not worth your time; it never was, but at least in the past, you could easily accumulate a relatively decent sum of Bitcoin.

Captchas and microtasking such as PTC advertisements or faucets are a complete waste of time. There's also a decent chance that you'll never reach the minimum payout, and even if we suppose that you do, you'll lose most of your earnings to transaction fees.

I also lost a wallet file due to carelessness in the past and attempted to recover it. I used Recuva, and supposedly the file was recoverable and hadn't suffered any data loss. However, the wallet was most likely corrupted, even though Recuva said otherwise, because it was unrecognizable when I tried to recover it through the Electrum wallet. I never found any solution, but ultimately, it's corrupt beyond repair and probably a lost cause.

If it's a freshly deleted file, then you have a greater chance of successfully recovering your wallet without it being corrupted. My case was quite different, though, because it was an old file. You might be luckier.

How on earth could Litecoin possibly outperform Bitcoin? That's hilarious. Litecoin is indeed a fork of Bitcoin, but it has been overshadowed by other coins in the past few years and has fallen quite a few ranks on Coinmarketcap. The past few months, though, have shown a decent performance, which is quite contradictory because the market has severely suffered while Litecoin didn't, even when the market was at its lowest. I remember Litecoin being valued at $54 less than a year ago; it's now worth $110, which is more than double its value within a matter of a few months, something that Bitcoin or other coins haven't achieved in 2023.

I recently started a thread in which I posed the question of how I might avoid having to declare and pay taxes for my Bitcoin in the event that I ever decided to convert it to a fiat currency. The concept of taxes is quite complicated; some countries have excessive taxation, but it's put to good use for healthcare, infrastructure, education, and generally to provide better living conditions for their citizens. In some other countries, though, such as the Balkan ones, including Greece, the excessive taxation cannot be justified because the majority of public services that were mentioned earlier are malfunctioning.

For instance, we're paying huge amounts in road and fuel taxes, but our road infrastructure is mediocre to bad, to say the least, not to mention our healthcare. Thus, no, I wouldn't feel bad if I found a loophole to avoid paying taxes on my cryptocurrencies, for instance. Not only is taxation so high on necessary goods and groceries, but inflation, which has also skyrocketed, has rendered living unbearable. It's not only about cheating the government that disfavored us; it's about survival and striving for a quality life.