In some ways, a cashless society may be troublesome for people in the world if governments start rolling in their fiat currencies and track every single transaction made on their ledgers. This will give governments complete control over an individual's financial history, and not only that, but maybe personal information, medical records, and more (as the blockchain has been proved to maintain the integrity of data as well). We may see a future, where all our most sensitive information would rely on private blockchains manipulated by central banks and governments.

Since the blockchain provides immutability, and the ability to audit every transaction made on the ledger (transactions can be assets, real estate, properties, etc) governments can restrict, or allow people to operate in such chain.

Despite everything, I think that a cashless society is still bound to happen in the future as cryptocurrencies gain traction in the mainstream world. More people will join and will start educating themselves about this revolutionary technology that will transform our economy, healthcare, proof of ownership, and more. Only time will tell us what lies ahead with the adoption of a cashless society in our world. Just my opinion

Agree. As long as there is a use case for altcoins, they will survive in the markets for years to come. Both Ethereum and Litecoin have been established cryptocurrencies for quite some time now, and they have managed to retain their place in the markets. As ETH is used for smart contracts, LTC is recognized as silver to Bitcoin's gold, making these cryptocurrencies an indispensable tool in this society.

People can benefit from fast transactions speeds in Litecoin, while being able to use dApps in Ethereum without any middleman involved. The future lies ahead full of many exciting things to come for these altcoins, and it is only a matter of time before they become extremely valuable in the crypto market.

Nevertheless, an altcoin can survive if it can keep up with development, innovation, and most of all, user support. These things are key for their longevity, and mainstream adoption. Just my thoughts

Yes. ZCash can become more valuable than what it is right now over the long term. It has been slow in many things such as development, and price rise, but it has managed to remain stable in the cryptocurrency markets. Sometimes being slow is the best way to go towards ensuring a safe trajectory of any cryptocurrency project.

I've been closely watching ZEC over the past months since it was launched, and it has gone a long way to become what it is right now. Of course, it needs more innovation, as it lacks a user-friendly wallet which limits its ability to become used in the mainstream world. ZCash has all the goodies of Bitcoin with added privacy, so it has a huge potential to become one of the best altcoins in existence.

Besides that, ZCash has managed to gather the attention of other altcoins, as new forks have emerged with ZEC's privacy technology and some extra features. ZClassic, Zcoin, Komodo, Kurrent, and most recently, PIVX have all adopted Zero-Knowledge Proofs making them extremely anonymous cryptocurrencies (if users make use of their optional privacy features)

Nevertheless, now that cryptocurrency prices have started to decline, it would be best to grab a stake of ZCash while its cheap. Just my opinion

Exactly. That's the point with Ethereum and other smart contract platforms. Their slow speed and transaction capacity make them unable to handle mainstream applications such as decentralized exchanges. Maybe that is the reason people have been using more centralized exchanges than decentralized ones.

However, I believe that all of this will end especially in Ethereum, as it upgrades its protocol towards PoS and adopts the Plasma Framework. It will become a huge boost to smart contracts, and decentralized exchanges like EtherDelta will benefit from that. One this becomes a reality, then there could exist a huge potential for EtherDelta to become a true rival against centralized exchanges.

Nevertheless, the value proposition of decentralized exchanges would be security, low cost of fees, and lack of middlemen. It greatly surpasses the benefits provided by centralized exchanges, and I believe that people will make the switch soon as they realize the true potential that decentralized exchanges provide. Just my opinion

Thanks for sharing this new game with us, mate. Given the benefits that smart contracts and blockchain technology provide in the mainstream world, we're seeing games being developed with such implementations. The idea of a virtual trading card game powered by the blockchain sounds awesome and I believe that other games might follow.

Of course, this one uses a token of its own, but perhaps in the future as Bitcoin adopts smart contracts with RSK, we would be able to see new games that would make use of BTC itself or a token issued within the Bitcoin blockchain. The possibilities are endless here.

Things aside, I've been considering a Bitcoin game called The Bitles. It looks fun and addicting, as you take the time to complete mazes and earning some satoshis. While it won't make you rich, it is at least a fun and great way to encourage newbies to get into Bitcoin.

Nevertheless, if you or anyone else have more new and exciting Bitcoin games that would like share, don't hesitate to do so here. In my opinion, I believe that these games not only attract newbies into Bitcoin, but Kids as well. Kids will greatly make use of these games and spread the word about them to help increase the adoption of Bitcoin in the mainstream world. Just my thoughts

Exactly. The only thing that governments can control is fiat currency. Given the fact that fiat is subject to manipulation both in terms of price, and supply, it is the perfect monetary system of choice for them. On the other hand, Bitcoin is out of their reach no matter if they try to hunt down the exchanges since the cryptocurrency's blockchain technology is impenetrable. No matter what they do, Bitcoin shall emerge stronger than ever as it grows in nodes, miners, and user support.

I do believe that at some point in the future, all the world's governments will recognize Bitcoin as a legal currency. Some countries have already taken this step, but others who haven't may do so in the future. One thing for sure is that there are countries like Russia, and China which are planning to release their own digital currency based on blockchain technology. As they explore the outcomes of this tech, I believe that governments and Bitcoin will complement each other in our society. Just my opinion

Yes. These coins have a dedicated development team, and most of all, innovation. Cardano (ADA) has been able to provide a Proof of Stake smart contracts platform earlier than Ethereum. Since it has been verified to be secure, it will certainly retain its place on the market. Perhaps, once ADA releases lightwallets and wallets for other operating systems, we would be able to see greater growth in its price over the long term. It is only the beginning, and I believe that it would become much more valuable than what it is right now. As such, it would be wise to buy ADA while it’s still cheap.

On the other hand, Komodo is also a great buy since it not only provides ZCash's tried and tested privacy technology, but it is also a platform for price-stable currencies, and its security is based on Bitcoin itself with its dPoW consensus algorithm. In this regard, Komodo may become one of the most secure altcoins in existence. Current prices for KMD are cheap as I believe that I may become much more valuable in the long term. If you compare other ZEC based coins, you'll notice that they have a much higher value than Komodo. Since Komodo provides even more features with the same privacy technology, it has the potential to become very valuable in the future. Just my thoughts

Agree. You should take any available options at your disposal to help preserve your financial future. By combining both saving, and investing, you'll be able to have peace of mind in the long term and avoid bankruptcy. Nowadays, the perfect opportunity to help grow your capital would be by investing into cryptocurrencies themselves (especially Bitcoin). Of course, in crypto land, there are more risks when investing than doing so in stocks and other areas, but you'll be able to achieve large returns if you play the markets right.

On the hand, saving in banks won't give you high rates for your money, but at least you'll be earning something that will make the difference in the long term. The key here would be to maximize your time, have patience, and take your due diligence to analyze the markets to become successful in this field. Just my opinion

Yes. Bitcoin will not only change the way we think about finance, but it will also transform many areas of our society such as healthcare, notary, proof of ownership, identity issuance, governments, laws, and more. Thanks to Bitcoin's decentralized blockchain technology, it has enabled many people around the world to gain control over their funds, and sensitive information. For the first time in history, the middleman is eliminated between transactions, allowing people to transact, and share information freely and secure without any external interference.

The blockchain technology that Bitcoin provides is safe, secure, and cheap in fees (except for BTC's fees itself). That is the most revolutionary technology that will radically change the way we transact in the mainstream world. Governments and banks all around the world have already noticed the true potential of this technology. It is only a matter of time before we could experience those changes that will affect future generations. Digital fiat currencies, autonomous corporations, and information immutability is what is all about. That is why I believe that Bitcoin is the future and will continue to change the world every step of the way. Just my thoughts

Sadly, that is the hard truth about Bitcoin. Extremely high fees make it impractical for day trading, or making daily transactions. It is more suitable for holding in the long term as a store of value, rather than using it for anything else. The inability for Bitcoin to scale for large masses have caused many investors to flee over to other altcoins which have better features, and higher transaction throughput.

One of the key features of Bitcoin in the beginning was cheap fees, and fast settlement. That is one of the reasons why Bitcoin became the biggest cryptocurrency in existence today. However, if it cannot keep up with handling a wider audience, then other cryptocurrencies may take the lead in fulfilling Bitcoin's original promise.

Nevertheless, I hope that Bitcoin would remain as the number one cryptocurrency in market cap for many years to come. But, if other coins like Bitcoin Cash gain better traction with its cheaper fees and higher capacity, then they would replace Bitcoin in the future. Just my opinion

Completely agree with you, mate. Despite the low prices, Bitcoin is not dead, and it won't be anytime soon. It has gathered a lot of attention in the mainstream world, and will continue to make strides in the markets. Despite the high fees and slow transaction throughput, it will continue to become used by people all over the world. Whereas Bitcoin cannot fulfill the promise of electronic peer to peer cash, there are other options in the market which are suitable for such purpose. Bitcoin will remain as the "digital gold" store of value in crypto land, while other cryptocurrencies will be the "digital money" of this new age.

No matter what happens with Bitcoin, if there is a single node and miner on the network, its blockchain will remain alive for years to come. Countries like China have been trying to take down Bitcoin, by banning exchanges, and even mining operations, but still the pioneer cryptocurrency has emerged stronger than ever. Only time will tell us what lies ahead with the future of blockchain technology as it radically transforms our society for the better. Just my thoughts

Yes. It will be quite a hassle trying to convert Bitcoin to USD each time when the price changes. Since BTC is volatile, it is subject to frequent price changes that make it unstable towards using it for your business. That is why, I believe that USD will be here to stay since it has the trust and confidence from many people around the world. When you sell something in USD, you know for sure that it will stay in the rates specified and won't change.

In this regard, Bitcoin may never replace the dollar. It could complement fiat currencies by serving as a secure store of value, but other than that, it is virtually unusable for merchants due to high fees, price instability, and more. Bitcoin will always be a safe-haven asset while the Dollar will continue to become used worldwide for years to come. In the future, there may be better options for merchants to keep up with the price stability of the dollar, but using the benefits of cryptocurrencies. One example is BitUSD which allows merchants to protect themselves from volatility while benefiting from blockchain technology. It still needs more liquidity, but as time passes by, it could become widely adopted by merchants all over the world. Just my opinion

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Exactly. An emergency fund is completely necessary for the future, as you'll need to be prepared for any possible outcomes by then. Anything could happen from the economy crashing down, to the devaluation of fiat currency so it’s best to save some money into an emergency fund, as well as invest into deflationary assets such as Gold and Bitcoin that would help you preserve your financial future.

You can't depend only on saving as your money would become less valuable over time. On the other you can't only invest money, because you could either make money more over the long term or simply lose it all. Therefore, it is best to always save and invest your money over the course of time. When saving, consider making an IRA account for your retirement, as well as putting money into a savings account. And when you're considering investing your money into something that would expand your capital tenfold, you've got cryptocurrencies to do the job. The key here is to have patience to build your way towards financial success. Just my opinion

Yeah. Dash still has a lot to go through to achieve complete anonymity. Even if it uses Coinjoin mixing via masternodes, third parties can still track you if they manage to trace the masternodes. Therefore, for complete privacy it would be best to combine both masternodes and Zero Knowledge Proofs technology to eliminate any traces that would link to your real identity. When both are used, it doesn't only obfuscate the sender/receiver of the coins, but also the balances and other sensitive information.

Many say that the team behind Dash has most of the masternodes under their control, making it less decentralized than I've thought. Since it requires a collateral of a hefty sum of Dash, not everyone could afford this and run their own masternodes. The only way possible would be via masternode shares, but the masternode would still be owned by a third party. Using only TOR will not give you complete anonymity. You would need to combine other privacy solutions to be able to achieve the desired level of anonymity. Therefore, combining TOR + VPN, and masternodes + ZK-SNARKS will preserve your privacy.

Nevertheless, I hope that Dash could improve over time and become a solid cryptocurrency to bring privacy to the mainstream world. It has managed to gain a lot of improvements over its codebase, with greater consensus than Bitcoin itself. Only time will tell if Dash could remain one of the leaders in the anonymous cryptocurrencies market or not. Just my thoughts

Yeah. Bitcoin is much more accessible than PayPal to people in countries where the latter is banned. The pioneer cryptocurrency gives freedom to all by eliminating the middleman or the need for a third party to gain control and access to your funds. While comparing Bitcoin and PayPal would be like comparing apples and oranges, they can complement each other by providing the convenience and reliability of fiat currency, while maximizing security and complete ownership of users' funds.

Of course, the benefits provided by Bitcoin, surpass those of PayPal, but I believe that it still has a long way to go before it can reach the level of PayPal or even VISA. Fees within the Bitcoin network are constantly increasing, along with slower transaction throughput. Things like these will greatly limit Bitcoin to become used as an alternative payment system, since centralized solutions like PayPal would gain a major advantage.

Nevertheless, only time will tell whenever both Bitcoin and PayPal could co-exist in the future. Just my opinion

Agree. Both positive and negative news can impact any cryptocurrency's value within a short period of time. While ZCash's value has been increasing slowly, it has remained relatively stable over the past months. It may not be undervalued right now, but it can become much more valuable in the long term as it continues to grow in development and innovation.

Still, in crypto land, anything can happen, so it would be wise to follow the charts every day, and read the news thoroughly to avoid making mistakes when buying or selling ZCash. Just my thoughts



While it is up to you to make a research on which ZK-SNARK based coin is best, in my own opinion, Zencash and Zcoin may be the most viable options to invest into today. When there is a premine, creators of the coin can decide to dump it on the exchanges causing a negative effect over the cryptocurrency's value in the long term. They would have possession of a large number of tokens within their control and they can decide to either make the project grow, or destroy it by dumping all the coins. In the case of founder's reward, it works like the premine with the only difference that all of the miner's earnings on the network would become "taxed" and that "tax" goes to the creators of the coin. Then they can decide to either make the coin succeed or simply fail.

That is why it is best to choose coins which have the same underlying technology as ZCash, but without the founder’s reward or premine. Hope this helps.

Same. I think that Satoshi Nakamoto would've been a name for a group of people specialized in computer science, cryptography, distributed computing, and other fields. With all the complex subjects that blockchain technology involve, it would've been difficult for a single person to have come up with such a project. It would have taken years of experience and dedication to be able to come up with a new technology that would revolutionize finance.

While Vitalik may not be Nakamoto, he sure is smart and created another revolutionary cryptocurrency called Ethereum that is hitting the world by storm. Smart contracts, and decentralized applications will be the way of the future. As for Bitcoin, it is only a matter of time before the creators reveal their true identities or not. If identities become revealed, then it would greatly impact Bitcoin's value over the long term.

Nevertheless, all that matters is that Satoshi has introduced us a way to transact freely and gain control of our financial future. It will pave the way towards decentralized commerce, identity issuance, property registration, and more in a safe and secure way that has never been thought possible before. Just my opinion

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us, mate. When we begin our journey with Bitcoin, we start slowly learning about its underlying technology, how to trade it, and make money in the long term. Most of the times, we learn via trial and error, where we experience scams, hacks, and even loss of our Bitcoins. One of the wisest decisions ever made would be to join this forum. This is because you get to learn from experts which have been into Bitcoin for quite some time, helping you every step of the way to avoid getting hacked or experience undesired situations.

As well as you did, I've been able to improve my financial life with Bitcoin thanks to the price increase back in 2017. It has been the most exciting year for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies where many early holders have benefited by experiencing large gains. Some are even millionaires because of Bitcoin.

Nevertheless, not everyone has the same experience when they've first started into Bitcoin. The most important thing is that Bitcoin and blockchain technology is changing our lives for the better.

Glad to see that interest has come up to revive the good old Primecoin project! It's been a while since no new development had appeared for XPM. Now that development would be taken to the next level, Primecoin can keep up to the toes of the rest of altcoins in existence. A new and improved Primecoin wallet would greatly make the difference and attract many more people into the cryptocurrency.

All it needs is a fresh new logo, some marketing and promotion, and it can compete with other cryptocurrencies. One thing that has always fascinated me about Primecoin is its mining structure which is unlike any other PoW based coin I've ever seen. When you mine XPM, you don't waste energy unlike most cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, since you'll be discovering new primes for the benefit of science.

With everything set back on track, new and exciting things can come up for Primecoin this year. A mobile wallet, and perhaps the comeback of the CPU miner would make XPM more interesting than ever!

Nevertheless, I'll be watching this thread closely for new updates. This revival of a well-established cryptocurrency is exciting, and I wish the OP lots of success.