The funny part is that August is a non-event compared to the threat to net neutrality. A loss of the free Internet is a threat to the existence of all crypto. Yet few understand this.

There is only 1 thing that will make this happen. YOU must tell retailers that you buy with bitcoin and that if they want your money they have to take bitcoin. Bitcoin is our money.


P.S. Price volatility is no issue at all. Just use a payment processor like bitpay and you never touch bitcoin. Each day the processor makes a deposit in the retailers bank account.

I am not an Electrum user, but the first question is about compatibility. I'm not sure Electrum will recognize the wallet.dat file. You may find it easier to install bitcoin CORE (QT is now called core) then send the coins to your Electrum address.
As far as the address changing I think you are misunderstanding something. There is still money at your address:
https://blockchain.info/address/1NGztBL4gna63pYgLBHJuhMCrV6YsqP3q9

This is a public key and your wallet can make many of them. I suspect that your "changed" address was just created when you ran electrum for the first time. It may have just ignored the QT wallet file and created a new wallet in it's own format.

Whatever you do DO NOT lose your "wallet.dat" file from QT. With that all can be fixed. Without it there is no hope. I would try installing CORE then spending to electrum.

There seems to be some confusion about the fee. The mining fee is used by bitcoin owners to send. It varies with demand, but  since it is competitive it trends toward the lowest profitable fee. If you are using a service to hold your coins you do not actually own any coins and the service can charge whatever they like. Yet another reason to run a node and own your coins.

Looks like a lot of people have not read the white paper. Mining all the coins is part of the plan. It is not a problem.

The question is what are you doing to raise the value? Are you calling retailers and asking them to take BTC? Are you spending bitcoin or just selling it back and forth for fiat? Those are the kinds of things that drive value. Otherwise there is no reason for bitcoin to increase in value.

Our last bubble has popped and I would expect further decline into the fall or next year. Unless there is an increase in consumer demand I see no reason to go up right now.

I hate the word "recovery" in markets. It gives the false impression that the price is somehow too low. The price is what it is. It may not be as high as you would like, but there you have it.

If you are not superstitious then you likely aren't gambling. In any bet you are probably going to lose your money. So why do that? Perhaps because you think the odds will be different for you? Maybe your prayers will be answered or your "lucky" rabbits foot will help? A cold mathematical look at gambling shows it to be a foolish act. 

    
"Confirmed potential" Oxymoron does not compute. 

Try sending money another way. See what the fee is. Then explain why that service is not dead.

I'll try to offer some hope. 

IF your friend was using an online app that merely manages a remote wallet then there may be a chance. Some ios wallets, for example, allow you to restore your wallet by re-downloading their app and entering your seed or pass-phrase. 

Does your friend know what wallet he was using?

Note that you will be more profitable if you SPEND your bitcoin rather than sell. Why sell when you actually have better money that works worldwide? Fiat dollars are crappy coupons in comparison.

Genesis mining makes it's money from you and you hope to make money mining. The fact that they are in the business of selling you hash power says it all. If it was more profitable to mine then they would mine. Cloud mining is rarely profitable. You would almost certainly see more money just buying and holding bitcoin.

Every day for 7 years now I see that bitcoin is going to be taken over by some government. What I have never seen is an explanation of how this could even be done theoretically. Your example of a master key is , of course, impossible.

I don't want to be rich. I want to do the things I like and money makes some things easier, but the money is not the point. I would give it all away to live peacefully and in love on a deserted island.

Web or mobile wallets range from less secure to not secure at all. Only a paper wallet created off-line with  a full node wallet is secure enough for me. At least for amounts larger than a few hundred dollars worth. 

I think we are on the same page here. Your examples of reasons for fluctuation in the price are from speculation. For comparison I buy bitcoin if I'm low. It is all I use online so I need a steady supply. I pay no attention to the price, I buy them when needed at whatever price. I never sell them, I use them to buy then go get some more. So I'm not speculating, I'm a retail consumer in the btc economy. 

There is no "best" wallet. But you will want to take the time to understand private keys. Online wallets often share the private key or even hold it for you. That means the website you are storing your coins at may have access to your key. I would very strongly recommend not using a shared key system of any kind. For small amounts the convenience of a phone wallet is worth it to me. It is a weaker system and my BTC is at an elevated risk, but again, the trade-off is acceptable.

You may decide differently. In bitcoin there is no one but you to decide. You are not only the bank president, you are the entire security department.
 

We should all pester our local burger king to take them as well. That is how you make it happen.

A dishonest gambling operation! I for one am shocked.