This is a great initiative, although signature campaigns are a great way to encourage good posts.
Not all forum members participate in signature campaigns, so this can be a good way to encourage those who don't have signatures. For example, with low ranks. Assumptions/Disclaimers:
1. I'm doing this in public sunshine, so that there is transparency. It will also help me with my tax agency.
2. No schedule, no obligation from my part.
3. I may award the same user more than once.
4. The size of the donation will vary.
5. My decisions concerning the users who I donate to, are totally unbiased.
Perhaps you should add one small requirement? Specify the reason (criteria) for choosing a particular user to donate to. I'm just curious, for example, about what caught your attention about @stwenhao and which of his posts should be highlighted (in terms of usefulness). Unfortunately, I haven't seen his posts before. The same applies to the other users you've selected. It would be nice for the BTC-community to know why these users ended up on your personal "h onor board". This would ensure that they don't overlook the most worthy posts, for example (there are a lot of discussions on the forum, and it can be difficult to keep track of them all). Otherwise, it's a pretty useful initiative you've started. It might even indirectly impact the quality of the forum posts. Just hope your wallet can handle the burden of donations.  |
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Some people think that Bitcoin is so good that keeping there business finances or income in Bitcoin is the best idea forgetting that it is very wrong to do that.
Bitcoin is well suited for storing business profits (free funds that are not included in working capital or reserve funds) in the long term. As we all know bitcoin is highly volatile in nature and so when you keep your business income or money in Bitcoin it risk you losing some part of your money and also affecting your business because Bitcoin can drop in price at any minute and when that happens the money you kept in Bitcoin will drop in price and since the money is meant for your business the drop of it will affect your business financially and can lead to the fall of your business, money is what they use to run a business when there's no money the business will fall.
Simply learn to separate business funds into working capital, reserve funds, and so on. This way, won't waste money that impacts your business. So don't keep your business money or income in Bitcoin so has to avoid lost, keep your business money in Fiat currency or a stable coin like USDT.
Only business profits, not income, are allowed to be stored in bitcoin. Don't confuse these concepts. And how do you plan to use the USDT for business? Will they allow to pay employees, suppliers, taxes, and other things in the USDT? Or do you think that business should lose some % on convertation (from USDT to traditional money)? |
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It is no news to anyone that a large share of all signature campaigns on this forum are occupied by casinos. Many users of bitcointalk carry signatures of these very casinos, and therefore receive a reward from the casino (through the campaign manager).
In connection with the tightening of regulation (when bitcoins in exchangers are marked as "dirty"), I have the following question: have you encountered the situation when your BTC-transactions received as a reward for participating in signature campaigns were marked as "dirty" and you had difficulties cashing out bitcoin into traditional money?
For example, this may be due to local regulation (prohibition) of casinos or casinos without a license.
Have you ever had cases of bitcoin being marked "dirty" because it is bitcoin from a casino address?
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I just saw this one and I am really amaze on what he did.
A casino guest just won over $1.3 million… and the first thing he did? Call his mom.
It is not surprising that he called the closest person he could trust. At FireKeepers Casino in Michigan, the guest hit the venue’s largest jackpot ever. But instead of celebrating alone,
And why do you think that people "celebrate" alone? Usually, it happens in a circle of close people (friends, relatives). You want to share a joyful event with your closest people - that's how it happens. he grabbed his phone and told his mom: “Momma, we are out of the hood. We’re leaving tomorrow.” That emotional call went viral because it wasn’t about luxury, it was about finally giving his family a safer, better life.
There is nothing unusual about this either. He was in a hurry to share the good news that they were " moving" to a " better life". This is exactly what excited him the most. In fact, this is probably the best use of the jackpot, when the money will be spent on improving your standard of living, and not senselessly spending on a pseudo-luxurious life. It will be interesting to see if this lucky guy will be able to rationally manage his prize money and not spend it all on gambling again. Sometimes the biggest wins aren’t about money, they’re about the people you love most.
In the case of this story, there was a coincidence of these two components. |
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I've noticed that very few people truly understand Bitcoin or see what I see in it. I've always wondered why it's so hard for people to grasp the essence of Bitcoin.
It would be clearer to us if you voiced how you understand bitcoin.  Most people (especially beginners) see bitcoin primarily as a " magic wand" for solving all financial problems. In order to understand the essence of bitcoin, you need to stop seeing it as just an " easy and fast" way to earn money and understand the technological essence of it (as well as the financial one, which is also quite unique). Yesterday, I came across a really good video that explains why it's so difficult for people to understand Bitcoin. It's simply too big of a paradigm shift.I recommend watching the first 20 minutes they do an amazing job explaining why most people don’t really see or understand Bitcoin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6ZHRci4KbwIt is difficult for people to " restructure" their thinking after the traditional financial system to understand the " essence" of bitcoin, and also, for a better understanding they need to have some technical thinking, without which it is difficult to comprehend all the " nuances" of the essence of btc. |
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just posted from the source at the bottom that even if you’re not involved in crime, you could still get hit if the BTC you hold was once linked to scams, hacks, or mixers.
So, is the users' right to privacy and confidentiality a crime? Interesting concepts are still being imposed on us. Regulators and exchanges are now tracking harder, coins can get flagged or even frozen.
But there can only be 21 mln. bitcoins. If the regulator and exchangers artificially " exclude" "dirty" bitcoins, then the supply on the market will decrease (the amount that can freely circulate among " clean" platforms). It may also turn out that the number of " dirty" bitcoin will grow (banally, if someone in the user chain uses a mixer) and in the long term will lead to all (most) bitcoin being " dirty" (someone in the chain of users will " get dirty" with the "wrong" wallet). BTC is supposed to be free and borderless, but with this kind of tracing it feels like they decide which coins are “clean” and which are not.
All this looks strange when in the " free" BTC-system third-party structures (regulators and exchangers) make their own adjustments by marking btc as " dirty". They are thus already trying to manage and control (partially) the entire BTC-system. So, using unregulated exchanges just adds to the risk since they don’t screen coins properly, so you might end up holding tainted btc without even knowing.
True, the risks remain, because it is impossible to know " what" bitcoin you are buying and even with a clear conscience you can end up with " dirty" btc. so what do you think, just more fud to push people into regulated exchanges, or this is a real problem we need to worry about?
This is a trick to control the BTC-system. In my opinion, all bitcoins are identical and there should be no division into " clean", " dirty" or any other. This is a problem that is being artificially created for us (and impose). And now we all have to " reckon" with the consequences associated with this. This is how the community imperceptibly loses control over bitcoin and the system is centralized. Is this what Satoshi " dreamed" about? |
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when we talk about politicians who were exposed for their crazy gambling habits we tend to talk about corruption but let us talk about hypocrisy
If a politician gambles with his honestly earned money, it is not corruption. Corruption is when the money is obtained illegally and gambling with corrupt money is no longer corruption. It is the same gamble, but taking into account the gambling with illegally obtained money. in the philippines, the government is trying to lower the rates of where the filipinos gamble especially in online spaces but what does it say if the very politicians trying to push for fighting against gambling are also the ones exposed for playing? is it not ironic?  ? Have there been any politicians who were caught gambling? If so, it certainly looks ironic. About the same as " bees against honey". The " powers that be" will always have more privileges and opportunities, so even with a total ban on gambling, they will have the opportunity to gamble. Whether it is ironic or sad, but what can you do about it? |
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As some of you may know, I had trouble with Binance.They had frozen my funds, though later they released my funds, and I moved all the funds from Binance to my hardware wallet. After that they restricted my account and don't allow me to use it anymore. A few weeks back, they remove the restrictions from my account and allow me to use it as well. So no more restrictions in my account right now. I have talked with the support team; either I should use this account or create a new account after deleting that account. The support team said my account's restrictions were removed after the deep investigation. I can normally use the current account, and they suggested not to delete it. A week ago I traded on Binance again to test if everything went fine. As a result, everything looks to be working fine, including withdrawal and deposit. Out of storing funds, do you think I should trade back with Binance? It was one of my favourite exchanges, where I traded often. I don't store funds into exchange anymore; I just move the funds after trade if the amount is bigger. What are your thoughts? I think why you should continue using Binance, because I don't see any obstacles to this. Your previous problem was solved (albeit with a waste of time), your account is completely " cleaned" of suspicions, and moreover, this is your favorite exchanger. The incident that happened to you is not an indicator that this exchanger is not trustworthy, but rather the opposite, that this platform monitors the " purity" of transactions, and moreover, their support still works (although not so quickly ). The only thing is, if I were you, I would not keep funds on their deposit (I allow small amounts), because I would not want to freeze them again. And you should always remember the rule that the exchanger is a third party and by keeping them on their deposits, you lose control over your funds. No matter how reliable the exchanger is. Also, use this exchanger only for trading, not for accepting payments from your clients. |
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What do we think of a time that may come when the fate of human survival will depend only on using cryptocurrency for buying and selling, because mankind may soon find Fiat currency is obsolete or of no value in their current environment perhaps due to world earth crisis or pandemic or war .
Your opinion is valid!
I dont think so, there are 3 basic necessities to human survival after Oxygen are food, water and shelter. In the 21st food and water for the vast majority of people are directly linked to currency and in an emergency cash would be the go to means of trade and to a lesser extent a barter system. Bitcoin isnt even used by the majority of the worlds population, it is still pretty much a niche technology and will be seen as an asset more than a currency for some time to come OP uses the wording cryptocurrency in his post, not bitcoin. I agree with your statement about bitcoin, but it is inevitable that fiat currencies will be abolished by governments of all countries. Sooner or later. Instead of traditional " paper" forms of money, cryptocurrencies will be used - CBDCs. Because CBDC gives the regulator control over the financial flows of citizens - this is unlimited power (who would refuse this?). The transition from paper money (including electronic banking) to CBDC can be considered the next stage in the evolution of money. |
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Bitcoin has proven to be consistent and reliable over the years with measures made available to secure our assets from malware attacks by providing face verification, 2FA, email verification and the likes.
It has being used as payment means for goods on the long run and that has being an innovative system at the moment but the knowledge and usage of Bitcoin has not fully being diversified making it not fully functional.
But here is the question, do you think Bitcoin can overshadow the relevance of dollar in the future?
In the future? It has already happened! For 1 BTC give more than $ 115k. If in the past the ratio of bitcoin to dollar was not in favor of btc (it cost less than $1), now bitcoin prevails over $ by hundreds of thousands of times. And this is not the limit, because as we all know, the price will only grow, each time increasing the gap from the dollar. If we talk about the significance from the position of use, as we see, over these years, the influence of bitcoin has grown greatly and the pace is not decreasing. Yes, I believe that the significance of btc will only increase every year. |
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Since last week this incident occured, my friend had been a complaint still feeling that chances he would had made it big win if not for his cash out.
So I am to ask, between me and my friend who is in position to feel this regrets regarded that I won nothing and he made some cash out ?
The answer is simple and obvious: the perception of events by each gambler is extremely subjective. The case you described demonstrates this. The lucky one, who ended up in profit, is dissatisfied with the result due to the false idea that he could have won even more. The OP, who wanted to win more, ended up in loss. In both cases, we see regret. It seems to me that in gambling you need to be content with the result you have achieved. Your friend won, so you should be happy about it. The OP lost the entire bet - you should be happy that you didn't lose even more. If I answer your question directly, then your friend, who ended up in profit, should definitely not feel regret, because his result is positive, and yours is negative. |
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Someone said Satoshi Nakamoto revealing himself as the owner of BTC will actually affect the value of it in a negative way, is that true or just a way of saying that curiosity is what makes BTC stand up till today? What do you think?
It is impossible to say for sure whether Satoshi Nakamoto will come back. Maybe Yes, maybe No. But the way he left (leaving the project in the hands of the developers and adhering to the principle of decentralization) suggests that Satoshi Nakamoto will not come back. This project should be developed by the efforts of the BTC-community without the founder's intervention, which would make the project vulnerable (centralization). If we assume hypothetically, then Satoshi Nakamoto's return will not necessarily have a negative impact on the price. Maybe even the opposite, Satoshi Nakamoto's return will create additional hype for the project and cause an increase in demand for this asset. It seems to me that faith in the value of bitcoin can only be undermined by Satoshi Nakamoto's start selling bitcoin from his wallet. These are all just assumptions. I don't think that curiosity is a catalyst for investor interest. I believe that the most important role is played by " faith" in the future of the asset (both from the financial-economic and technological sides). |
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It's enough to disclose your personal details or Bitcoin purchases to exchanges, at least the person you're buying directly from doesn't have a clue about who you are.
But EVERYTHING about you (including this transaction) will be known to the exchange employees and those with whom they officially (or unofficially) interact. Dealing with someone face to face is just outrageous and goes against one of the core principles of Bitcoin which is privacy and anonymity.
In my opinion, one of the main principles of bitcoin was to use it as a means of payment (electronic), and not to speculate on price volatility and certainly not to sell for traditional currencies. In the early stages of bitcoin, people were not prevented from making face-to-face trades of btc\dollar, but since then " the stakes have gone up". It is crucial for every Bitcoin user to stay anonymous
Remind this to those who undergo KYC verification on exchanges and then buy\sell bitcoin, for example, to their bank card. and always keep their information private and there's no way you can do that buying or selling Bitcoin from someone face to face...
Otherwise, you can’t buy\sell bitcoin for cash, which remains the only confidential and private (doesn’t leave “traces” of transactions). |
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Back in the day there were a lot of exposed point-shaving cases, especially in US college basketball. Players messing up shots on purpose, keeping the margin just right, and all that because they got paid off.
And here is the incentive for such actions. Now my question is… do you guys think that really stopped? Or is it just happening in a quieter way today? Sports betting is way bigger now, and with live betting, props, and even crypto sportsbooks, there’s even more money floating around.
I think it will never stop. As long as they pay for it (material gain for a corrupt athlete). Sometimes you watch a team blow a big lead out of nowhere, or some dude just missing free throws he normally sinks easy… makes you wonder if that’s just one of those bad nights or maybe there’s something fishy, like shaving points. Idk, maybe I’m just being paranoid, but feels like it never really stopped, just harder to catch now. definition of point shaving (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/point-shaving)On the one hand, " chance" plays a very big role in sports. One wrong move, one mistake, one injury that led to a miss can radically change the outcome of a sports event. Each player is a person, not a machine programmed to " do everything right". Therefore, the human factor will always add a " flavor" to the results of bets. Whether the reason is a trivial mistake of the player, or a planned and thought-out miss for the sake of a purchased result (point-shaving). |
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When I first discovered Bitcoin, every move in price felt like a life-changing event. A $500 drop made me panic, a $1,000 pump made me think I was set for life. Over time, though, the way I look at it has changed.
All newbies have to go through these " emotional swings". These days, I see Bitcoin less as a quick way to make money and more as a long-term habit. I don’t check the charts constantly anymor, it just sits there like a piece of my financial routine, the same way people contribute to a pension or keep a savings account.
You have made a correct comparison with a pension fund or savings account. In principle, this is how it turns out that when investing in bitcoin, you should not chase immediate benefits, but consider it as "savings for your future". The only difference is that you yourself are the sole manager of this "pension fund \ savings account", which means you don't pay anyone for servicing your savings. Also, no one will fool you or deceive you with your savings, as can happen with a bank deposit, if you follow the basic rules for safe storage of bitcoin. I will not even mention the pension fund, since this is a " classic pyramid": payments to subsequent " users" are paid at the expense of previous " depositors". Given the global trend towards a decrease in the birth rate, one day this pyramid will collapse - simple mathematics. What’s interesting is how the excitement has shifted. For me, it’s no longer about chasing the next all-time high, but watching how Bitcoin slowly becomes part of everyday conversations, companies, and even policies. It feels less like an experiment now, and more like something permanent.
You have gone through the transformation from a " newbie" to a mature " investor". I’m curious if others here have gone through the same cycle, from price obsession to simply viewing Bitcoin as part of the background of life.
If you think that your "living with bitcoin" is something unique, then you are very much mistaken. Almost everyone experiences exactly this (I assume). |
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I like the idea of freedom. Freedom to hold my own money and cultivate my own food, to make my own medical choices. But I have seen this risen in my current system: this freedom is a more expensive matter. An example would be: storing crypto requires more effort (and even more risk) than leaving money in a bank. Buying from local farmers is healthier, but more costly than supermarket brands. Making personal health choices over the public vaccination programs may result in a billion-dollar cost to society if there are outbreaks
Freedom has never been " cheap". It's not just about money. The flip side of freedom is personal responsibility for your life. That is, you will have to solve all the issues yourself: issues of generating finances (products, food and a place to live), issues of protecting these finances and other resources (in the case of crypto, storage security), etc. It appears that we are all drifting away from centralized systems (banks, governments, health agencies) since we no longer trust them. The cost of that mistrust is, however, my so-called "fragmentation tax". We lose the cheap efficiency of doing things together, and everything becomes more expensive
The presence of mistrust does not mean that " we are moving away". Everything is just the opposite and our lives are increasingly drawn into a centralized environment. People can no longer take a step without an " element" of the centralized system participating in this process. Perhaps that is the cause of inflation being sticky everywhere. Tariffs in the US, electricity in the Europe. In Asia it is food, in Africa it is fuel
The reason for inflation is the " mad printer" and the way the world economy is structured. The current financial system is structured in such a way that inflation is a mandatory " bonus". Are we alright to pay a higher price for this kind of freedom? Or do we need to find a way to restore trust in order not to make the cost of living more and more costly every year? What do you think: is inflation just about money supply, or is it also about us drifting apart as societies?
All together. |
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I wonder whether Decentralized gambling is actually promoting freedom or letting decentralized casino owners and users commit fraud and money laundering, since most are unlicensed and do not follow regulations.
If we evaluate a decentralized casino, then in theory, this casino should be " more honest" in relation to the user, because there will be no blocking of accounts for far-fetched reasons, such as passing identification (KYC). Also, the casino will not be able to appropriate the user's deposit if the decentralized casino is created correctly. We will talk about this below. How can you "launder" money in a decentralized casino if the casino does not have a license, which means that government agencies will not accept the declaration of prize money won in such a casino? Regarding fraud on the part of the user, it is also not entirely clear. In this case, the casino can appropriate the money (more on this below), but how can the user deceive the casino in this context, because the decentralized casino works in automatic mode. If there are no bugs (which is rare), then it will not be possible to deceive the casino. According to this article: The Main Advantages of Decentralized Casinos, decentralized casinos offers freedom to their users by removing intermediaries and allowing them to gamble directly from their wallet. It also gives an instant payout since the winnings are directly deposited into the user. It stated that: Here's what I'd like to point out. So, in order to play in a decentralized casino, need to provide access to your wallet? It seems to me that this is a weak point in this whole scheme and therefore, I don't recommend using the main wallet for gambling. It would be reasonable to use a special separate wallet, with the amount that is allocated for gambling. On the other hand, I also read that decentralized gambling can be a tool for fraud and money laundering. Since transfers are often unregulated due to instant and automatic payout, it is said that this is prone to fraud and money laundering due to: anonymous participation via wallet-based access,
No traditional KYC checks
Cross-border transfers without institutional intermediaries It's funny to see this. The main advantages of the blockchain \ cryptocurrencies are listed here. Of course, the regulator will " demonize" these advantages due to the impossibility of controlling all this. So what's your take on decentralized gambling? Do you think it really promotes freedom, or is it just another option to commit fraud and money laundering in the guise of promoting freedom?
To be sure that decentralized casinos are a way of fraud, it is necessary to catch these casinos in such a criminal act. Are there cases of gamblers being deceived and robbed by decentralized casinos? Regarding money laundering in such casinos, these statements also sound like "horror stories" in order to scare gamblers from using such casinos, therefore, not allowing them to engage in unregulated gambling. Here, as always, like any regulator " worries" about the taxes that it will not receive from a decentralized casino. |
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There's no need for that. The first question is why will I want to count the merit some one has sent in the last 120 days? So basically take it as it's not a very essential function hence it's not there. You can use any of the forum extensions and the good news is they do not only offer what you are asking but they also are fully open source.
And you don't know? This is related to the conditions of the managers when applying for participation in the signature campaign (the total number of merits for the last 120 days). Some users seem to be too lazy to use 3rd-party services like bpip.org to count (or count manually). Even if you don't want to embed an extension in your view you can use the tools separately there are a handful of them scattered across the forum. The 120 day history you see is just to show how actively you've been contributing in meaningful discussions.
How actively you were noticed in discussions, because merits are awarded by 3rd-party users, on whose subjective assessment the result depends. |
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Often times the debate has been held on which gender are prone to taking more risks in gambling. It is often believed that men are more involved in gambling because more men are physically identified as gamblers. Female gamblers are more of online gamblers and therefore there's no accurate statistics on them.
Well, that's the point, if there are no statistics, it is impossible to estimate which gender is more inclined to take risks in gambling. Traditionally, the male gender has always dominated in gambling (offline casinos), but now that gambling has moved online, it is impossible to estimate without the participation of the casinos themselves (statistics on gamblers based on KYC). In the case of actually talking risks, some researches has proven that naturally women are more enduring than men which and are more likely to gamble for a longer time despite encountering good losses.
This is because they gamble with men's money. The society like mine contributed too to ladies hiding their risk taking instincts in gambling since they're victimized when they identify as gamblers. I feel in a society that views gambling with a neutral spectrum irrespective of gender, it may be seen clearly that women are liable to taking more risks in gambling than men.
What do you think about risk taking in gambling with respect to both genders?
It seems to me that now the share of women gamblers is significantly higher than before, thanks to the presence of a smartphone, the Internet and online casinos for almost everyone. Any housewife can play gambling games without leaving home. To assess the degree of risk of women, statistical data (from the casino) are needed, showing how long the gaming session lasts, how much they lose, how much they win, and so on. And compare with the results of men, of course, with average values. |
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How did OP know that the man was actually a woman? Does he have telepathy? And what if the woman "feels" like a man? What does gender mean on the forum? What is important here is useful actions, voiced thoughts and technical knowledge, not the label " man" or " woman". By the way, what should we do in this case, since there are already more genders in the world than 2? But this case made me wonder if we really need to have a gender field in our profile page. And I am asking that because I find it strange that people actually care about it. Personally, I do not consider it important enough, as in it won't affect the way I talk to someone and the way we exchange ideas.
I am opening up a very broad discussion, I know.
Oh, yeah. The gender field in the profile is vital to the existence of this forum. In my opinion, it is completely unnecessary, because it has no meaning for communication on bitcointalk. And besides, how are you going to identify users' gender? Checking by photo? Otherwise, the meaning of the gender field is completely lost. Let's start with the fact that there are only two options, which in itself is controversial and has supporters on both sides.
I argue that one of the following should apply:
(a) there should be a "Gender" option with free text for selection and not a dropdown menu with predetermined options.
(b) there should not even be a field for it on the profile page. It is common for social forums to have such a field, but...
I choose "(b)". |
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