If there's money to be made, some people would find a way to be the dominant force. If I understand it correctly, Satoshi Nakamoto's intention was to spread the control over the keeping of the ledger through individual users, not through a minority of users controlling hundreds of rigs. Each user would then have 1 vote of sorts, more or less equal in terms of processing power with the  others on the network. Poor guy (Satoshi Nakamoto), whoever he is, probably got himself rid of bitcoin when he saw that big enterprises are trying to take over bitcoin with the amount of computing power that these people brought into the system.

Decentralized or not, the speed at which the blockchain can handle transactions must at least be at par with how major credit card companies do their transactions and as of this time, I'm afraid that we're not there yet. As for a formula for a crypto to succeed, being decentralized certainly has it's appeal as it is one of the reasons the early adopters flocked to bitcoin. But decentralization would not be enough if people's confidence towards the said crypto/blockchain is shaky. As mentioned, it must be like the internet which has become ubiquitous in our day to day lives. But the mentality of the people hoarding the coins/tokens as a means to gain wealth is not helping it's cause. To have widespread use, crypto must be easy to access at very minimal cost to the user. 

I'm waiting to get something positive and concrete from the G20 summit. All we have are mixed signals right now and there is really no solid indication on which direction these policy makers would like cryptocurrency to go. I don't have my hopes up on prices swinging upwards this week, but a positive direction from the G20's would surely mean that there'll be a nice rebound by April.

I can help if you are interested in working with a newbie. More details on what the job will be would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

There is no solution to poverty. A poverty free society operates on the assumption that the world will be at peace and everyone will conform to the norms of that society for the good of all. There is no such thing because human nature hates conformity. There will always be rebels around; people who will be against the known establishment; people who will fight for what they believe in, whatever that belief may be. Rebellious actions will usually lead to some part of society becoming impoverished. This is either through the acts of those in power - consider North Korea for example, they do not align to those in power thus their economy is crippled or the result of the war being waged by the rebellious ones.

In the past week, three of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges have cut bitcoin withdrawal fees by up to half. While the average price of sending bitcoin has been falling for weeks, these savings had yet to be passed on to exchange customers. Now Binance, Bitfinex, and Kraken have all reduced their fees amidst a backdrop of increased Segwit adoption and transaction batching.

Bitcoin is pretty cheap to send right now – cheaper than ethereum in some instances. It’s currently around 10 satoshis per byte to send BTC, which works out at approximately 30 cents for a typical transaction. Many bitcoin users only send cryptocurrency when withdrawing it from an exchange, however, to a wallet they control or to another exchange. And with cryptocurrency exchanges setting their own fees, the recent cost savings haven’t filtered through to users. Up until last week, it still cost around $10 to withdraw BTC from an exchange such as Kucoin or Binance. While the former has yet to lower its fees, Binance has.

Cryptocurrency Exchanges Slash Withdrawal FeesIt now costs 0.0005 BTC, or around $5.70 at current prices, to make a BTC withdrawal from Binance. Bitfinex, meanwhile, has slashed a third off its fees, which now stand at 0.0004 BTC, with the exchange citing Segwit as the reason behind the saving. Finally, Kraken has dropped its fees to 0.0005 BTC and has cut bitcoin cash withdrawals to 0.0001. As a consequence, it costs around $5.70 to withdraw BTC and 13 cents to withdraw BCH.

For more details, kindly click on the following link:

https://news.bitcoin.com/cryptocurrency-exchanges-slash-withdrawal-fees/?utm_source=OneSignal%20Push&utm_medium=notification&utm_campaign=Push%20Notifications

Anything disruptive to the existing government establishments and institutions will always pose a threat to the said entities and that is what bitcoin and the blockchain in general is to them. Bitcoin is an attack on the power that central bankers currently hold over the way money and wealth is being manipulated all over the world. As it is bitcoin's aim to be a decentralized currency that is accessible to the masses, those in power will gradually feel themselves losing control over what was once their domain, the power to create value out of thin air.  As for being an economic threat, bitcoin is just a tool among many economic tools out there. It's the way people perceive things in a capitalistic economy that dictates how the economy will perform. Those who know how to properly wield the information that they have will hold a big slice of the economic pie.

If what you are after is to keep yourself fit and healthy, vitamins and supplements should be the last things in your checklist. You will be better served by doing the following diligently - keep your whole body exercised and keep it well rested everyday. Watch what you eat, food has a purpose, not just keep your body satiated. Protein, carbs, fats, fibers, vitamins and minerals all play a role in keeping your body in tiptop shape. Then learn how to keep stress at bay because stress is a killer. Lastly but not least, keep a healthy relationship with the people around you. Having good friends around is great in keeping one healthy.

Almost all of us agree that health is wealth, but sadly, not a lot of us are really that knowledgeable on how to keep ourselves healthy. Being healthy is more than just exercise and eating the right foods to support your body. Keeping healthy is actually a lifestyle, a way of life. It is like religion, you adhere to it in every aspect of your life and live that life. It permeates in the way you interact with others. It is a wholeness in your being.

Blockchain adoption by well known institutions is a huge boost to the development of the tech, however, should each institution decide to create its own coin with the intent of introducing that coin for widespread use as oppose to just within their system may not lead to anything good for everyone. Why not adopt bitcoin or any of the rising alternatives instead of developing their own.

Technically, any county can try to ride on bitcoin and any other cryptocurrency and use it as their main currency. But it won't be a practical solution for day to day transactions as of this time yet. Cryptocurrencies are also very volatile which may see wealth wiped out within just a matter of days if not hours. Imagine the panic in the streets and major online exchanges shutting down due to it being unable to handle the volume of transactions in situations similar to a bank run.

It is very interesting to see the result of Venezuela's use of the Petro in the coming months in relation to this question.   

It is not a good idea to avoid paying your taxes if the law says so. You may be able to get away with it for a while but the troubles you'll have to go through if you get caught are just not worth the few dollars that you've stashed. While moving to another country where laws are easier to circumvent compared to where you came from is an option or there are no taxation on bitcoins in that place at all, doing such a move for the sake of avoiding taxes is quite a big price to pay unless you earned billions through your cryptocurrency investments. But by then, you wouldn't actually be in this forum since you can now hire a team of lawyers to do the thinking for you just like what big multinationals do.

The current state of affairs regarding the taxation of bitcoins is still a gray area in most countries as of this time, but some governments have been making strides towards it's taxation and the subsequent regulation of the currency thereof though nobody is sure on how bitcoin can be regulated. Best to be on the lookout at all times on what your local government comes up to not be caught unawares. If the law of your land says so, then you'll have to do what the law requires of you.

To become a good customer service provider/officer, one must first have the ability to think on their feet fast. There is always a best way to handle a particular customer and taking the millisecond to think on the best approach before anything else ensures your longevity in the field. Customers don't want robots, they want thinking people at the other end who understands them and make rational decisions to help them with their concerns. The customer service officer must then be like a professional actor. Get in character based on what the decision demands and act the part out until everything has been resolved. Then don't get tired doing the said things over and over again.

Good health is a result of selecting the right foods to eat, keeping your body active and giving your body adequate time to rest (you can't run a car 24/7 and not expect it to break down, so's your body, don't abuse it). as for foods to eat, go local. eat what is locally abundant in your area. vegetables, fruits, grains and nuts, meat and fish are all healthy. balance your meal (it can't all be meat nor it can all be grains, each has a contribution to make to your general well being).

I also don't get it how anyone would be strongly convinced that the earth is flat. The way the sun moves and the changing seasons in some parts of the globe suggest that the earth is not flat.

Schindler's List - the movie tugs at your heart.
Shawshank Redemption - the protagonist was in prison for a crime he did not commit, but he never gave up and gained his freedom.
The Green Mile - there was a murder. an innocent man who was only trying to help was wrongly imprisoned and sentenced to death. the man has the ability to heal the sick by sucking out what's wrong in the sick person. everything about the murder unravels in the events that followed.
Mary Poppins - most movies are great in your mind when you saw it when you were still young but Mary Poppins (and the sound of music as well) is a great classic through and through.
Inception - A dream within a dream being dreamt in somebody else's dream. The movie is absurd but fun to watch.

I'm no medical professional so this would just be my best guess on what causes it. As a human being, we people have physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs (I'm sure there are other needs aside from the ones I mentioned). Our day to day actions are more or less dictated by these needs. When the physical needs of a person have already been met, however something mental, spiritual and emotional does not align, that person may go into depression. The said needs that does not align need to be fed, but no amount of effort to feed the said needs has been enough to quench it.

On the event that the Internet would get shut down, I'd go back to the ways of old and not waste a tear on it's demise. The internet has been very useful in keeping the globe connected - making the world a smaller place. However, it's rise has also brought the worse in our society like the way social media and the big tech firms are trying to control what happens on the net.

Hmm... the thieves are probably planning to start their own mining operation with 600 computers at their disposal. Or they already have a running operation and the stolen computers were just incorporated into the existing system. I'm wondering if the stolen units can still be tracked once it goes online.