Just learnt via breaking news about the Central Government cabinet reshuffle; and CA Piyush Goyal is the new Finance Minister.

Does anyone on this forum know about his attitude toward Cryptocurrency in general, and Bitcoin and ICOs in particular? Whether from previous public discussions, press notes, or even informal conversation, anything would help.

Naturally, his official position would be dictated mostly by the bureaucrats in his ministry, but it will be useful to note his personal views on this issue that is critically important to all of us here on this forum.

One major obstacle toward Bitcoin's acceptance by the mainstream is its extreme volatility. Effectively, this volatility means that Bitcoin is more a commodity than a currency.

That being the case, if, and that's a big 'IF', we wish to further the cause of Bitcoin as a currency with mainstream acceptance, there needs must be a mechanism in place to 'dampen' the volatility.

Central Banks stabilise their International fiat currencies through some exchange rate mechanism, that prevents excessive volatility. Can a similar mechanism operate for Bitcoin?

But, who will be in charge of a setup that is not just intentionally decentralised, it is explicitly anti-centralised?!

Are these just the design limitations of Bitcoin that we have to put up with; or can Bitcoin evolve?


 

So claims the (in)famous Dr Doom, Nouriel Roubini, thus termed on account of his scarily accurate prediction of the 2008 financial meltdown.

https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/lk9NVvcRGKPdO17QvcfiZI/Initial-coin-offerings-scams-by-con-artists.html

tl;dr:

81% of ICOs are scams created by con artists and swindlers looking to take your money and run.

ICOs serve little purpose other than to skirt securities laws that exist to protect investors from being cheated.

all cryptocurrencies as securities, with the exception of the first mover, Bitcoin, which he considers a commodity.

implication is that even Ethereum and Ripple—the second- and third-largest crypto-assets—are currently operating as unregistered securities.

the ICO charlatans would effectively take us—not to the futuristic world of The Jetsons, but to the modern Stone Age world of The Flintstones where all transactions occur through the barter of different tokens or goods.

Some strong stuff that! Dr Doom is never the one to hold back, but this is less of a slap, more of a frontal assault.

Now, I know that there's an Epochtalk new forum software in the works for Bitcointalk.org.  As and when it happens, that'll be a whole world of good for everybody.

Until then, here's a quick fix, instant solution to spare our eyes when using a mobile device.

http://afriwap.com/smf/how-to-make-your-smf-site-responsive-mobile-friendly/

Title:  HOW TO MAKE YOUR SMF SITE RESPONSIVE / MOBILE FRIENDLY

tl;dr:  SMF site can be made mobile-responsive through the use of responsive themes and EZ Portal which doesn't break the script with its blocks.  Some responsive themes are Reseller Theme, Factory Theme, Exodus Theme; and several more can be accessed through a simple Google search.


So, it seems, even the present SMF Forum Software setup of bitcointalk.org can be rendered mobile-responsive.  Is it possible for the devs to check this possibility on a test server?

The problem when accessing the forum on the mobile is that in portrait mode, the font is exceptionally small; and, at least for me, it causes the iris muscles to go into a painful spasm.  After a couple such stabs of pain, one learns not to even gaze at the screen until the fingers have zoomed the font to a respectable size!

But, the mobile-responsive design would be a God-send for people who use this site on their mobile and face a problem similar to mine.  Furthermore, if it can be put to good use immediately, why not give it a try?!  

While the knives have been out for Bitcoin ever since its dizzying ascent starting over an year ago, there is now an increasingly shrill tone.  It's as if the haters, mostly from the financial establishment, are now plumbing the bottom of the barrel and coming up with increasingly depraved stuff, having abandoned reason and fair consideration long back.  Sample this news item for instance:

Title:  Bitcoin Nearly as Bad as ‘Trading Harvested Baby Brains’, Says Berkshire VC Munger

Posted at:  BITCOIN OPINION MAY 07, 2018 16:26

https://www.ccn.com/bitcoin-nearly-as-bad-as-trading-harvested-baby-brains-berkshire-vc-munger/

tl,dr:  “The computer science behind bitcoin is a great triumph of the human mind,” Munger told  Yahoo Finance. “They created a product that’s hard to create more of but not impossible. [But] I see an artificial speculative medium,” he said. It’s “anti-social, stupid and immoral.”

“Suppose you could make a lot of money trading freshly harvested baby brains. Would you do it?” he asked. “To me bitcoin is almost as bad.”

“I regard the whole thing as a combination of dementia and immorality. I think the people pushing it are a disgrace,” he concluded. “There ought to be some things that are beneath you, that you just don’t do, and this is one.”

Hello, everybody    This is my first post here.  I've been lurking around, waiting for an opportune moment to begin my contribution, and this opening does seem promising.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/29/technology/blockchain-iso-russian-spies.html

Title: Blockchain Will Be Theirs, Russian Spy Boasted at Conference
Author: Nathaniel Popper
Posted: April 29, 2018

tl,dr: The Russians sent one of their FSB [KGB] Agents to an International conference meant for setting international standards for blockchain. 'The Internet belonged to the Americans, the Blockchain will belong to us, he retorted.  Basically, the Blockchain will turn into the next arena for geo-political battles.  Essentially, "countries that devote more resources to the process could successfully push their preferred cryptographic algorithms to be the standards, potentially creating so-called back doors that could be used in the future to spy on blockchain activity."

Apart from being a total novice on this forum, I'm also an amateur when it comes to matters regarding Bitcoin and the Blockchain, so I'm eagerly awaiting your opinion on this news item that seems particularly relevant to both these topics.