Happy Thursday Gang,

I know this is pretty random but I can't help but mention this, I feel like so many old posts will be taken out of context now since Btalk won't allow us to use that imgur BBcode, i'm not sure why. Everyone used it, and now there is some other preferred method? I never thought pictures could be so complicated. What I am sure of is that there is a thread somewhere and some smarty pants is going to kindly share the link to that thread because I have yet to find it! I'm sure i've missed some huge memo on this or something somewhere. But could someone please explain to me why those image source codes no longer work, and tell me which ones do?

Cheers,

TREAD

Does anyone else's heart sink a bit when you see this message thinking somehow your profile got deleted in the latest update or something? Lol. When you leave your browser up on your desk or even just a tab open and it exits out from the forum automatically or just the browser stopped working because of inactivity and then you try to go back on and see that message and have to log back in. I know it can't just be me lmao

I want to give a huge shout out to Polymerbit for making his debut in Stacks Bowers tomorrow with this amazing PMG graded "cold storage document" note. Wow! So amazing man, I am so pumped to see what this ends up going for!

Here is a link to the auction:

https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-134S4P/unfunded-2020-polymerbit-bitcoin-cold-storage-document-firstbits-125gnk7s-serial-no-a000061-series-2a-u-nd-gem-uncirculated-66-pp

Info from link provided about Polymer's note:

LOT DESCRIPTION
Desirable Unfunded Polymerbit Bitcoin "Banknote"

Gem Uncirculated 66 PPQ (PCGS)

Unfunded 2020 Polymerbit Bitcoin Cold Storage Document. Firstbits 125GNK7s. Serial No. A000061. Series 2A-U (ND). Gem Uncirculated 66 PPQ (PCGS).

Unfunded and non-loaded. This specimen represents the very first of the type to be offered by our firm. It functions in a similar way to the popular crypto coins by Casascius, Lealana and others, featuring an associated public address that can be loaded to a custom amount and a private key hidden behind a security seal that can be used to redeem the value. Polymerbit claims that this issue is "the culmination of four years of security design and production improvements. The design efforts on this note alone have exceeded 100 hours.."

Though officially labeled as cold storage "document", the format generally resembles the banknotes printed for circulation in the United Kingdom. This undoubtedly makes them desirable to the passionate community of world paper money collectors as well as crypto enthusiasts. Public Address: 125GNK7sVfHRcvm8Rw8Aw22WCxdsyXCzNE.

PCGS# 1132633.

Click here for certification details from PCGS.

PCGS # 1132633

So I was reading something interesting in the Red Book today, on page 10, it talks about Bits on the spanish dollar system, the pieces of eight. Well, you learn something new every day because I wasn't aware that 1 bit in the spanish dollar monetary system is equivalent to 12.5 cents, and 2 Bits equals 25c and so on. I thought that interesting because now we're talking about the evolution of money here, and as far as the spanish dollars are concerned people have been exchanging bits for centuries now! Just not bit coins up until recently I know that isn't any coincidence, because it would be very funny to think that Satoshi had the pieces of eight in mind when he invented bitcoin. How funny would that be if thats how he got the name lol. The units in which data is also measured uses the bit system, with so many bits making a byte, and so on. I have just been thinking about this recently as I was looking through some of the finer 8 reales coins that popped up in my employers inventory for sale, and so I turned to the red book and learned this about the bits. It is commonly known for 2 bits equaling 25 cents I read somewhere on google. If thats the case then lets just use our imagination here. if 1 bit was to equal 1 satoshi and there are 120 million satoshis in one bitcoin then you do the math and tell me what you get

This new series of coins and pours I've been discussing for a little while here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5439641.msg62170730#msg62170730 is getting a little closer to becoming a reality. Here is an update with the project:

I have decided to start off with a coin that is a bit more modest than a 1 or 2 ounce silver pour and so instead i'll first release a limited run of exactly 21 .999 Fine Copper "CC" Pennies! The CC stands for Crypto Currency. The overall design is exactly that of the Large Cent likeness from the 1800s featuring the same elements "The United States of America" also featuring an "S" mint mark for San Francisco (which is known for its Proof Coins), and of course the wreath hugging the "CC" in the middle. I'll add a pic on here soon.

Don't you worry, the silver pours will be next in the 1 and 2 ozt varieties but first I want to get this ball rolling off with something I think every collector can appreciate: A good old fashioned copper penny. Hopefully sooner than later I will be launching this very limited collection! Again only 21 of these "CC" copper pennies have been stamped and minted by me on specially treated/polished pure copper planchets. In fact they are actually considered Proof Planchets, although the die that I used to stamp this was NOT polished, thus it cannot be classified as a "proof coin" exactly, so I guess that leaves them somewhere in between Proofs and Mint State coins.

Unfortunately, there were a few errors in the minting process where some of the coins didn't strike perfectly.... Including 6 of the coins that were struck 10% off center, the 3 of them that were double stamped by mistake, a few of them have a mysterious golden hew to it which i'm not exactly sure how it happened as I did nothing to achieve this but I would consider them "toned". Only 11 of these coins struck near perfect! If you buy one, you may get an "error" coin, or you could get a "Mint State Proof" Penny. Thats right, I just coined MSPs or Mint State Proofs haha. Genius.

The final product, presentation, and packaging, as well as shipment/distribution will only be made possible with the help of some the most influential people i've had the pleasure of meeting on and off of this forum including, Mopar Mining (Key Generation/3D Printing custom packaging), Polymerbit (Hologram & COA Design), MinerJones aka MJ!!! (ESCROW Services/good vibes).

 ***Below was copied from the old post, I will give the status update/cross out any completed tasks.**

I am going to need to do these things first before I can make this project a reality:

1. I need to hire some graphic design expertise to create a new bitcoin centric design in the form of a vector image file. Vendor/Design TBD. complete

2. I need to send this vector image file to steel stamp creation company for the physical piece of metal I am going to be slamming my hammer into against these silver 1ozt or 2ozt rounds! Pretty crucial! Vendor is vetted just need to finalize on the design. Vendor Chosen. complete

3. I am going to need to come up with the actual sales post/ pre order which I will have paid in advance to fund the project. (damn I probably should have made this one #1 haha.  To be posted/completed.

4. I need to follow up with Mopar (who has agreed to help w/ the key generation / holo ordering) So need to finalize the holo selection / style on that as well and work - still pending/ TBD. Update: Polymerbit will be designing the holos and coordinating w/ Mopar on this piece.

5. Once all of this leg work is done it'll be off to the forge to smelt/ pour silver into rounds, polish, anneal (heat silver w/ torch to soften and immediately stamp), Quench, apply an antique finish (potentially), and then create divot/ hole on the back for the PK / holo covering on the back. Final polishings. Stamping the serial number on the side of the round. I will be conducting this tedious process myself. TBD Update: This has now been changed to the .999 Fine CU planchets that I have completed stamping (Pics to come shortly)  

6. I will also need to then perhaps 3D print a custom casing for this. That means i'll need to make some tweaks to the old 3D printer and find an expert to help design a custom fit case w/ magnets as well. This will be a whole project in itself. 3D print designer expertise TBD Mopar is assisting with this  

7. Stickers- man stickers are just a must have!!!! If you don't have a super awesome cool sticker are you even flipping legit?! lmao. Vendor TBD- Update: Still working on this one, maybe Polymerbit can help with this one too I need to ask. Pending.

8. Almost forgot about the COAs. Wow that would have been a shame if I put in all this work and never made these lol. COA design / material and format TBD. (open to any suggestion on what you think looks best).   Update: Polymerbit has agreed to not only help me design the COAs but the hologram stickers as well


As of right now there is no TBD date on the completion of this project, but here is the update with everything that needs to be done to make it a reality and we're making progress! Its going to be a lot of fun. I just can't wait to bring them to life. Just be patient with me & I will do my best to bring something new and fun for our crypto collectors here on BTALK





 I'm not sure why the pictures aren't working

Hey Guys,

So this is my 500th post on here. Wow, seems like such a milestone (kidding, I need to pump those numbers up lol). Mile 500 guys. Idk where you are at with your bitcoin journey, maybe you're a newb on here, a modest coiner, a shrimp, a fish, a shark, a Whale!!!! It could be that you're mining, or have some kind of crypto company, maybe you're posting about bitcoin on here purely for fun or campaigning or just wanting to learn more about this revolutionary change in money that just so happened to occur in our life time, lucky us!!!  If you're reading this, please comment a little about what your goal is on here and what you're most interested in. For me it has to be all of the intense discussions on current events in the space, I sure do love to get everyone's take on here and its fun getting involved. I also do love the collectibles section. The best part of all of this though has to be the people behind these screen names. On the forum and off the forum.

I had the privilege to meet with some of you at a bitcoin forum pizza meet up outside of the bitcoin conference on day 2, what a joy that was meeting all of you- comment if you were there!!!! We are truly a remarkable group of people and have found a commonplace in BTC & crypto which is truly enriching and just loads of fun. I just wish I could have had a better chance to meet and talk to everyone that was there (and also not there), with 21 of us there total (how awesome is that right ) it was hard with so many people in such a short amount of time to get to know everybody! I have to give a shoutout though to all the folks that I've come in contact with in my time on this forum. Its an absolute privilege to be on the forum here with you all, and I look forward to what the future has in store!

Thats all I really had to say for this post for #500 I just wanted to say THANK YOU EVERYONE, for being you!

Cheers,

TREAD93

I was able to get my signed copy at BTC Miami and I was thrilled to spend a few minutes conversing with Saifedean Ammous. I now have a complete signed set of all his published bitcoin works

Hey Guys,

I am looking for a polymerbit 2022 BTC Miami note, please message me if you have one for sale I got to spend some time with Polymerbit at the conference, it was great fun trading some notes with him! He taught me so much about my own note collection, he really knows his stuff that m8. I asked him if he had any of these notes left but he only had number 1! Which of course I only drooled over a little bit  . Anyhow let me know if anything comes up, would love to work out a trade as well!

Thanks,

Tread93

So they have been doing this for the past 3 years and i'm looking on the BTC Mag website for the Miami conference this year and I am sad to not see any mention of BitPay on the vendor list this year. Which would lead me to believe that they are not going to have a collab with APMEX this year and passing out free 1 ounce silver rounds this year....


Could this be true? If so, this is completely tragic and I am now very bummed as I was looking forward to continuing my BitPay/APMEX BTC Miami Rounds collection. Say it aint soo!!!

Recently I was visiting one of my friends who writes code, he brought up this topic to me recently saying that it seems like old wallets are being hacked into, that hackers have targeted older BTC addresses because of their vulnerabilities and lack of security.

I thought that was very interesting and since he is a tech savvy coder his use of relevant jargon and explanation was so good, I just wish I remembered exactly how he put it. I did a quick search though and found this relevant article: https://cryptoslate.com/old-wallets-activate-sparking-fears-of-mass-hack-targeting-bitcoin-veterans/

Could it be that folks have figured out how to crack the codes on these old private keys? IF so, they are seeing some massive pay days, EH?

I mean basically all the information that would pop up will most likely be limited to whatever is online / right here on this forum.

What i'm more curious on is what other questions should I ask or perhaps what questions would you like me to ask Chat GPT on coins in general?

Every day I ask some specific questions about different shipwreck coins/ the history surrounding those coins and getting it from "a coin's eye view" and i've been focusing on colonial history of the Spanish Empire coinage as well as the history in those times because I have a keen interest in the sales of those coins. They are generally very lucrative coins if you know what to look for and who to sell them to. So I am soaking up the information like a spongebob.

I would be happy to ask and am also very curious to know what questions community members in the "collectibles" section would like to ask ChatGPT. Or perhaps you have already asked ChatGPT, in that case please share the questions and responses that you have found interesting I would love to see them. If you think its noteworthy, even if it doesn't directly coorelate with coins per say but just bitcoin or crypto or anything in general you would like to share please don't hold back anything!

Cheers,

TREAD

Sooooo I just took a look at my merit and its exactly 350 as of writing, i'm actually not sure how much I have given out but i'm actually curious now as to what my give/take ratio is! I am trying to be more cognizant of giving credit where credit is due. If anyone has any good posts they think are worthy and deserving of merit would you be so kind as to post it in the comments?

Anyways every time I see that number I just can't help but think of the South Park episode w/ the couple talking about the Lock Ness Monster asking them for $3.50 lmaooooo here is the video on YT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuh8Hip_B3w On another note, has South Park made any Bitcoin references recently? That other one on the Bank of China call in the restaurant about banning bitcoin gets me every time lmao.

Hey Everyone,

I work for a telemarketing coin company that specializes in gold, silver, and other precious metals in all shapes and sizes. Recently my boss has employed Chat GPT to be utilized within our internal systems to make our jobs easier for coin research, script writing, as an assistant, email checking, basically for whatever I want that can help me in my sales efforts. This has been extremely helpful for developing great pitches on limited or one of a kind coins to be used as a reference as needed, seeing as he has many of those types for sale and oftentimes it can be difficult to make someone understand the true uniqueness and rare qualities that make something a great growth asset, that is, something that someone will buy in the hopes that it appreciates in value. I have to always be thinking out of the box because you cannot legally say the word "investment" over the phone for direct consumer telemarketing sales unless you hold a Series 7 license, which I do not. Anyhow this tech has been really helpful in the writing of the pitches that I use only for eye reference when I am literally in the middle of a call with a prospect, or need to answer some question from a numismatic perspective on the fly, etc. Pretty cool fun toy, most sales professionals today don't have this, yet. But I do, and i'm loving it and honestly Chat GPT is so flipping cool!!!!

Anyways, my boss's vision is to utilize the tech to help us sell gold and silver coins via telemarketing, but honestly he has not held back in telling us that these robots can and will replace our jobs if we are not in the top 10% of all the employees lol. This is the stat we are all seeing, and frankly my boss isn't the only one looking at this, I feel like any good company would and should be looking into how this can benefit your business by generating higher profits, but these higher profits come at a cost, and honestly are they even ethical? I mean he isn't the first person to have this idea, this is already literally being done and i've received numerous calls. The tech just isn't there yet, we can detect when a robot is calling us. His intentions with this technology have been made known, and he is working with the AI to literally be used to become the new "account opener" for those not in sales this is simply any new business development. Opening new accounts open new profit funnels to new prospects through qualified paid leads, at least that is how he does it. In this case it is for high value, graded, rare coins. I mean it is literally man vs machine now I feel like, and I have been thinking this or some time. It is scary and weird, but also slightly cool still I guess IDK LOL. A lot of jobs are at risk here. Its not a matter of if but when.

In my opinion you can never replace the pure genuine qualities that only a human can possess. The ability to react with true emotion and feeling and express that in a form of gratitude or empathy towards another and fully understand, based off of their stimulus to you their emotional state and form an appropriate, and true response. This isn't just for sales but any job that needs to be replaced by some mindless and feelingless electric being that is both systematically created and computationally exact. I mean that is valuable but I honestly can foresee a future where these jobs have been replaced but after all is said and done I feel that some companies and people will literally pay a fee to get the human interaction, to get something real and genuine. After all, who can create a meaning relationship with a robot that can take a client golfing or treat out to dinner when conducting such business? This is only a mere example and sort of a niche one at that but you get my point. These are very odd times, indeed.

Can't wait to get some feedback on all this. Okay so the breakdown and what I would love feedback on recap: What do you think of using chat GPT for business and also for phone sales, is it ethical if the end prospect doesn't know they are a robot? Also, will robots replace human jobs to the point that it will put entire industry class professionals out of business? Do you think that the human emotional connection can be replaced by robots?

This is actually a story. I first learned of Bitcoin in Central Park, NY. Someone approached me and my friends, explaining to us what it was but one of the members in our group dismissed it as a scam and we carried on with our day. This was in 2010.

In 2014 a fellow college student sent a message to me and a group of maybe 60 or more people encompassing BTC and its value proposition. While it looked familiar to me I was being studious at the time, trying to simply focus and brushing this message to the side.

In 2017 we saw it on the news rise to 1k, then 2, 3, 4, around that time is when I was working in the corporate world in a corner of a large office building surrounded with cubicles. It was at that moment when I saw my computer screen I stood up when you could literally hear a pin drop in the room. It was in the afternoon and nobody was making calls lol. So I rose and spoke aloud very firmly, and with meaning: "What do you guys think about bitcoin?" At that moment 15 colleagues in the surrounding area instantly jumped up with excitement! Thats when I knew bitcoin was going to be something. I finally realized that this was something truly special. Ever since then I would consider myself somewhat of a "Bitcoin Enthusiast"

From then on I went to form a Bitcoin ATM industry focus when I started seeing BTMs (Bitcoin ATMs) pop up at gas stations all over the place and knew they needed an ISP to conduct their business, which is what my company specialized in. Everybody needs internet. I generated most of my business through Bitcoin ATMs and one Gas to Electric Generator Bitcoin Miner operation. Overall this was a very fun experience, I have since moved on to a new endeavor. I am very excited about this one!

I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse into my past, I am surely having some fun reminiscing. Everyone should make sure to take a little extra time for themselves to stop and smell the roses. Time flys, and in the famous words of Ferris Bueller "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it"

So I now own an Android, I got sick of apple and wanted to change things up.

I'm genuinely interested to know what are the real pros vs. cons on owning one vs. apple?

Especially in the sense for BTC or crypto purposes in, how does android compare for anything crypto related vs. Apple?

Are they way ahead of the game here? Are they behind? I feel like both appear to want to be more crypto user friendly.....


 

What are your top sites where you get your Bitcoin/Crypto news from? Lets just start right off the bat here, only drop links that come from credible sources.

But I am interested to know where do you go to get all the most recent, accurate, and fortifying Bitcoin information from news outlets online? shoot even tabloids and newspaper programs i don't care where the info comes from, a magazine? Anything you think is worth sharing.

Also, I am curious how much time you spend on any given week searching the web for information on current events, future events, news, research, etc on crypto related information.

I'm really looking forward to the feedback on this one. In addition to news sources, feel free to just post any other crypto related sources for readily available information such as countdowns to crypto related events, crypto games, crypto charts, etc etc.

Cheers,

TREAD

I ran across this article from Coin Desk:https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2023/04/28/number-of-bitcoin-held-on-binance-surges-to-record-high-of-692k-btc/

 Market Analyst from Matrix port states that this isn't great news, and that this generally means that large amounts of Bitcoin may be set to be sold. I'm not sure, but that usually is a big indicator. Another point made in the article is that the increased amounts of BTC held on exchanges might renew investors confidence following the FTX collapse 'late last year' trying to make it seem like it was forever ago lol.

I think a lot of folks are still dismayed with all of the current scams casting a shadow on their confidence of crypto. I think things will turn around with time. They are calling for more regulations, which could be both good and bad for us. What are your thoughts on this?

Cheers,

TREAD93

Recently my wife had her wallet stolen, all of our accounts now have fraud investigations going on right now. This whole charade has been fun (not) and I have been spending a considerable amount of time on the phone with the banking institutions, filing a police report, and getting everything transfer to a safeguarded account I already had set up in case something like this happened. The thieves used the no key hack on our car to hack in to the RFID frequency and break into the car to steal her wallet because I know for a fact I had locked it. Gotta be more careful, we now have the RFID fob cover ordered and incoming. 

Thank God its Tax Day and my CPA reached out to me on Sunday already with my tax filing ready to go literally on the very day this happened, I was able to change my banking info to a fallback account so now I will at least have access to money in a few days THANK GOD. I haven't had to tap into any bitcoin luckily because I was able to swap some gold for cash to get by with my employer and now I am just left high and dry on my other banking account, which could be frozen for up to 90 days because they are conducting a full on fraud investigation.

The cool thing is that if I was really in a bind right now and had to pay my mortgage or something like that I have bitcoin to fall back on. Luckily I have everything paid off for the month which bought me some time so I won't have to tap into anything and I do have the tax refund check being processed into my fallback account as we speak. Phew!

Crazy times here. Recently I made a post about being careful and the importance of being anonymous, but I should follow up on that and make a post about the importance of having a fallback bank account in this case. Of course BTC failover account trumps all of the traditional fiat institutions though haha, I'm sure you all would agree. Be safe out there guys, you can never be too careful...

Now more than ever there is a scam everywhere you look. We are online 24/7. Somebody hacked into your stuff, stole something and now you have been robbed, or even worse someone convinced you to willingly send a small or large sum of money to them without getting anything in return. I feel like this should be a topic of discussion simply because this is so prevalent in the crypto category and everyone has their two cents on this. So my simple question is this, in your experience, what are the red flags and tell tale signs that the person you are dealing with is a scammer/fraudster. That is the million dollar question isn't it. How can you tell who to trust, forensic analysis edition is what i'm looking for. Would like to know the answer to this question in every applicable way or fashion that is related to our industry to use as sort of a guide book or study guide, if this exists please produce the source link for all to see. That information is almost priceless.

Okay, so I just have to say it, i'm sure you have all heard the news: https://www.businessinsider.com/man-gets-prison-time-after-caught-stolen-bitcoin-2023-4

Silk road dark web money. There is a microscope on everything you do this guy was risking it all for the money. That is greed. Don't be like this guy.