[Main purpose for this thread is to set the record straight for newbies]

Recently, there have been alot of discussions around bitcoin halving and what the expectations will be as regards to the value of bitcoin, and is no longer News that bitcoin reached the blockseize for halving cycle over the last 24 hours, and significantly speaking there have not been any sign of bitcoin price increase which is not expected anytime soon.
Main purpose for this thread is to set the record straight for newbies
Never get is twisted bitcoin halving is not an auto mode for bitcoin price increase and no one should expect anything out of the ordinary for bitcoin just because the network just recorded it new blockseize rewards, although bitcoin halving have always been speculated to birth new all time high, but it is not 100% certain that we must achieve such ATH each time there is a halving cycle, at least reading through history have proven that already.
My advice
Don't buy bitcoin because you assume that bitcoin price will skyrocket after bitcoin halving, that is a wrong mentality that could lead to depressing results if that failed to happen.

Just for discussions and ways to educate or share knowledge with ourselves when and how to draw the line when gambling,  because for some reasons, some gamblers have arrived at unstable realities because of the lack of stoppage time while gambling so let's talk.
When do you stop?
Some stop gambling immediately the record a big lose, while others continues when they lose with hope of recovering.
Some other gamblers stop playing when the win they first few games, while other continue to chase the loses, and technically ww can tell in accuracy when this things happens, but when is the best time to stop gambling and take a break?

1-when you lose?
2- when you win?

The issues with the high network fees have been persistent for a while now and records have it that this is not the first time this is happening in the Bitcoin network, but since this high network congestion has been mostly associated with the Bitcoin market rise/increase, it is pertinent for us to formulate a tool that can help us sail through this phase of the network experience and also build an experience that will help us through similar situations in the future.
For an early Bitcoin adopter, it is essentially important to start up with the right mentality and approach to avoid using all your Bitcoin savings for paying fees just because you want your transaction to go through at all costs, for for me, the advice is make no transactions and keep holding since the goals are for long term accumulation so that that to be achieved there is need for patient and resilience, by saving up with no transaction record.
Just my two cents, I don't know who needs to read this.

Hey newbies and OGs, just i quick reminder of the current condition of the Bitcoin network and what it is like with the hike in transaction fees and network congestion.
First, as the title states clearly that Bitcoin network fees are not high but it is you as a holder who can't afford it, the reason being that many newbies and some few old members have mistaken this current network condition to mean a crisis, the reality of things is that, most Bitcoin old term holder are not complaining because they already have experience of how the Bitcoin networks work per time, and if they want to make a transaction they rather just pay high fees and move on rather than paying low fees with long time of waiting because a lot of transaction volumes that have higher fees than yours are already broadcast into the network so it takes long time before getting your transaction confirm.
I hope that a long time from now, most newbies will stop making news from this kind of temporary network congestion, and start focusing more on how to contribute to making the Bitcoin network cleaner and globally adaptable to all, for me I don't see any negativity in bitcoin but rather a lot of opportunity to develop along with Bitcoin as an alternative among another alternatives.

Lately, there has been some development here in the integration of AI in trading on some stock assets and cryptocurrencies, and to a large instead, AI has ground in acting and executing trades and recording profits, but it has not been for long so as we can't tell what the success rate will be, but for the fact that the reality on the ground has shown and proven their existence in trading stock, so as that which one will you prefer if AI is proven to be effective.
Will you prefer to trade with AI or you prefer to do the trading yourself?

[The role Bitcoin played in Getting financial help to the victims:]

As the crisis in  Sudan persisted and countries tried to evacuate their citizens in the troubled country, an unexpected event played out that Bitcoin become the only way to reach some victims who were trapped in the desert with no money or bank networks.
This is the situation with some Africans who are currently trapped in the desert at the moment since the buses evacuating them stopped in the middle of the desert leaving the Nigerians who were running from the crisis to have no choice but to look for alternative ways to continue their journey back home or ease their pain while waiting for another rescue, the situation is more worst because most of those involved have no money left on them and they were relying on the government arrangement to get them back from Sudan to Nigeria but at the moment reports have it that the buses drivers have stopped the journey halfway and for the past 3 days most of the Nigerians have been left in the middle of deserts left to fend for themselves.
The role Bitcoin played in Getting financial help to the victims:
Some of those on the evacuation journey have to reach out to families and well-wishers seeking for funding to help ease their pain and since there are no bank networks in the desert and no way to send or receive fiat money, I suggested the use of Bitcoin to get money across to a friend who is stuck, and all we needed to do was to send the money to his Bitcoin wallet without any restrictions or delays.
The Bitcoin was received within a short time, and this gave me more satisfaction using Bitcoin in the time of crisis, the only problem is how he can exchange the Bitcoin and make payments that will help his struggle in the desert but the joy is that he now has access to funds through Bitcoin, and the stress to exchange into any local available currency or using Bitcoin to make payment on p2p if he meets anyone that use and accept Bitcoin is far more better and lesser worries, than the troubles of not having access to money at all.
Indeed Bitcoin is a life savior.

For those asking for link, you can watch this video to get the clear picture of the nature of things with the Nigerians stranded im the deserts.
https://twitter.com/nigeriantribune/status/1651601215019532290
And as for those who doubt my write up, its all good since it was a personal friend's supports.
I was just trying to portray the ability of Bitcoin to connect people financially even though the other party may not be able to use it to sort out they financial challenges at that point, but I guess having something to rely on is far better, were all hopes is lost and the person is vulnerable in time of crisis.

As Bitcoin awareness spread across many geographical locations and the quest to tap into the many advantages Bitcoin presents, knowing the importance of knowledge in the entire journey be it governments or at the individual level bitcoin has proven to be the best alternative where there is no restriction to the financial freedom of the individuals.
The fact that bitcoin transactions are made secure and transparent via the blockchain and as an emerging development there is a need to have an in-depth knowledge of the subject matters, so we can be able to handle our daily financial transactions without any restrictions or third-party involvement given p2p freedom.
So I am looking for a university where I can run a master's degree in bitcoin since I already have an undergraduate degree, I was thinking El Salvador will be the best country to expect such a university because El Salvador is 100% bitcoin-friendly please any suggestions?

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
So i decided to start this short thread to speculate on BTC Christmas price cycles pull back, if you study Bitcoin market chart in 2017 the present Bitcoin price is the same, but in 2017 Bitcoin before the month of November 2017 was on a bullish market trend and some form of sell pressure hit the market during the Christmas holidays.
But this year, 2023 Bitcoin hard a strong resistant price level during the period of 20th to 25th which is Christmas most activities and time for family shopping and family spending where the banking system may pause a constraint to effective transactions and alternatives are sort after, Bitcoin and other digital assets become the order of the season which make Bitcoin price to pull back.
This year Bitcoin price is stabilized at around 16,000 + which is a good resistant level and a benchmark that represents previous years' bullish all-time high price.
Is this an indication of the bullish market in the year 2023 where Bitcoin will break 20,000 in the early weeks of the year?

CoinMarketCap, a leading market researcher and tracker in the crypto industry, announced the launch of a new feature on its platform that gives users updated financial insights on exchanges.

The proof of reserves (PoR) tracker audits active cryptocurrency exchanges in the industry for transparency on liquidity at a given moment. According to the announcement, the tracker details the total assets of the company, and its affiliated public wallet addresses, along with the balances, current price and values of the wallets.

CoinMarketCap reports the PoR trackers will update data every five minutes. On Nov. 22, the company tweeted a guide for users on how to navigate the tool.

As recent unfavorable events in the cryptocurrency market in the past few days-weeks get more tough, with cryptocurrency businesses crashing and funds getting locked up on exchanges, coin market capitalization one of the leading cryptocurrency researchers and databases watch have introduced a new feature on the site, we're cryptocurrency users can see exchanges reserve and public wallet balance.
This development was announced on the platform tweeter handle.

this development from the coin market cap is a welcome development since recent events show that the CEO of exchanges is taking funds that are available for the running of the exchanges and putting it into other ventures or financing their personal lifestyle. E.G FTX exchange situation.
With this feature, the current financial conditions of exchanges are made public even though this can not solve the problem of exchange crashes and hacks in totality it will help to monitor their current balance to see what their reserve hold.

Hey guys! Lately I have noticed a trend on one or two occasions and I am curious to ask for your opinion on this particular issue of casinos that do not have an ANN thread in this forum, where discussion on the progress and development of the casinos and also serve as a feedback mechanism to handle issues resulting from members' activities on their site.
I don't know if this topic has been discussed before, if it has, please point me to the thread where the topic has been discussed otherwise please leave your views here in the comment section.
Some of those casinos already hard a running signature campaigns in the forum but yet doesn't have an active ANN thread or a representative in the forum, so how do players deal with issues from the site, should we contact the campaign managers each time there is a problem from those casinos?

[MY FINDINGS ON PM OFFERS]

This thread is born out of my personal experience and observations on PM offers on this forum.
For the past few weeks back I have received various offers through personal messages on this forum, asking me to rent out my signature, avatar, and personal text space to promote their brand on this forum so I went into research to access the risk and the benefits that will come with such offers. And I thought of dropping my views on PM offer here on the beginner and help section to help beginners and older members that may receive such offers through PM!

MY FINDINGS ON PM OFFERS
Advantages of PM offer:
1: Pm offer to rent your signature and avatar space is high paying than signatures campaign managed by a forum manager in most cases but not in all cases.
2: PM offer may be long term contract like 2 years offer
3: some offer to pay in advance but this is a rear situation it doesn't happen in most cases.

 Disadvantages of PM offer
1: possible promotion of scam projects that will destroy your reputation in this forum.
2: possibility of not getting paid since you are not under the management of any manager, or using an escrow.

Conclusion:
Newbie and other forum members should be careful and always do a due diligence investigation about any offer through you receive through your PMs as that is one of the ways some companies both legit and scam companies approach forum members to promote their project on this forum and i think for the sake of your forum reputation it is better you only enrolled on legitimate projects.

Since 2009 when Bitcoin was launched by satoshi, Bitcoin has performed better than most physical currencies.
Why I create this thread is to define the role of decentralized digital currency like Bitcoin as an alternative currency in the economy, and to dispute the claim by some Bitcoin haters that discard Bitcoin as a none physical represented currency and only exists on the Internet.
But Bitcoin has out performed most physical currencies such as the dollars and the rest of other centralized currencies. Due to the decentralized nature of Bitcoin it allow bitcoin to be use anywhere and at any time without any restrictions.
Bitcoin perform the role that other currencies can not serve any purpose, take for example if you leave and saved your money in your local bank currencies and it happens that you traveled to another country you may have problem with apending your money and tou bank savings may become useless and the only option will be Bitcoin as the only alternative.

Note: this explanation was born out of my own personal experience, and i hope others here will share similar experience too!

One of the things I hate most is speculations and I try as much as possible to avoid an entry that will make me speculate on the price of Bitcoin, so at that, I try as much as possible to have an entry price that will make me look away from the market for a long time and just be at peace holding my bitcoin in my wallet.
Knowing fully well that with Bitcoin I have the best alternative currency to spend at any time without any third-party involvement like the bank.

[Even though, proof of stake have a high-security disadvantage that makes room for more centralization of the networks aimed at eliminating mining in the networks and replacing it with stakes this allows those with the highest stakes to control the network.]

I am attracted to the study of Bitcoin energy usage and how Bitcoin clean-up energy has reduced Bitcoin energy usage and helped to improve the entire proof of work algorithm, and how to debunk the false claims from the sponsorers of proof of stake as a replacement to proof of work.
Even though, proof of stake have a high-security disadvantage that makes room for more centralization of the networks aimed at eliminating mining in the networks and replacing it with stakes this allows those with the highest stakes to control the network.
I recommend this site for any newbies looking for a place to build good knowledge about Bitcoin and how the entire network works, I spent a lot of time on the site and I read a lot of articles that contain a wide range of different important topics on Bitcoin clean energy usage and other topics as it relates to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
I am glad to have found this charity campaign that will help to push out quality information to the general public, that will discredit the falsehood being peddled around the cryptocurrency community.
Read a whitepaper on bitcoin green energy projects.

https://bitcoin.energy

You can take a look at the campaign thread here!

BitcoinCleanup.com is a nonprofit website that debunks myths about Bitcoin's energy use and spreads information about Proof of Work.

This is a free campaign; you do not get paid for wearing these materials. You should wear them to help the cause.

@NotATether am glad to see you bringing this campaign here.

[Introduction:]

Greetings to the entire Bitcointalk community, this thread is motivated by personal experience with cryptocurrency (Bitcoin).

          Introduction:
You can depend your life on Bitcoin that is why Bitcoin is referred to as decentralized and independent!
I have read so many comments on how risky it is to depend your life and finances on Bitcoin even on this forum some members have made such wrong comments without adding any explanation to what reason it is to make such comments and assumptions thst can mislead newbies  and building a wrong minset in some of the established members of this forum and some other cryptocurrency communities, let me educate you, that is a wrong assumption of Bitcoin and the entire cryptocurrency anyone still believing that is on the wrong part, we have so many aspects in Bitcoin that one can build a stable life with, both in the technical aspect and theoretical terms.
Bitcoin is a financial giant that encompasses so many scopes let's say e g bitcoin mining farm it build a long-term technical knowledge in the operators and exposes your to latest technologies or setting up and exchanging both peer-to-peer and centralized trading exchanges this can give you a long-term goal that will last you a lifetime, bitcoin is an industry which is why knowledge is an important tool to have a sustainable life in the industry knowing what to do alone have helped you solve half of your problem.

Have a pleasant weekend!

[INTRODUCTION]

                  INTRODUCTION
There is no doubt in the fact that exchange and other Bitcoin payment gateways have contributed 80% to Bitcoin adoption globally and 150% in African countries.

This thread is aimed at the contribution of cryptocurrency exchange and payments gateways in Africa a case study of Nigeria and the Central Africa Republic.

                                 THESIS
1: NIGERIA

The impact of cryptocurrency exchange and other Bitcoin payment gateway in cryptocurrency adoption in Africa and Nigeria the African most populous country and biggest economy in Africa, which rank the highest in cryptocurrency trading and highest in Bitcoin adoption majorly among the youths. Even though the Nigerian central bank stopped banks from providing Bitcoin-related services, exchanges like Binance and other payment gateways like Luno, Patricia, and Remitano have continually provided a platform for Nigerians to get involved with Bitcoin trading which participates in a reduction in youth dependency on the government thereby reducing the impact of unemployment on the youths and the government as a large number of employable youths now find alternative sources of income in Bitcoin trading and other cryptocurrency businesses.


2: CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

The Central Africa Republic is the second country to make Bitcoin a legal tender second to el Salvador and has a relatively positive mindset towards Bitcoin and the invention surrounding Bitcoin development and how to work around it to see more economic and alternative financial ecosystem that will allow small and large scale businesses in the country.
The country has a low internet penetration of about 11% and a low electricity supply of about 14% this factor has made the economic conditions of the citizens to be below the poverty level, and have turned to a global economic tool like Bitcoin as an alternative. And mostly the unemployed youths are largely involved in Bitcoin trading on major cryptocurrency exchanges and p2p platform.

As a day trader or a passive trader, most are confused about how to make the best out of the market, and many will always complain of losses during a bear market, meanwhile with the right mastery one can make massive profits in the bear market and this goes further to clarify the fact that market conditions do not have much to.do with your profit maximizing but proper market mastering is what gives profits in whatever market.

I have been away from the altcoin market since the beginning of the bear market, but at the moment I have some spear money to fill my altcoin bag and I am looking for the best coin in the market worthy of. my investment at this moment?
Am also looking for a coin that has a good use case and serves as a utility token to a project with a large community of supporters.

Not your keys not your Bitcoin, and you don't have Bitcoin if your Bitcoins are on exchange wallets.
If you read through the Bitcoin white paper you will discover that Satoshi's statement on Bitcoin exchange is by p2p and did not mention anything like centralized exchanges, this is because Satoshi Nakamoto know the importance of holding your Bitcoin in your wallet, and not on the exchange, this is so because the Bitcoin on exchange is like your money in your bank account which involves third party involvement, as you all know Bitcoin original idea is to eliminate third party involvement in our financial dealing.
So for highly secure and privacy-consciousness use only p2p to exchange Bitcoin and hold your Bitcoin in your wallets.

[LEDGER]

As the 2022 bear market persists, crypto exchanges announce losses in revenue such as coinbase and binance.
A Hardware crypto wallet firm LEDGER has announced the highest shipment of its hardware wallet in 2022, amid the present bear market the CEO Pascal Gauthier went further during an interview with coin telegraph that the 2022 bear market has a heavy impact on centralized exchanges since users of those exchanges are moving funds off the exchange because of the fear losing they funds and optioning to store them on a hardware wallet where they have control of the private keys this results into the increase in the demands of the ledger hardware wallet presently.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/hardware-crypto-wallet-sales-increase-as-centralized-exchanges-scramble