Usually, I don't stress it when I have a stuck transaction due to low network fees when there's congestion, but this is something new (to me at least).

Normally, when I want to make a transaction in relatively small amounts that are not time-sensitive, I just manually reduce the network fee and wait patiently till the transaction is confirmed.
Now 3 days ago I was about to make a transaction from my trust wallet and the picture below is what I got.


This is not the first time I'm making a transaction when the fee is about $9 worth. And no, the transaction fee is not close to or more than the amount of BTC I want to send.

I'd like to know if this is an "only me" problem or a general problem to all trust wallet users, and also, is there something I can do about it, or waiting till the network feesnormalizee is the only solution I've got?

My trust in Bitcoin grew exponentially when I knew the price history of Bitcoin.
Besides other things, history is one main thing used in technical analysis. You can't analyze a market if you don't know the history of that market. History helps you determine how that market behaves at different points in time.

Bitcoin price history is necessary for all Bitcoiners, but to be a successful holder you have to understand the price history of Bitcoin.
This will help you understand the volatility of Bitcoin.
When you know the price history of Bitcoin you will understand that there is nothing new about the fall and rise of price. Also, the history will let you know that the price always goes back up after a fall and that should help you in your effort to hold Bitcoin.

When you read about the price history you'll see years like 2017 where Bitcoin peaked at just over $19000 from a thousand dollars. The volatility of Bitcoin goes both ways and you can only hold on to your Bitcoin when you know these things.

This is a graph of Bitcoin price in 2014 by Statmuse

In 2014, Bitcoin went from about a thousand dollars to under $200 and finally ended the year at just over $300. This kind of knowledge helps you keep the faith as a Bitcoin holder when the price dips.

[Make sure to carry out your own research before buying any coins]

With the SEC's approval of Bitcoin spot ETF and with the next Bitcoin halving around the corner, we will most likely witness a bull run that has already begun.
According to research, crypto scams flourish during bull runs. This may because the increase in price makes it easy to convince people and greed and FOMO are also other factors that make people to be easily deceived.

Rug pulls and ponzi have been among the most popular forms of scams in these periods.
Some scammers come in the form of traders or trading companies and convince people to invest with them. Don't be naive.
One thing you should know is, if the offer is too good to be true, it's most likely a fraud. Traders don't control the market so no trader can guarantee you an unbelievable profit. They can't deliver those juicy offers they offer.

I know this topic might have been discussed a couple of times on the forum but I just want to emphasize it because of the trend I've been seeing on social media. I have been seeing a lot of crypto influencers advertising shit coins and other crypto projects. Even influencers who know nothing about crypto advertise crypto projects.

It's good to invest but do it wisely and with the right knowledge. Make sure to carry out your own research before buying any coins.

Side note: Try not to keep your investment in an exchange. Make sure to keep them in a noncustodial wallet.

[BUY BITCOIN AND HODL]

Happy New Year to all Bitcointalk forum members.

In the mood of celebration, I thought we should celebrate how far Bitcoin has come.
A look at the price of Bitcoin by years since its inception would help us appreciate the incredible growth of Bitcoin.

2009:
The first users of this Bitcointalk forum traded over 5,000 bitcoins for $5.02. This makes the price to be 0.00099 per Bitcoin.



Bitcoin started the new year at $16,537. In the first month of that year, it got to over $20,000. In April it got to $30,231. On the 12th of December, it got to $43k+ the next day it went down again to $41k. Bitcoin ended the year 2023 on $42k+.

These data were gotten from and you can read the full details of Bitcoin prices in the year on.
Bitcoin Magazine
Investopedia
Bankrate

So you can all see how far the Bitcoin price has come and how volatile it can be. One thing is sure about Bitcoin, however dip it falls, it will still rise again. So it's okay to be scared when hodling Bitcoin, but always have faith that it will rise again.
BUY BITCOIN AND HODL

[Avoid using "send everything" optionIf you are withdrawing funds from an exchange, it is okay.If you're moving funds to another wallet, do not transfer the whole amount to another address. It greatly compromises your privacy.]

I don't know if this has been discussed before here, I checked and I couldn't find it so I'm going to share.

Blockchair
Don't send round numbers
Don't send round amounts. Instead of sending 0.1 BTC, send 0.10125

Use Bitcoin Mixers
Mixers add an additional layer of privacy to a transaction to avoid exposing user identities.

Avoid reusing wallets
Don't send your Bitcoin change to the same address you use for sending bitcoins.

Avoid including many of your addresses in one transaction
Any time you can, try not to send BTC from your various Bitcoin addresses.

Avoid using "send everything" option
If you are withdrawing funds from an exchange, it is okay.
If you're moving funds to another wallet, do not transfer the whole amount to another address. It greatly compromises your privacy.

I transferred all my Bitcoin in a particular wallet to another wallet and I noticed my privacy score was 60%. I decided to see why it was that low. Blockchair gave the above guidelines but I'm more focused on the last point. The reason was that I used the "send everything" option. Blockchair said, "It greatly compromises your privacy". I decided to do further research to understand why this was so.

I couldn't find anything convincing but I found out that using the "send everything" option or "max" in some cases, reveals your entire Bitcoin holdings and it's true. But I still don't know how others will know that's your entire Bitcoin holding without the private key.

Also, it's inadvisable in case of a mistake. If you mistakingly send Bitcoin to the wrong address holding if you use the "send everything" option you could lose everything in that address.

I don't know who this can be useful to but I just decided to share just in case, and I'll also want to know if there are other security or privacy risks in transferring everything out of an address at once.

It should be common knowledge by now that we're not supposed to leave our coins in an exchange, sadly it's not.

Some people feel we should ditch centralized exchanges altogether. I buy into that idea even though I've not fully stopped using them.

I don't quarrel with using centralized exchanges, my quarrel is with leaving your coins in them.

Those of us who gamble might get this better.
When dealing with your online casino accounts, you usually just fund them with the amount you want to use in gambling. It's usually funded from your bet accounts or wallet. You don't leave your winnings in that account. You withdraw them to your bank account or crypto wallet.

The same logic should be applied to your exchange account. Fund it with just the amount you want to trade or exchange. For traders, you can withdraw your profit into your wallet and leave only the amount you want to trade with.

We have an opportunity to have full control of our money. A system different from the traditional banking system, so what purpose is moving from the traditional banking system if you'll just end up keeping your money in a centralized exchange?

[If you make money, get health insurance for you and your family, and insure your assets that are a source of income, businesses. Get a life insurance to secure your family's future.There's a saying " hope for the best and plan for the worst".]

I don't know who needs to hear this but you need to get insurance if you have assets that are your source of income and it can be insurable. This may not mean much to a lot of folks in developed countries because they're familiar with it, but a lot (and I mean a lot) of people in underdeveloped countries don't care about insurance.

I've read stories of people who were okay financially going broke because they have spent all they had to treat an illness for themselves, their children, or loved ones. I'm not saying insurance is our personal lord and savior, but it can help you in tight situations.

Around November last year, I volunteered to join a local and small NGO that was taking food, drugs, and other supplies to flood victims.
For context of how big the flood was, we used speedboats on roads and it was as though we were on a high sea.
Experts gave lectures on how to prepare for a flood and not wait for it to be too late. Some of the people we met told their stories.

We met one woman whose case I found very interesting.
She had a farm; a fishery and a poultry farm. The poultry was much bigger than the fishery. The farm was so big and established it made her thousands of dollars monthly in gross income. The flood took her by surprise, she was able to rescue some feeds and animals, but she lost so much of it.
Now let's ignore the fact that she was careless for not believing the warnings that a very big flood was coming because, in her words "In my 56 years of being alive and my 17+ years of doing this business, I've never experienced the tiniest bit of flood"
Let's focus on the fact that neither her farm nor a single thing on the farm was insured despite generating that kind of income.

Because of the damage we saw, the NGO started a campaign for the government to help these farmers with grants and loans so they can get back on their feet (but y'all know how politics gets). This allowed us to visit this woman at her farm. She's back on her feet, but it could take years to get back to what she was before the flood.
If her farm was insured, it most likely wouldn't have taken her that long.

There are many more people like this. A cab driver loses his care and he's back to square one because that's his source of income. Others get an illness that is expensive to treat and they go broke trying to pay for the treatment.
A husband and father die unexpectedly and leave nothing behind, leaving the wife to struggle alone to take care of the children. This takes a family that was comfortably a middle-class family to a lower-class family.

If you make money, get health insurance for you and your family, and insure your assets that are a source of income, businesses. Get a life insurance to secure your family's future.
There's a saying " hope for the best and plan for the worst".

Bitcoin is not perfect and so is every other innovation man has created.
Not perfect in the sense that it has pros and it also has cons.

"Bitcoin transaction is irreversible". I would have loved it to be, but there are reasons why it's not. Also, a transaction that was made from one bank account to another is irreversible too. So it's not new.

"The bitcoin market is too volatile and unstable"
So are the forex market and stock exchange market.

"Bitcoin is used to commit crimes". (The lamest).
So does the Internet, phones, computers, guns, and all. Even harmless things like vehicles, boats, and ships are used to commit crimes.

Terrorism has always been funded with fiat currencies since before the inception of Bitcoin. You can walk into a bank and withdraw $10k cash from your account and you do not know if the money was deposited into the bank by a human trafficker.
I don't see anybody fighting fiat because it's used to fund terrorism.

Democracy and capitalism are not perfect, but we all want them. Why? Why don't we ditch democracy and practice a perfect system instead?
Every human being having and enjoying their human rights is not perfect so let's ditch that also.

As Bitcoiners, it's okay to accept that Bitcoin has flaws but those flaws do not in any way make it inferior. The fact that about 0.25% of all cryptocurrency activities are associated with illicit activities according to  Chainalysis doesn't make it the "tool for terrorism" as the governments want people to believe.

[THE SITE MUST USE HTTPS]

Maybe there are ways we can successfully avoid phishing emails and links 100%, if there are, I do not know any, but we can verify if the link sent to us is genuine or not.

We all know that THE SITE MUST USE HTTPS.
Emphasis on the "S"
This should be common knowledge.
A site that uses HTTP doesn't necessarily mean it's a scam site, but it most definitely means a site like that is more likely to be compromised.
You might as well just hand over your data to a cybercriminal if you input your data into these kinds of sites.

Tools to use

Use Link Checker Tools.
A link checker tool helps verify if the link is safe or not.
  Google transparency report is a popular link checker. It's easy and fast. Just copy the URL you want to verify the search.


This image clearly shows that there is no unsafe content found on the URL I used "Bitcointalk".

A relatively more advanced link checker tool is URLVOID. This shows what different tools have to say about that website.


URLVoid tels the date of registration and the IP address and also on how many tools has that site been detected as unsafe.


This image shows that this website has been detected by one tool as a malicious link. The higher the detection counts, the higher it's unsafe.

Verify the ownership and how old the site is.
Tools like WHOIS searchhelp you know when the site was registered. A lot of scam sites are relatively new and they may not appear as malicious on URL checker.



Backline Analysis tools.
This is a URL that can take you to a website from another website.
A fake or scam website won't feature on many other websites while the reverse is the case for an authentic site.
Ahrefs site checker is a tool that can be used to check a website's backline profile.

No way a scam website has this many backlines and linking websites.

If you want to read more you can go HERE

If you somehow click on a malicious URL, either by mistake or knowingly, don't panic. In the process of trying to copy the URL to verify you may mistakenly click it, these are a few tips from keeper security

*Do not enter any data
*Don't click on anything on the site
*Disconnect from the Internet
*Do a full scan of your device using a trusted and authentic antivirus software
*Keep an eye on your account for any irregularities.

Bonus Tip:
Don't use one or two passwords for multiple accounts. If you do that, once cybercriminals get hold of one password, they have access to all or multiple of your accounts.
If possible, every account should have its password.

Every other investment I know requires you to have a lot of money before you can make a reasonable profit.
The most popular forms of investment are stock trading and real estate and it's quite expensive to go into.
For you to buy these shares and make a good profit you have to have thousands to tens of thousands of dollars.
Not to mention that you need to have a deeper understanding before you can stand a chance to make it in stock trading.

Some might argue that you can buy fractional shares with the amount you have.
According to Stach these are a few disadvantages of fractional shares.

Limits on when, how, and what you can sell
Fees for trading fractional shares
Lower dividend income and profits
Lack of stock voting rights
Risk of illiquid shares that are difficult to sell
Tax consequences when changing brokerages

This shows how the game is rigged against those who don't have enough money to spend on investment.

I can't say Bitcoin levels the playing for everybody but it gives people an opportunity to have an investment. People that ordinarily wouldn't have been able to have any investment at all.
With Bitcoin, you can just buy with any amount you have and sell whenever and however you want.
I for one wouldn't have had any investment at this point in my life if not for Bitcoin.

For the record, I'm not against investing in other things, if you have the money to invest in other things then by all means please do, but if you don't have it, it's best if you stick to Bitcoin.
And if you'd like to know more about fractional shares, and invest in them, you can start researching here Forbes.

Some people frown at the fact that Bitcoin is being termed an investment because Bitcoin was created to be a currency. They feel Bitcoin might lose its nature as a currency if it continues being an investment. I don't agree with that, but I respect their opinions.
Bitcoin can be both a currency and an investment

We all wish life was easier, but it's not so we've got to make do with what we have.

The degree you want, the career you want, and the business you dream to have won't come easy. I'm of the notion that life doesn't want you to succeed. If you run away from every obstacle then you will never achieve your goal.

I keep seeing forum members make complaints about not getting merits and all. It will be very hypocritical of me to say we shouldn't care about merit and ranking up, but your desire to rank up should lead you in the right direction.
The goal is to learn and grow, then make meaningful contributions that can grow other forum members. It's not going to be easy, and it will take time, but it will be worth it in the end.

This doesn't only apply to the forum but to every aspect of life.
Take a business for example.
The goal of a business is to make a profit but you can't make a profit if certain things are not done right. If you just pursue profit without thinking about other factors, your business will fail.
If your product/service is top-notch, your marketing, packaging, and distribution are done right along with other factors, you will make a profit.
The same thing applies to every aspect of life. A degree, career, or anything at all.

If your first encounter with crypto was a scam altcoin, it doesn't mean you should wash your hand off of crypto. If you're still interested in it, learn from that bad situation and gain more experience from it.

If you previously made an investment in Bitcoin and you lost, it doesn't mean you should give up on Bitcoin; learn from it and re-evaluate your decision.

So don't think Bitcoin and Bitcointalk are any different from life.
You may look at a forum member with legendary rank and you want to achieve that, it's good that that motivates you, but you have to know that they didn't just achieve that overnight. They learned, grew, improved themselves, and improved others to get to that level.
Whatever you want, work hard and smart for it because it won't be handed to you on a platter.

["if your product or service is good, it would sell itself".]

I have heard a lot of people say and believe that "if your product or service is good,  it would sell itself". That's not entirely true. 
No matter how good your product/services are,  if people don't know about it or are not willing to patronize you, then you will have no customers or clients. 
Some companies sell water and market it so well to the extent that people believe it is more nutritional than normal clean water when in fact it may just be water. 

I know people will argue and point out a few companies that don't advertise their products,  yet they're successful, but I tell you for a fact that those companies invest in marketing one way or the other.  They just might have found a formula that works for them since they most likely have a relatively smaller target audience.

If big companies like Google, Coca-Cola, Binance,  Pepsi,  and the rest still invest heavily in marketing,  then how much more you that is still a small business or brand operating on a street in your neighborhood,  or you with a laptop and a phone on your bedroom table?

The rate of Gambling today has increased partly because of the marketing of online casinos and sports betting companies. 
I don't think there's any industry today that doesn't have a high rate of competition.  It is now the survival of the fittest everywhere.
Having a perfect product or service to offer is not the only way to remain in business,  if it were so many companies won't go under. A major reason a business stays in business is through effective marketing. 

"Marketing is expensive,  I don't make much as a business to compete with the rest"

Yes,  I'm well aware of how much it cost to get a billboard,  hire a marketing firm/agency,  get your ad on TV or radio or get an ad space in a magazine, or pay an influencer,  but the world has gone way beyond that and we all know it.  Now,  these mediums listed above are not irrelevant (on the contrary,  they are still very relevant ),  but there are other less expensive and easier ways to market your product. 

Take advantage of the digital world we are in today and put yourself out there.
A simple social media account that posts relevant stuff about your business and interacts with clients and potential clients is marketing.
Very few people on this forum don't use at least one Google product.  Google has made it very easy to market your products and business using "Google ads".  You can put out an ad that gets to your target audience for as low as $10 a month. You can use the cost-per-click (CPC) formula,  that way you'll only pay for an ad when someone clicks on your ad. 
Facebook ads are also very similar.  You can place an ad that costs from $1-$10 per click.  The same goes for youtube ads and many others.
These platforms have very good tools that can help you achieve your goal and achieve the objective set for your marketing campaign. 
These may seem very complicated but they're not.  There are step-by-step guides you can follow.  They also have tracking tools you can use to track the effectiveness of your marketing campaign.
If you can't set it up by yourself or you don't have the time,  you can hire someone to do it for you. 

For your business,  brand, or product to grow you have to make a conscious effort to make it more.  Your service or product has to be superb,  but I believe your marketing needs to be better.
A product is only as good as advertised. 

Ordinarily, I don't like asking questions like this because I feel they're personal questions that should be answered by myself alone but it has been on my mind for a very long time and I have not gotten a solution for it.

I have a friend that works hard. He does two jobs and he makes a lot of money. Most of his money is in a savings bank account where he saves them. He doesn't have any use for it right now so the money is just sitting pretty in that account. Lately, I've been having the urge to advise him to buy Bitcoin with like 40% of his savings and HODL. Holding won't be an issue for him because he has the patience of an old man. He has left the savings in his account for over two years without touching it. Now imagine him transferring that energy to Bitcoin.

The problem is, someone has convinced him to buy altcoins before now, I think in late 2021 or thereabout. He bought three different altcoins for about $500 and now two out of the three coins he bought are worthless. one is worth about $0.045. The price ain't the issue, the issue is these coins are not like Bitcoin that will rise again.
I have explained all he needs to know about Bitcoin to him and he understands. He understands how Bitcoin is not a get-rich-quick scheme, the risk, and the patience involved.
He buys into the idea but I'm still having doubts. I don't want to look like a fraud when things don't work out. I mean, I can speculate about the market all I want, but I can't be sure what tomorrow brings.

So should I go ahead and advise him to buy Bitcoin or I should leave him to come to me himself? Because he will buy it if I ask him to.

[Know the progress of your business]

I had this barber friend in a neighboring hood I lived a few years ago who is a very good barber and has his own barbershop. He does home service from time to time too. He’s really good so he has a lot of customers but at the end of the month he always struggles to pay the rent of his shop. I spent most of my free time with him at his shop so I know the number of customers that walk in for a haircut daily and I know what his rates are, so by calculations, he should be making enough money even after rent and other expenses required to run the shop. So one day when he complains about rent I asked him how much he makes in a week and he couldn't tell me an estimated number.
Long story short, I educated him on how to keep financial records and record every single penny that comes in and goes out of his business. I also made him understand how this can help him cut losses and make more profit.

The point of this whole story is that I have encountered a lot of people who have small businesses and don't even bother about keeping records in their businesses and this single reason could be a hindrance to growing your business.
No matter the kind of business you do, you should be able to know if you are making a profit or running at a loss. After analyzing a distant relative business I found out that she was taking money from another business to sustain another business. In the long run, both businesses will go under. Not only does a good financial record help minimize losses but it also helps lessen the burden of your taxes.

You don't have to be a big corporation before you keep a record of your daily financial transactions. And no, it doesn't have to be a perfect or standard financial record or statement. It could be done in any way you and the next person will understand. It should just include all the money coming into your business and all the money going out of the business in whatever form. At the end of the day, you should be able to know how much you made in total, how much you have at hand at the moment, how much went to your bank account, how much is in the hands of debtors, how much you owe for bills and to your customers or any other person or entity.

An accurate financial record helps you;
Know the progress of your business: It's through the financial record that you know if your little business is safe or about to go under. If your business is safe your records will also let you know how safe you are. When your records have enlightened you on the future of your business then you can now make a decision based on what the financial records show.
Identify income sources and reduce unnecessary expenses: When you look at your financial records at the end of the month and you see the business not heading in the desired direction, then you do something about it, You can either start cutting down expenses that are not necessary or identify the part of your business that generate the most income and put more focus on it.
Allows you to attain complete regulatory compliance: I stated earlier that an accurate financial record helps with your taxes. Of course, you have to pay taxes, but you can't do that accurately if you don't keep an accurate financial record and that might put you and your business in trouble with the regulatory bodies in the future. Not only does our financial record help figure out your taxes but it also supports the items written on your tax returns.

There are many more benefits of keeping financial records and I know it's not the most exciting part of your business but it is essential to your business. It doesn't matter how small your business is, be it, laundry, hair salon, boutique, online store, etc, always keep financial records.

I have always wanted to organize something like a free seminar and educate the owners of small businesses in my community about this but I'm a very introverted and shy person so I don't know how to go about it, please I will appreciate ideas. 

Ethiopia opened six new sectors for FDI. Within two years of the reform $96m in FDI was directly generated. Ethiopia’s Investment Commission also established a mechanism to address investor grievances prior to their escalation to international disputes. This has led to USD 5.4 million FDI retained to date.
The removal of entry restrictions in Myanmar, through a new negative list opening 70 sectors to full foreign ownership and the reduction of FDI screening through a unified investment law, led to a six-fold increase in approved FDI projects between FY 13 and FY 16, from USD 1.4 billion to USD 9.5 billion.

In Sri Lanka, the government adopted a new Inland Revenue Act in 2017 that helped improve tax transparency and administration and eliminated all tax holidays in favor of performance-based investment incentives.
Between 2015 and 2018, Jordan, Iraq, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Armenia, Tajikistan Moldova and Kyrgyz Republic published comprehensive investment incentives inventories meeting standard criteria for transparency, accessibility, comprehensiveness, and sustainability, improving investor confidence.

In Iraq, the establishment of an investor grievance mechanism within the Basra Investment Commission led to USD 220 million in FDI previously at risk of divestment being retained.

In Georgia, USD 80 million FDI at risk was retained following the establishment of an Investment Ombudsman.



https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/investment-climate/brief/investment-policy-and-promotion#:~:text=FDI%20brings%20investment%2C%20jobs%2C%20increased,policy%2C%20legal%20and%20institutional%20environment.

These are instances where policies have led to the growth of foreign direct investments.

Unlike other Asian countries, Hong Kong and Singapore realized a long time ago that foreign direct investments would help their economy grow. They became one of the easiest places for foreigners to do business.

In today's economy, we've seen how much the US and China benefit from FDI, primarily inward FDI. We know that favorable policies are not the only factor that promotes FDI but we can't deny the fact that it's a factor and a very important one. In 2021, the US inward foreign direct investment increased by $506 billion, that's an 11.3% increase.

Money is not the only thing FDI adds to an economy. Technology, new business practices Employment, and knowledge are also a few things FDI adds to an economy.
Obviously, companies coming into a country should be regulated but the regulation should be a little less strict so these companies would be motivated to come and do business.

Every investment has its advantages and demerits, that's why it's an investment, a risk must be involved. Some of these disadvantages include;

• Exposing countries to foreign political influence, especially developing countries.
• It can also influence exchange rates and interest rates.
• It can limit the growth of domestic involvement if they are not able to face the competition.

But if you use the risk/reward concept, the merits of FDI greatly overshadow the demerits.

So, for me, I believe governments of countries should regulate foreign companies and businesses in their country and also regulate their activities. Still, the regulations should not be too strict and unfavorable to the companies if you want to invite foreign business in.

Qatar spent over $200 billion preparing to host the FIFA 2022 world cup. They spent that money on constructing roads, airports, public spaces, stadiums, gas stations, and more. They constructed seven new stadiums and renovated one to make it eight stadiums for the world cup. The cost of building these stadiums has been estimated to be $6.5 billion. They spent $36 billion to construct the Doha metro, and for the Pearl accommodation complex, they spent $15 billion.
While FIFA takes home most of the profit generated from TV rights, ticket sales, and sponsorship deals, it is estimated that FIFA will make $17 billion from the tournament.

There will most likely be an oversupply of some of the infrastructure, especially in real estate. It won't be the first time though. The Maracanã stadium in Brazil was abandoned after the 2014 world cup.

1.5 million people were in Qatar for the tournament but as stated earlier, 100% of the ticket sales go straight to FIFA’s coffer. About $4.6 billion was made from broadcasting and marketing rights and all of that goes to FIFA. During the tournament, FIFA covers most of the cost of running the world Cup but they pay about $1.7 billion to Qatar, the prize for teams that participated in the tournament is included in this money which is $440 million.

Since there were 1.5 million visitors in the Gulf country for the tournament, there will be a positive cash flow in tourism sales for hotels and restaurants and an increase in the sales of souvenirs and other consumption in general. The increase in investment and consumption should increase the taxes in the Qatar state budget but with the enormous tax breaks agreed with FIFA and its sponsors Qatar will not make much from that either. The exact loss on tax revenue is impossible to ascertain.

From November 1 till the end of the world cup, people without a match ticket were not allowed into Qatar, which means non-world cup tourists did not contribute to the GDP of Qatar through consumption. Other decisions were made that did not contribute to the cash flow. For example, from November 10th to December 23 the bus and metro access was free of charge for people with a Hayya card. This is a fan ID that allows ticket holders entry into Qatar and the stadiums.

Putting these into perspective, we can say that the FIFA 2022 world cup is not profitable to Qatar. In the short term, where most of the cash flow goes to FIFA, it does not make financial sense for Qatar to host the world cup.

On the other hand, for a country like Qatar, getting money from the world cup was never a goal for hosting the world cup, for obvious reasons. They're a small country with an abundance of money. They did all these based on the national vision 2030 plan. The plan includes improving the country's standard of living and its international relations

Not only does the vision 2030 plan include hosting the world cup and improving the standard of living while also improving international relations, but Qatar also plans to attract future sporting and cultural events. This is evident in the fact that Doha has been chosen as the host city of the 2030 Asian games. With the infrastructure they now have, they are in a pole position to bid to host other sporting competitions.
Five out of the eight stadiums constructed for the world cup will either be dismantled or converted for alternative purposes.

While for FIFA, short-term profit is a goal, the same cannot be said for about a country like Qatar.
They can afford to shoulder the losses incurred from hosting a world cup.
The fact that Qatar is not making financial profit from hosting the world cup, doesn't mean they have nothing to gain from it
Qatar's public debt will decline by 6.8% over the next four years. The infrastructural project will lead to positive cash flow in tourism, investment, consumption, employment, etc. The aim of all these is to reduce the over-dependency of Qatar on oil and gas. This will create new opportunities in other industries.

According to experts, Qatar's GDP will rise by 4.1% by the end of 2022. And will increase by 3.2% from 2022 to 2030.
Qatar's stock exchange (QSE) also increased up to 24% from the beginning of the year til mid-2022.

Aside from the fact that Qatar spent an absurd $229 billion in preparation for the world cup, none of these is a big surprise. For a host country, a world cup is not solely about making money and profit but about pride, honor, and publicity, and Qatar has achieved that, especially publicity because they just hosted what is arguably the best world cup ever.

[Only invest what you can afford to lose]

According to finbold, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Tesla and Alphabet companies have lost a combined total of $3.4 trillion this year alone. These stats are only relevant to this post because I just want to use it to show that losses cannot be eliminated entirely.

While losses cannot be totally eliminated, it can be controlled and as well avoided to an extent. As a crypto trader one thing you should not do is leave your funds in exchanges. This cannot be emphasized enough. The least you can do is keep your coins in a decentralized wallet. The best is making use of an offline wallet.

There are common guidelines that are mostly overlooked but can be very beneficial if you adhere to them

Only invest what you can afford to lose
This saying is very common among gamblers. While investing and gambling have differences they also have similarities and this is one of them. It's too risky and even foolish to take your whole fortune into an investment when you know fully well you have nothing to fall back on.

Invest in Cryptocurrencies with long term potential.
Carry out thorough research of the project you are about to invest in. Do the work yourself too, don't just rely on speculations of other people because at the end of the day everybody will say what they think is right.

Try to have emergency funds
Emergency funds are funds kept somewhere else so you can fall back to them in case everything else fails.  Like i said earlier, losses cannot be 100% eliminated so having an emergency fund is like having an insurance and it should be able to take care of you for like 3-6 months till you get back on your feet

Diversify your investment
I know some crypto enthusiasts will say most of your money and investment should be in crypto because crypto is the future ( well I believe crypto is not just the future but the present) but I am not of that school of thought. There are other things that are what investing it aside crypto. Among all the investments available today, crypto is on the list of the most volatile. While this can lead to heavy profit, it can also lead to heavy losses.

Do not use Leverages (Especially for those new to trading)
Leverage are borrowed money which you would payback with a fee after investing with it. This is one major reason a lot of traders go under and are drowning in debt. Despite the relatively huge profit that can come from it, I don't think it is worth the risk.
Read more about leverage here.
https://b2broker.com/news/what-is-leverage-trading-in-crypto/#:~:text=in%20an%20example.-,What%20Is%20Leverage%20In%20Crypto%20Trading%3F,100%20times%20their%20account%20balance.



Trading in the crypto market when everything is flourishing and the charts keep going up is easy. The trouble comes when the market takes a downturn, that's when it gets frustrating. It gets worse if the market keeps going down for a prolonged period. There are a couple of things a trader can do in a bear market to try and get some good out of a bad situation (afterall, if life gives you lemon, make it lemonade)

Buy the dip
A bear market is the best time to buy the dip. It is when you can buy different coins at relatively lower prices. This doesn't mean you can buy any coin available. No, don't do that. Like it's been said earlier, invest in cryptocurrencies with long term potential and also coins that have potentials of going up again.

Now you should use the “dollar-cost average” (DCA) strategy to invest. DCA is initially investing a certain amount of money in a predefined asset and at predefined intervals. Instead of taking your money and investing in a project one time, you divide it into smaller sums that can be invested at different intervals.

For example, If you have $5000 dollars to invest in a particular coin, you can divide it into five and invest $1000 periodically or divide it into ten and invest $500 intermittently.
You can read more on dollar-cost averaging here
https://cointelegraph.com/news/what-is-dollar-cost-averaging-dca-and-how-does-it-work


Your investment should go to different crypto assets.
We talked about diversity in your investment previously. Now the part of your investment on crypto should also be diversified. Don't just stick to one coin.

Do not panic
Keep a cool head (this is easier said than done). It may sound simple but its one of the most difficult things to do in a bear market. When you panic in these situations, you make poor decisions and make more losses. The crypto space of social media are with FUD so be mindful of what you take in.


https://www.cryptotradingbook.com/how-to-avoid-losing-money-in-crypto/

https://bitpay.com/blog/crypto-bear-market-strategies/

$1.9 billion have been reportedly withdrawn from binance in the past 24 hours. This may be just be FUD and nothing is actually going to happen but we all know no matter the times we're in it's never advisable to keep your money in exchanges. I've seen this warning so much you'll think everybody knows this by now.
Please take you money off exchanges, not just binance. 

https://www.reuters.com/technology/binance-sees-withdrawals-19-billion-last-24-hours-data-firm-nansen-says-2022-12-13/?utm_source=reddit.com

According to “All Football”  every team that participates in this year's FIFA world cup gets nine million dollars with the winner of the tournament going home with forty two million dollars. Here is a breakdown of the prize money in US dollars
Group stage - 9 million
Round of !6 - 13 million
Quarter final - 17 million
Fourth place - 25 million
Third place - 27 million
Second place - 30 million
Winner - 42 million.

When I looked at these numbers it got me thinking about how much awareness it would create for bitcoin if this money was paid in bitcoin to these teams. Would we ever live in that kind of world?

As a freelancer that just got a digital skill like digital marketing, copywriting, project management, graphics design, content marketing etc with no real experience how do you get jobs. Nobody or if any, very few people entrust their work to a rookie with no experience whatsoever. The only way one can be a pro at a skill he just learnt is by doing the work consistently for a while.

So to people here who are successful freelancer today, how did you do it? How were you able to get gigs when you were new to the field? I know what worked for Mr A may not necessarily work for Mr B but I'd really appreciate your insight.