I often see people talk about how they want to be rich or at least improve their finances, and how to do it. As much as I believe there is no single secret to being financially free, one thing I believe you have to do is improve yourself. No matter the field you are in, you can only be rated higher if you continue to improve at what you do.
If it means learning a skill or getting a degree, or whatever qualifications are needed, you have to be very good at it. Nobody wants to hire a mediocre. If you're going to be mediocre, then you have to be comfortable with mediocre pay, but if you want more, you have to be better and know your worth.

I see people talk about how the world has changed, and you don't need to work so hard to be rich. Don't let anybody deceive you, money is one thing that is always going to be hard to come by, and people will always need to work hard to earn money. People mistake the term "work smart" to mean you don't have to work hard; that's wrong. Working smart means you have to work as hard as possible, but you have to be smart about it.
When we look at athletes, we only see when they perform and how easy and soft their lives are; what we don't see is the hours they put in to be where they are. They train for hours almost every day of the week. They push themselves to be better at all times, and that is the attitude we should always have in whatever field we are in.

There is always room for improvement. Have an open mind that is always willing to learn and hungry to learn. Compete with yourself to be better than you were previously, or you are currently, at what you do.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5539858.msg65327917#msg65327917
This is why I always advise people to know how much they spend a day, a week and a month. This is the only way you can have proper financial planning that will help you. Most people just use the money as it comes without knowing how they're spending it, that's why most time the money they made just finishes and they can't say what they used it for.

A few weeks before I made that post, I was having a conversation with someone related to bills, and when I told him how much I spend on food for the week, he screamed, "Why will you spend that much on food alone a week?". I asked him how much he spends a week, but he couldn't give me a specific range, and I told him he doesn't know he spends that much because he hasn't sat down to calculate how much he spends on feeding a week. He just spends the money without carefully planning for it.

It doesn't matter how rich you are, you can't have a good personal financial plan or budget or whatever without knowing how much you spend on certain things for a period of time, preferably, one week or one month.
Try to know all the things you spend money on and how much you spend on them. I'm talking about everything, including how much you spend on the gym, drinks, movies, food, utility bills, rent, tuition fees, tuition loans repayment, investments, gambling, and anything at all that you spend money on regularly. In my opinion, this is the first step to a financial plan. It is after you've known how much you spend that you can decide to make decisions based on what you know.

It may seem like too formal work, but it really isn't that deep. You don't need to make financial books nd all that, just a simple run down of things you spend money on a month and how much you spend is enough.
It doesn't have to be a specific number, it is usually a range. For example, you can say you spend 70-100 on gambling a month.

I saw this story on Twitter, I don't know how true it is but I want to share it as a reminder just in case it benefits anybody here. I know we talk about it all the time and it should be common knowledge by now


Whoever this person is, he clicked on a link on Telegram, and all his money is gone. We can't stress it enough how unsafe it is to have so much money in your wallet and link those wallets to different giveaways and airdrops. If you must, make sure you have a separate wallet where you can store your money and a different wallet that you can use for airdrops, giveaways and others.

Try as much as possible not to click on unverified links. There are so many scams and hackers in the industry waiting for you to make a mistake.


I think I kind of agree with that twitter user that said the crypto market is full of scams. We cannot be too careful. You can lose your lifes work in a day and there is a 95% chance you wont get it back.
If you go through the thread youll see people posing as recovery service and you have to pay them to recover your stollen money, please dont fall for it. You'll only get scammed again.
Twitter under Elon Musk is not helping matter too. There are too many bots and they do nothing to get rid of the bots.
You can go through the thread here

I've been hearing a lot about Trump and other world leaders, big corporations, and countries and how they can impact Bitcoin and make it grow. While I agree that these people can impact Bitcoin, Bitcoin does not revolve around them.

Bitcoin has grown so much without a federal reserve from the US or China. In less than 15 years bitcoin got a market cap of over $1 trillion without having presidents pushing for it or a leading economy having a bitcoin reserve, so why does it now seem like without these people or these things bitcoin can't get bigger than it is currently? Bitcoin got to this level in a time when there were so many regulations and scepticism, a time when some people made it their side hustle to make sure they shit on bitcoin, despite all these, bitcoin soared.

The point I'm trying to make is that Bitcoin will keep growing and getting bigger without reserves so we shouldn't see these things or people as the authors and finishers of bitcoin. Don't get me wrong, I'm fully aware of the significance of a bitcoin reserve in the US, but bitcoin doesn't need a reserve to succeed. It simply needs the market to keep trusting in it. Even with a reserve and people don't trust it, it will be worthless.
The reason for the talk of reserves and the reason for big corporations getting into bitcoin is to make a profit, which means they need bitcoin to make a profit, but bitcoin doesn't need them to grow and that's why I said they need bitcoin more than bitcoin needs them.

So I've been seeing a lot of talks about how Bitcoin has lost or is losing its identity because it is now regarded as an asset and not as a currency. I used to see the discourse a lot before but recently I've been seeing it more (don't know if it's just me). I have made a couple of replies on posts related to something like this on the forum.
So I really want to understand how Bitcoin has lost its identity.
There is nothing that has stopped bitcoin from being used as a currency. Certain factors make it difficult for businesses to accept bitcoin as a means of payment but I don't think the fact that it's regarded as an asset is one of them

From what I understand, these two features are not mutually exclusive. In the sense that Bitcoin can be an asset and can also be a currency. Just as the dollar is an asset and also a current. The difference, Bitcoin is a better asset than the dollar. I was not opportune or smart enough to be among the early adopters of bitcoin, so I'm going to ask a question to people who were, was there ever a time that people bought bitcoin for the sole purpose of using it just as a currency?
Like when they bought the coin, they had no expectation or hope of bitcoin appreciating so they could make a profit? I doubt that and if they did, then Bitcoin was always an asset from the beginning and also a currency.
So at what point did bitcoin start losing its identity?

I read a post by DrBeer and it got me thinking about something else but similar so I decided to read up on it and in the course of that reading up, I came across an article that had me asking the question on the topic.
When governments of the world and big corporations are trying, but failing to discourage people from a particular thing, do they use different ways like articles from respected people and companies to try and subtly discourage people from that thing?

This article in question is against "Gold and bitcoin". It called gold and bitcoin "useless assets".
Gold and bitcoin are both useless asset classes.
I wouldn't have had any trouble if he spoke against bitcoin alone because I see articles daily shit-talking bitcoin, but including gold defeats his purpose. It was funny because he couldn't even say anything reasonable against bitcoin, not to talk of gold.
His main and I think only point is that these assets are investments for punters (gamblers). it's just a classic case of a person talking too much without actually saying anything.  

Let nobody fool you, with the world in economic uncertainty, and local currencies nose-diving, gold and bitcoin are not bad assets to have. I don't know much about gold investments but from my research, I found out that they usually rise when there is an economic crisis that causes inflation that reduces the value of the dollar.
From 2008 to 2010, gold prices went up over 70% due to the Great Recession. Also at the peak of Covid in 2020, gold increased by 29%. Investopedia

I'm assuming we all know that Ethereum spot ETF was approved to start trading today on American exchanges. So I'd like to know what impact this would have on the price of ETH. Also, will the approval have an impact it has on Bitcoin when it is approved? We remember how bitcoin skyrocketed that period to about $71k. With Eth trading at about $3500 now, will it at least get to a new ATH of about $5k? Or will it just be the same thing as it is now?

Also, would this have an impact, directly or indirectly on the prices of other coins on the Ethereum blockchain?

Recently, I have seen often talking about how Bitcoin is not going up fast enough, I usually see this mostly on social media. I haven't really seen it on this forum but I'm bringing it here just in case there are people here who have similar views

Almost exactly a year ago, the Bitcoin price was $30,534 on the 27th of June 2023. This was a year ago and at the time, this was a pretty impressive price because Bitcoin just hit $30k. A year from that time bitcoin is at $61, 423 (at the time of writing), that's a 100% increase in price and a 100% profit if you invested at the time.
A few months ago, we were celebrating Bitcoin at $40k, so how come now that Bitcoin is at $61k we're unimpressed? How is $60k looking ordinary when the previous ATH before this year was $69k?

I understand that we all want Bitcoin prices to skyrocket (which it's actually doing), but that doesn't mean Bitcoin is performing poorly. A lot of people expected Bitcoin to get to $100k immediately after the halving, but by history, it's usually not so.

In conclusion, this post is for two sets of people;
Those who believe it's too late to invest in Bitcoin because you can clearly see how Bitcoin has grown in price in the past year.
Secondly, the post is mainly for those who believe Bitcoin is underperforming because it's not at all.

A lot of people make the mistake of signing contracts or making business deals without involving a lawyer, which is not very prudent.

In whatever deal or contract you're getting into, make sure your lawyer is aware of it and make sure he/she has gone through the contract and gives you the go-ahead to sign before you sign, even if you feel you understand the contract very well.
It doesn't matter if it's a start-up, expansion, acquisition, selling of an asset or business, signing for a firm etc. Anything at all that involves you or your business and another party carrying out a business transaction.

Another mistake people make is not defining and understanding the terms of the contract before signing. This is where lawyers come in handy. You're not expected to know every business law, so there are a few details you might miss, details that can be against you in the future. Also, laws differ from region to region, so a law that favours you in your region may be against you in the region where you're doing business.

Some people involved a lawyer when things have already started going south. This is also not wise. Having a lawyer from the beginning may protect you from trouble.
It's okay if you can't afford the most expensive lawyers or firms to represent you or your business, but just make sure whoever you're hiring is competent enough

Five reasons you should involve your attorney early in your business transactions.

1. To Solve Problems in Advance
2. To Make Due Diligence Easier
3. To Reduce Last-Minute Time Burdens on Your Team
4. Because “Business Terms” are Not Just Business Concerns
5. Because Hiring Them Earlier is Probably Not Going to Cost Any More Than Hiring Them Later
Read more details here

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.