Bitcoin is completely both a currency and a store of value, which is opposite to what you said.

Volatility doesn't mean that something doesn't have the ability to perform as currency any more. People are still using bitcoin for commerce, whether purchasing stuff globally or exchanging it for other currencies around the world. That's carrying out the function of currency.

Store of value means that something is able to retain its value over the long run. In the 10 years that bitcoin has been in existence for, the value has not only be retained, but has gone up over time as well as adoption rates increase. In fact, to me, only a decentralized system such as bitcoin will be a viable long term store of value (think gold, silver as well).

I've used changer.com multiple times in the past and never had I had any issues with them. Most people that have issues with them has most likely already gotten it resolved after a few days/weeks at most. However, I can't really say for sure for currently since I haven't used them in months.

What I can say is that their rates are pretty similar to shapeshift's with crypto transactions, and after shapeshift cut down on their transaction fees, it's probably just smarter to use shapeshift for crypto to crypto exchanges.

I would still trust them with amounts under $500, for any fiat payment processors (advcash, etc.). There isn't enough evidence to suggest that they are scam at all. Complaints are quite normal, as long as they do get resolved in the end. You can actually complain about any issue and usually, the admin of the site will resolve it quickly here: https://www.bestchange.com/changer-exchanger.html

Depends on the length of your investment.

Gold and silver are obviously independent assets that are considered to be a store of value in the long run, which is exactly what fiat currency isn't. For that exact reason, I think that it's safe to say in the long term, you'd probably rather have silver & gold in your portfolio, than bank deposits or pieces of fiat currency that will only depreciate over time.

However, they are volatile in the short term. Unlike a bank deposit, you're not guaranteed to have those returns. In a metals bear market they can definitely underperform drastically.

On top of gold and silver in the long run, I'd also buy some bitcoin for a long term portfolio, as it performs a similar role to precious metals, except more convenient.

First of all, that level is unlikely to hold due to the amount of selling pressure that is currently in the bitcoin markets. So I don't think that you should expect that price to hold up for long, and wait until that level is tested before accumulating.

The prices are already incredibly cheap compared to the ATH of last year and I think that we're gradually entering a period where the smart money is actually going to go towards buying bitcoin.

Saying that only if bitcoin can hold $6k as support, will it be a good long term buy isn't true. I think that it's much better to dollar cost average and start buying chunks at a time now, since prices are already so low. Plus, if bitcoin does dip below $6k, it literally just means that you're able to get better prices for BTC.

Regardless of what their intentions are, if it's just a cover photo of an article or they are actually signalling for bitcoin in the long run, I think that it's extremely positive that they are even covering bitcoin in a good light at all.

Does it influence anything, though? I don't think it does, on a major scale.

Most bitcoiners already have their own set of beliefs about what bitcoin needs to be used for in the future, and why bitcoin is needed. But IMF deciding to do this, and saying that "smart policies" are needed, is definitely a positive.

There is nothing wrong that happening.

Prices usually will move sideways instead of anything vertically just before a major change in the market comes in, whether that's a pump or a dump. And seeing bitcoin moving between a small window and consolidating is only normal.

However, due to the fact that the $6.7k support has been broken, don't expect the prices to stay put for too long. The market should continue its pattern of dipping soon, and especially if $6k support is breached, be expecting an irrational panic dump.

Do all the TA you want, but TA is only good before it turns bad.

Personally, I don't see much of a bullish indicator at all at this stage. I think that it's highly unlikely that a trend reversal is going to come right now and all of a sudden turn the sentiments of the market to fully bullish. Bear markets last much longer than this.

In fact, I think that it's more likely than not now that we've broken the $6700 support, that we consolidate lower than $6k, instead of all of a sudden rebounding to higher levels.

Yeah, exactly. The thing that bothers me is that a lot of people have probably still deposited to that exchange, even though it's essentially confirmed that it's already exit scamming. However, the site is actually down right now that I check it.

I'd say that right now there is virtually no chance for the site to come back and reimburse all the funds. Withdrawals aren't getting processed, coin listings aren't getting processed, support is nonexistent as all these scam accusations reflect. And now, the site isn't even up.

Unfortunately, there is a reason why only trustworthy exchanges that are regulated should be used. These shady exchanges shouldn't even be considered for trading in the first place, tbh (unless you have a coin that is only traded there, in which case you have to risk it).

Yep, this is true according to their official facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/hashflareb/

A dire situation to be in for sure as an investor. This is why I don't believe in cloud mining whatsoever. You don't know whether they are being honest, or using this as an excuse to not pay out anyone. All the statistics are on their side, and they can manufacture payout stats and all that once you invest.

Plus, you have no flexibility whatsoever as an investor. If you just invested in bitcoin itself, you can still hold until the bear market is over. But with this contract that they have, you're guarantede to lose money. Idk what you can do in this situation, honestly. Because they've got all the control over your funds.

Not to mention that Hashflare has been shady af with cutting down contracts from lifetime to 1 year, and this is just adding to their untrustworthiness. Don't invest with them at least, but I'd say cloud mining in general is a no-go.

This is an opportunity to enter the market for the long run if you haven't already, with prices at so low. I would believe that most experienced bitcoin traders would agree with me on that. Prices probably have not yet seen the bottom, but we're defintiely very close to that bottom at the moment.

If you have existing positions, I wouldn't bother selling. You're gaining nothing by selling right now.

That's why I always say that you should be expecting to hold onto your coins as a long term investment, when you do buy in. Otherwise, you'll be forced to dump in bear markets like this that would lead to negative profits. I definitely don't expect any upward movement from the market at the moment, but the next bull market will come some time after the recovery starts, which I think will be next year.

It wouldn't really make sense right now to try to panic sell, in my opinion.

It would make sense to buy at lower prices, however, I wouldn't do so at the expense of risking my existing holdings of bitcoin. Selling now and buying back later could make sense in a growing market that is nearing its top, but definitely not in a bear market like right now.

We're close to the bottom, wherever that might be. So even if you do manage to buy back at lower prices, it's not going to be more than 20-30% more. And you're taking on the risk, by doing this, that you don't time your buys right and the market starts its recovery with you still waiting to buy in at lower levels.

I mean, you can't expect a bull market to emerge out of right now in my opinion. There isn't a signal of growth and sentiment is bearish. With a huge bull market last year, the value of BTC needs to consolidate and go through this bear market (which will last some time), before prices are able to go up in a major way again.

The reason why a lot of people in a bull market, when it does come, does not sell at the peak is simply because nobody is able to predict where prices will peak.

And with the natural human tendency to be greedy, it's no wonder a lot of people are literally trying to flip money in the bitcoin market in the extremely short term by buying at extremely high prices. Obviously, growth at the pace of last year isn't sustainable.

Panic sellers and manipulators could be a potential cause of this dump.

However, wouldn't the main reason still be the fact that bitcoin's price cycle is currently simply in a bearish state instead of a bullish one? The 2017 pumps have simply been too big to be sustainable in the long run (bull market), and what follows is always a correction, which is happening right now.

Nobody dares buying right now even though prices are so low for the same reason - sentiment in the market is bearish.

Manipulation can definitely be a reason though, which is why I don't think that trading bitcoin derivatives is a good idea at all. Hold the real thing.


Well said.

It's obviously always good to have diversification within your portfolio.

I think that there is a misconception that if you diversify your crypto portfolio, it would be fine. Obviously you want to do that, but on the other hand, you'd also want to diversify your overall portfolio. i.e., you don't want to put all your money into crypto at once.

Bitcoin's price changes leads the market, and other cryptos usually follow suit.

That's why diversification in a crypto sense is more about finding hidden opportunities, instead of risk reduction. If there's a crypto bear market it's unlikely any crypto will move the other way round. Again, that's the reason why I think that you should have a healthy balance between crypto that you want to hold for the long term, and other assets, such as precious metals, emergency fiat savings, real estate, etc.

The percentage growth in bull markets has actually not been slowing down. The 2017 bull market was actually 'bigger' percentage wise, compared to the 2013 bull market.

I do expect the markets to stabilize in the long run, though, and volatility wouldn't be as prominent as it is right now.

But overall volatility has definitely been slowing down. The market has gotten bigger and will get bigger. Obviously it was easier to buy even $100 worth of bitcoin and move the entire market back in 2010 or something like that, because of the fact that the entire market cap is simply so small. That's why you see prices move way faster a few years back than it does now.

There's a high likelihood that this could happen. Obviously $6.7k seems to be a pretty strong support right now, but I don't think that is going to be the bottom of this bear market. Based on price history, prices usually fall by 80% or more from an all time high before finally gaining support at the bottom.

Also considering that the market is still extremely bear-sentimented, and that $10k resistance is so strong, it's hard to see a recovery happen any time soon.

Combining all of these things, I think it's fair to say that BTC is near its bottom, but not quite there yet. There is most likely some more room for prices to go downwards before stabilizing. I think that the prices is definitely going to be lower than $6k at some time of this year.

Do you have any screenshots? That would certainly help getting the scammer tagged so that there is a warning for anyone that gets approached by him again in the future.

Based on his trust feedback, you can actually see there is a lot of people getting scammed the same way (sending coupons first/sending BTC first, then getting scammed):

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3032213.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2285977.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2505381.0

Always use escrow in these kinds of trades, and always research the trust ratings of the person you're dealing with before you deal with him. In this case, his untrusted feedback section was filled with negative feedback, but unfortunately nobody has tagged him on DT.

Again, please provide some proof, so that DT members can actually tag him with evidence.

It's not illegal for the consumer to use or buy/sell bitcoin at all.

All this means is that most commercial banks will essentially be forced to stopping co-operation with crypto exchanges that hold an account with them. That's pretty much it at this stage. There are unconfirmed rumors of the government wanting to implement a VAT on top of crypto trading, but that is obviously unconfirmed.

In fact, it's not even illegal based on my understand that banks continue to serve crypto businesses. It's just that they'll risk delicensing from the RBI, which is something that nobody wants.

Trading p2p should prove to be the go-to way to trade in India after this restriction is put in place. It's definitely not illegal for you to trade on localbitcoins still.

Support =/= technical team.

An exchange could have an extravagant design, and the fastest trade engines in the industry, but if it doesn't have a good customer support on which customers are able to depend on, then it's literally good for nothing at all.

That would be my main criteria if I were to choose an exchange, as well. The level of responsiveness from the support team is extremely important. If they are active on social media and answering queries there, then that's bonus points. I would rather use an exchange with a decent support team with small trading volume, than a big exchange with terrible support.

Bitcoin will have bull markets and bear markets, it's the simple fact.

I wouldn't say that these cycles are anything good, but it's just something natural that comes with anything that one is able to trade and speculate on freely. Bitcoin is simply a decentralized and better version of currencies and even precious metals, which has its own cycles.

Personally, I obviously don't want to see this bear market that we're seeing at the moment, but it's just something that comes with independence from the fiat system. Short term volatility is expected.

IMO, the fact that these cycles are so drastic right now proves that we're still in mainly the early adoption stage of things. Once bitcoin has enough of an adopter following, it'll be hard to see prices being so volatile.