Gambling stuff is only problematic in a relatively small number of countries.

Since LBC are Finnish I dunno where that leaves people in countries where it can be a pain. Does Finnish law apply to every trade?

I don't believe lightning networks will get anywhere without so much handholding you may as well go full centralised, which the most widely used implementations probably will be.

Let's see what transpires but so far it feels like an interesting curio rather than the thing that'll put usage over in an emphatic manner.

The thing that does that needs to be simpler than bitcoin, not even less comprehensible to Mr or Mrs average.

He's softening us up for Coinbase to become the second layer of choice. If you can't force a change on the base layer you can try and make your company, or a consortium of them, the layer above. And there's a good chance enough people will follow that lead.

What same 10k range? It's been 10.5 that's been pulling our willies for a long, long time. That's been shat all over. That's the level that needed taking out. There was no 10-12k range.

Ah well. Looks like that jigsaw is getting sent to landfill. That's if there's anywhere big enough.

Who knows whether this is the start of something big, but it may well be the end of our big nothing and it's been long enough for me.

The battle was getting to it. The insurmountable barriers tend to vapourise rapidly once the hordes charge at it.

Another aspect of the virus yet to fully come to light will be increased outsourcing to cheaper countries. Tech stuff is super vulnerable to this and many companies have realised there's little need for a physical location or physical meetings.

Those who didn't consider it before certainly will now and there's a whole world out there willing to work for less.

It truly makes me wonder about a future where your baby has a modem stuck up it the moment it pops out. We all know no company can stay ahead of hackers and security updates often take months or never happen at all. Security to them is an annoyance rather than being at the core of everything they build and push on us.

I'm going to keep my internet saturation at the level it's currently at and not let it get any further. A future where my house, car and food supply depends on the competence of some bored drone in a cubicle is not appetising.

The biggest recent casualty has been Garmin - https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/garmin-down-connect-mobile-not-working-up-online-a9639331.html

If a company that does nothing but that is wide open it doesn't bode well for the slackers out there.

10.5 either happens very soon and we're off to the races or it falls back down again and we get months more of not very much. The longer it takes the more decisive the eventual move will be and the more bored we'll get in the meantime.

If it doesn't occur in the next 48 or so hours I'm going to start on the 2 billion piece jigsaw that arrived on a few trucks today.

Yup. This is a very interesting disconnect between 'physical' work and the virtual. I don't think it's a perception that's going to change soon enough to save many an industry either. So many other areas have been blown open by the advance of technology too.

If I were starting a working life now I would have to think very carefully about the future of the area I was planning on specialising in. Most of the people I know in practical trades make loads more money than those who spent years at university to end up pressing buttons.

Gold's ATH was 40 years ago. That is adjusting and accounting for inflation which I'm told is the entire point of gold. If you'd piled in in 1980 you'd still be waiting to break even. This is why it doesn't cause me to thicken and engorge.

Anyone waiting until this moment to jump in will probably miss it. I expect it'll be one of those levels that gets eaten in seconds. I seem to recall the $3000 level feeling like it would take forever to fall. I woke up one morning to find it was permanent toast.

10,000 doesn't really mean much. It has crossed it countless times during this big nothing phase. 10.5 ish is the big one and has been for a long, long time. That could happen tomorrow or it may take the rest of the year.

Nothing. Unless I had some super obscure shitcoin and nowhere else to get rid of it.

I can't be bothered to do yet another signup, more 2FA etc etc. On top of that I see no reason to take a pointless risk on somewhere unproven. There are options with track record and that's what counts above all else.

I only do that in extreme cases, but the extreme cases are often the majority.

Quite often the ratio of coherent posts to referral shit is 100 to 1 or more. In that case that's enough to not make me want them to progress. It's clear they're here for a reason that'll turn out to degrade the forum.

There's the minor problem of several nails potentially being rammed through it.

If it were me I'd double check where those nails had gone as you never know. The more likely scenario is someone opening it up to find a confetti of shattered metal.

It's more likely that Bitcoin buyers will replace gold buyers as they die off. For retail buyers I can see Bitcoin becoming ever more compelling.

But that doesn't really matter as it's governments and central banks who really set the pace. I can't see them ever giving it up and why would they? It'll still be there long after they're all dust.

I'm not a gold fan at all but you can't deny its history and that informs its future too.

I don't mean privacy from The Man, that's a given. I'm talking more about it being lifted by hacking types.

Some no mark fake volume exchange could be doing anything with what you send them. At least Coinbase are only using it to allow governments to imprison your mind and soul.

If you can find a viable and affordable no KYC option then great. Many people would be turned off, give up or be scammed.

Nope. I couldn't care less what merit they sent or received.

If it's a very low merit person then I will check their post history. If everything other than the post I'm considering is several metres of referral and Facebook links I'm likely to be turned away from the idea.