Whiplash450 is overlooking the fact that, for some people posting here, English is a foreign language.

And that might also be the case for someone who doesn't know that a proper sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a period.

My guess agrees with Precog's guess about this situation.
But there is only one way to find the facts, and I'm willing to do that.
No one else was willing to take the risk and put up one BitCoin.
Others have only posted guesses, and to warn this will turn out badly.
It may.
Either way, I'll post here.

...I will second that observation from "BitCoinAddict": "pretty low".
But not zero.

...Not zero, because "Samantha" is offering a perfect demonstration of what most females do with men: use clever manipulation to get money, or other things of value.  So why not try those same techniques on BitCoin forums.  Obviously, "female wiles" are working here, too, no matter if "Samantha" is a real female, or not.

.
The next chapter in the story of PEDTrader borrowing a BitCoin from me is positive for PEDTrader's reputation, but uncertain for his trading project.

Positive: PEDTrader is keeping me informed.
He sent a clear and polite PM to me, right after the Mt.Gox melt-down.
To his credit, he did not just take the BitCoin and disappear.

Uncertain: PEDTrader explained what we all know:
The problems at Mt.Gox cast a pall of uncertainty over the entire BitCoin market.
Affects everybody involved with BitCoin.

Another observation: Before starting this thread, PEDTrader made only a few other posts on this forum.
Nothing much of interest, but he did post a little bit.
After receiving my BitCoin loan he has not posted anything else, anywhere on this forum.
Hmmmm.

To be continued.

.
My loan of 1 Bitcoin to PEDTrader is off to a good start.
(PEDTrader started this thread by asking someone for a loan of 1 Bitcoin.)
Just a few hours after I sent out the Bitcoin, PEDTrader responded with a polite and friendly private message to me.

What intrigues me is that he plans to trade Bitcoins, rather than mine or exchange for merchandise or services.
And there are others on this forum, also starting to trade for profit.
That is a healthy development that will add liquidity to the Bitcoin environment.
I want to encourage it.

Thank you, Andrew, for posting about these important topics.
I'm not sure the Bitcoin forum is the best place to find an audience, but maybe.
After all, we are concerned with a new form of money here.

Your comment about "collapse by design" is confirmed by many economic analysts whom I follow.
Also confirmed by history.
There may be a better explanation for what is happening than "collapse by design", but I have yet to find it.



Not quite a century.
Only since July, 1944, when that agreement was made at the Bretton Woods Conference.
Still, it has been enough time to do plenty of damage.



You have very neatly summed up the essential questions.
I, too, have been searching everywhere for some answers.
The only answer I've come up with is that nobody has any answers.

So, at this stage, Bitcoin seems one possible way to diversify financial risk in the face of approaching chaos.
Still, Bitcoin does carry some risk, but less than holding US$ or Euro.

The entire financial rule set of the world is changing before our eyes.
What to do?
I'm placing some of my bets on Bitcoin.

No.

.
Okay, Trader, I'll join this game and we'll all see what happens.

I have just sent 1 Bitcoin to your address above.

.
Fennec -

Making something simple is rarely easy.
Your converter is nicely done.

I want to encourage you to continue thinking and building as you have.
So I've just now sent one Bitcoin to the address on your web page.

I second that from Backopy.
Registered just a few minutes ago on BlackMarket.onion.
Quick and easy.

But I'm new to TOR, so that took some head-scratching time.

Thanks, Zer0, for posting those details.
Yet another good warning about tricks specific to PayPal.

From reading the replies on this thread, I am quickly starting to appreciate the value provided by honest exchangers and escrow services.

Hello Wol-Va-Rine -

Please realize that many posters here are not native speakers of English.
In doing business across borders, I look carefully at the terms of the deal, not the spelling.

So, Wol-Va-Rine, I will ask you:
In your Bitcoin experience, what clever tricks have you seen, that you can report here?

Good one, Xkrysis.
Thank you for posting about that.


An excellent lesson to be learned.
As more exchanges open up, valuable to look for that method of handling transactions.

Any other clever tricks, from either the buying side or the selling side?

Superb idea.
Thank you, Sukrim, for posting that link to BitOption.org.

I agree with JonDecker's analysis, and I say thank you to him for posting.

Shakaru has just shot himself in the foot, in public, on this forum.
Nobody with any experience in business or investing would believe returns like those claimed above.
Possibly has a good idea, but clearly is aiming his marketing at gullible rubes, and that's a bad idea where others can see him doing it, like here.

.
You're new here.
Me, too.
How can we build trusted reputations for ourselves?

The purpose of this topic is to match newbies with other newbies to do small trades using escrow.
And then we can post about each other to the list of honest traders: http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=484.0

If you're a newbie here, and you want to experiment with escrow, let's discuss in private message.
I may be willing to be counter-party in your first trades, using escrow.
And others who are willing to do newbie escrow trades, I hope will post here, too.

Here's one Bitcoin escrow service: https://clearcoin.appspot.com
What other escrow services are suitable for newbies?

.
Thank you, and a note of appreciation from a happy newbie.

Just a few minutes ago, I sent a request for whitelisting to the OP-moderator on this thread.
The whitelisting was virtually instant.

For about 15 years now, I've watched Internet forums (and bulletin boards) start up, grow some, then change into decay mode and die -- all because there wasn't careful moderation.
So I'm very pleased to see attention to quality here on the Bitcoin Forum.
That encourages me to contribute more time and thought.

.
Are you a newbie starting to mine?
Are you a newbie looking to build a trusted reputation?

I'll offer to buy some of your mining output.
And, together, we can start building reputations of trust.

I'm a newbie, too, but not a miner.
And I'm willing to take a bit of risk with other newbies who are mining and who want to sell Bitcoins.

I've given lots of thought to how to build trust, when starting from zero.
I'm willing to put money into testing those methods.

Send a private message to discuss details.
Or let's discuss in the open Newbie section of this forum.

.
Silk Road = Good.

Many new technologies are first used for marginal or illegal purposes.
People operating on the margins of society are willing to take risks to gain the benefits.

An early use of sailing ships was smuggling and piracy.
An early use of steamboats (on US rivers) was as moving gambling parlors.
An early use of moving pictures was pornography.
An early use of the Internet also was pornography and, later, gambling.

So, if druggies, gamblers, and perverts are using Bitcoin now, that's a good indication of it's usefulness.
They are risk-takers; bless 'em for leading the way and taking the early risks.
The conservative mainstream will catch on in five or twenty years.

Finally, if government attacks and tries to suppress any new technology, then I want to know more about it.
Doesn't mean I'll jump right in, but I will have a careful look at whatever it is.
Where government isn't, that's where I strive to be.
So, while I'm not interested in buying bad drugs, I am pleased to see Bitcoin has value for people who are willing to take risks..

.

Kitco is dead.
It may still show a few vital signs, but it won't survive that government attack.

Kitco provided gold and silver -- alternatives to government fiat paper currencies.
Bitcoin also provides an alternative to government paper money.
And there is similar risk for very Bitcoin point of concentration: exchangers and market-place web sites.
What can they do to protect themselves, and to protect the spreading Bitcoin meme?
Without exchangers and market-place web sites, Bitcoin dies.
And if Bitcoin goes, so goes a big chance, maybe the last chance in this generation, for finding a path to personal liberty.

The raid on Kitco is ominous news.
I hope Bitcoin exchangers and market-place web sites take it as motivation to prepare.

Links to sources:
http://www.zerohedge.com/print/404121
http://business.financialpost.com/2011/06/10/revenue-quebec-investigates-massive-gold-fraud/
.