Only 2 games on today but they’re both televised on TNT (and HBO Max I’ve recently learned). Last time the Spurs faced the Bucks Wemby was out so this should be an interesting matchup to watch as Wemby tries to stop Giannis. The Second game between the Warriors and the Nuggets should be a good matchup also, but I’m expecting Denver to win.

Ya, something is up with them. Now they’re back below .500 after their great start.

The Pistons took the Jazz into overtime and barely lost. That’s pretty huge for them. They seem like they’ve had enough embarrassment and are ready to turn a corner.

The Clippers beat the Suns to improve on their great record. I’m surprised how quickly the Clippers turned things around…

I’m seeing a lot of talk about Zach LaVine and the Los Angeles Lakers. We may see a deal on this sooner rather than later. There aren’t many teams out there interested in taking over LaVine’s contract and it’s no secret that he wants to be in Los Angeles. The Lakers may be able to get him at a steal price and really elevate their roster.

I do believe that an ETF will be approved this month. Most likely we’ll see an approval on January 10th, but nothing is set in stone. Who knows, maybe some insiders want to try their hand at insider trading Bitcoin before an approval is made. I would imagine if no approval is seen on January 10th we will get a selloff, which may be why we’re seeing some profit taking recently.

Seems to me like fighting at 185 gives McGregor a massive advantage over Chandler, but I’m guessing the amount of money being tossed around is probably enough for Chandler to say fuck it and take the fight anyway. He probably knows he doesn’t have much of a chance at that weight (or at all) but as they say, money talks.

They can both be unsafe but in very different ways. For example… Online gambling can lead you to fall victim to hacks, man in the middle schemes, scam operators, or flat out refusing to let you withdraw your own funds. In person gambling can lead you to being robbed in a parking lot or followed home if you have a big win.

I can’t say I’ve ever heard someone say to focus on losing before but it isn’t the worst advice when it comes to gambling. This sort of goes along with the saying that you should never bet more than you can afford to lose. Sometimes things happen against the odds and if you go all in on a sure thing, you’d better make sure it’s worth it.

The similarities between the early days of the Internet and Bitcoin are quite staggering. It’s almost comical looking back at both now that they have become so commonplace. While the internet may be a little more commonly used and understood, there is no doubt in my mind that Bitcoin will continue to follow the same growth path.

I’m not sure why there’s this idea going around that Kuminga is better than Wiggins but I don’t believe it. I don’t think he’s more athletic either. It just seems like maybe he tries harder and wants it more. You never know though. Maybe like Jordan Poole, Wiggins isn’t fitting into the rotation somehow or isn’t sticking to his role.

The talent Jim Cramer has to be so incorrect so often cannot be ignored. I wonder at this point if he says things like this to manipulate his trade or if he really is the worst investment analyst of all time. His calls are so terrible it makes me think it has to go deeper than him just being the absolute worst at his job. It has to be manipulation.

Jim Cramer remains undefeated. It’s beyond comical at this point how he can move markets just by giving his opinion. Granted he moves them the wrong way, but I’m not familiar with any analyst who has ever been so routinely incorrect that people are making a living just doing the opposite of what he says.

LOL. It gets addicting once you start using that ignore button. Before long this place almost starts seeming normal.

It’s nice to see Bitcoin advancing. There really aren’t too many resistance levels between here and the all time high. Things could become interesting quick. I’m very curious how next week is going to go.

I’m with you guys on the thoughts for tonight. The Kings had no business losing that game. Thats a few losses to teams they should have easily beaten in the last couple weeks. I might have to stop betting them to win for a while until they can get things figured out and get some consistency back in their game.

I believe it was around $8,000 per BTC when I "returned" the coins.  This was after it hitting a peak of nearly $20,000 per coin a couple years earlier.  However, of all the things I've done for users of this forum, returning the coins was easily the most simple and least time consuming task (although the harassment I received for being a treasurer was shocking).  I would point to me being the manager of the only project from the long gone Global Bitcoin Securities Exchange (GLBSE) to continue running and returning funds to investors to this day (more than 10 years), or the inventor of the Minted Seats coins as well as dozens of precious metals Bitcoin themed coin releases, or an escrow agent with an address that has transferred nearly a billion dollars worth of BTC at current prices as much larger accomplishments.

Still it is an honor to be mentioned in this thread.

I was inspired by Gavin Andresen, Roger Ver, Casascius, and mjbmonetarymetals to do a lot of the things I've done here.

I would be surprised if we saw another good year for Bitcoin.  I think it's quite likely we'll see a new all time high this year, maybe ending the year at $80K or thereabouts.  That will be when the major rally is just getting started in my opinion though, as I'm expecting we get near the $200K mark in 2025.  The trick will be making sure you don't sell all your BTC on the way up because it will certainly be tempting.  For those that can manage to forget they own any BTC for the next 18+ months, I'm sure you'll be heavily rewarded for your patience.

I'm still not 100% sold on the idea that we're going to jump on the ETF approval news instead of take profits, but I'm excitedly waiting to see what happens.  You can see the market is still in rally mode even though 2023 is behind us, which I think is a good sign.  Now to wait and see what sort of trading the ETF brings.  I do feel like as we continue to clear news like the ETF approval, mtgox distribution, and halving event, the market will rally like we haven't seen before.  I think 18 months from now we'll all be surprised how big the move upward was.

Looks like we’re back to a full slate of NBA games after the holidays. Today there are a couple matchups I like if you wanted to go for an easy parlay win as is my calling card. First I like the Grizzlies to beat the Spurs.  Ow with Ja back it should be an easy game for them. I also like the Kings over the Hornets. The Kings are just a much better team.

No.  Stake doesn't have any issues with sending out distributions.  I also don't drink alcohol more than a couple times a year and when I do it's usually on vacation somewhere, not to post on the internet. 

I get that people want to remain anonymous and sending things overseas is costly.  Still cheaper than tx fees at times.  It was just a fun idea as back in 2012 I actually had discussions with a mining pool operator about the possibility of me shipping silver to their miners instead of paying them out BTC for mining rewards.  It would be cool to see something like that finally implemented in some fashion after all these years.

Maybe someone should take up donations for development of a new forum. 

Happy New Year!

Always tough betting on NBA games on New Year's Day.  You never know who was out late the night before and holding back vomit as they sprint up and down the court.  That being said, I think there are a couple of safe mismatches today that might make a decent multi-bet together.  First up, the Rockets and the Pistons.  I think the Pistons might be on a good run at the moment, but don't give them too much credit.  You also have the Nuggets likely beating the Hornets, and the Suns taking down the Trail Blazers.  Those are my picks for the day.  Good luck and Happy New Year!