People fear what they don't understand. But this fear often emanates from the "risks" that come with "lack of understanding".

It takes a lot of effort to convince people to pore over tons of blogs and videos about Bitcoin, and honestly not very many people who are well-versed in Bitcoin would want to do that. So, educating everyone doesn't seem to be a viable option.

While we shouldn't stop promoting the importance of learning the technical aspects of Bitcoin, I think we should put more effort into reducing the "risks" involved in using it.

If we can do that, we can deal with people's fear, thereby encouraging them to use bitcoin even without fully understanding how it works. Once they start seeing the benefits of it through actual experience and not just through the testimonies of people already using it, maybe it will be easier to convince them to learn more about it.  

So it's like letting them experience it first before pushing them to understand it.

I read this in an article about bitcoin's dramatic price surge in 2017 a while back...

University of Texas Professor John Griffin and Ohio State Assistant Professor Amin Shams claim their latest research of bitcoin transactions between March 2017 and March 2018 shows that bitcoin was manipulated through large-volume trades that drove the price up.

"This one large player or entity either exhibited clairvoyant market timing or exerted an extremely large price impact on bitcoin that is not observed in aggregate flows from other smaller traders," the academics wrote in a paper, which was shared with Bloomberg ahead of its publication in the Journal of Finance.

If this was true, then someone has to do it again to push bitcoin's price back up to the $20,000 mark. But, I suppose a steady hover between $12,000 and $15,000 is better than a dramatic price surge that will only plunge to all-time low weeks or months later.

I've been reading a lot of crypto-related articles that pertain to blockchain technology as "the future". Ang totoo, hindi na "future" ang blockchain technology kasi ginagamit na rin siya ng ibang industries, bukod sa Bitcoin, to add business value.

Pharmaceuticals - to cut down on information verification and eventually improve track-and-trace serialization. (TechRepublic)

Jewelry - to track and trace the provenance of diamonds and other gemstones thereby ensuring they are conflict free. (TechRepublic)

Media & Journalism - to validate sources, decentralize reputation and personalize reader experience without violating privacy. (Matthew Iles, Growwire)

Philantropy - to allow donors to track the impact of their donations, including where the money goes and how it's used. (Growwire)

Human Resources & Finance - connect workers and hiring managers using digital smart contracts as well as assist with cryptocurrency payments to workers and peer-to-peer trading. (Growwire)

And many more . . .

Nagiging matunog na ang "blockchain technology" sa iba't ibant sektor ng lipunan, mainly for its capability to cut short their processes. Eventually, people will realize that Bitcoin has been using this technology for over a decade now.

Hopefully, as they start to think highly of the core technology that runs and supports Bitcoin, lahat ng mga nagdududa sa validity at value ng Bitcoin ay matauhan na.

The more support Bitcoin gets, the quicker its full adoption will be. Then Satoshi's vision--decentralized global financial system--will finally come true.

Scammers are taking advantage of people's ignorance. Informing the people about their illegal activity is a short-term solution to the problem. Soon we'll see them again under a different identity. A long-term solution is to inform people of Bitcoin, how it works, what its benefits are, what risks are involved, etc. I am one of those people who were invited by a friend to try reading about Bitcoin. Thank goodness I have and open mind, kundi baka hindi ko sinubukan. 

Honestly, it's too early to say. Kasi ang mga existing providers natin hindi naman yan basta-basta papayag na lang na masulot ang mga customers nila. There will be a lot of adjustments. Isa pa, ang pagtatayo ng mga signal towers o cell sites to cover the entire country will take years to finish. So, the competition will remain tight in the next few years.   

The media uses click-baits to gain more views (or it's also possible that they just don't understand cryptocurrency). Pero ibang usapan kapag misinformation (due to ignorance) na. I've always believed that the media is the second most powerful entity in the world. The only entity more powerful than is their owners. They can create and revise history through mind conditioning. There are five ways that I think can help counter misinformation by the media:

1.) continue to improve the bitcoin space to make it more secure and scam-free
2.) mass cryptocurrency education campaign--the more people understand how cryptocurrency works, the less likely they'll be sammed
3.) reputation management - bombard google with positive news and information about cryptocurrency
4.) buy the media so we can own them, too
5.) create our own media outlet


  

It's worrisome to realize that full bitcoin adoption can only be achieved if fiat currency completely loses its value. I don't want that same catastrophe to happen in my country before people realize the value of Bitcoin. I'd rather see bitcoin adoption take place slowly but surely to minimize damage. Do you know what happens when you speed up continental drift? If you've watched the movie 2012, you'll have an idea. Magnitude 11 earthquakes, supervolcanoes erupting, tsunamis thousands of feet high everywhere, and lots of deaths. Only those who made it to the big boats survived. I'm not sure if it's the right comparison or maybe I'm just being too pessimistic but what I'm sure of is that a rapid shift to a decentralized global economy could have a downside.  

You should have included in your post the actual tweet so readers won't immediately jump to the conclusion that it's Electrum's fault, although I'm not saying that they are not in any way liable. Also, most of the tutorials I've watched and read explicitly advise the use of a hardware wallet when storing huge amounts of bitcoin. This situation just proves it right. I hope they recover all of it. That's 1400 BTC after all.

It is risky, no doubt about that, and it's easy to understand why. Apart from the fact that bitcoin is still in its experimental stage with an unstable value, it's facing a great deal of resistance from governments, and even from business magnates like Warren Buffett. Despite the effectiveness of the blockchain technology in thwarting potential breach or cheats in the system, there's no telling how long it can hold up to technological advances. There's also the fact that bitcoin does not provide any consumer protection due to the lack of an intermediary guarantor.

Then again, I believe fiat currency started out this way, too, and I bet there were even far greater risks when it was introduced--but our ancestors took the risk anyway since it's more convenient than the barter system. All risk management or protective tools were eventually developed after. This era of risks is a stage bitcoin has to go through before it can reach full adoption. The success of bitcoin, therefore, depends on how many are willing to take the risk.  

Sadly, all we can do is speculate. But since it came from Wuhan, perhaps we can narrow down our speculations to that area. If it's really not the fault of the Chinese people who were in Wuhan at the time of the incident and the theory that other nationalities may have been involved, every suspicious foreign national who was in Wuhan at least 2 months before the outbreak must be investigated. As to how that should be done, I don't really know. But that's the best way to find leads.

Indeed, bitcoin has proved its resilience to a crisis like the pandemic, which has also shown the fragility of fiat currency as its value continues to drop. But be careful because it's during desperate situations where scammers are most active. You have to be careful who you trade with, sell to, or lend to. It would be best to keep holding on to your coins for a little bit longer since the uptrend hasn't changed yet.

Financially, it hasn't done much yet because I'm new to the crypto world. But mentally and behaviorally, it's done a lot. When a friend of mine introduced me to bitcoin, I was skeptical at first. But because I trust him, I gave it a try, at least the reading part. I read a few articles about bitcoin and as I dug deeper I realized that it's not what I thought it was, but a campaign that helps address a vast range of issues in the current financial system that makes life difficult for a lot of people. Being a nonprofit founder, I immediately understood what Satoshi wanted so I became more interested. I spent months reading content inside and outside this forum before I was able to pluck up the courage to reply and post. Also, since I time my stay in the forum, I became more disciplined. So that's how bitcoin has changed me so far. I don't want to rush things though.  

I'm not sure where I could use this information but I'll take note of it anyway. A little tweak and it can be a good intro for a bitcoin blog. ;-)

As the saying goes, people fear what they don't understand. In my country, bitcoin is popular but not well-received because people think it's another one of those pyramid scams that are rampant here. They don't understand how it works, so they make all kinds of assumptions, mostly inaccurate or totally adsurd ones. The only way to eliminate the fear of getting into crypto is to make them understand what's it for and how it works. So, you did the right thing.   

Agree! We cannot make something as complex as the blockchain technology digestible for anyone, especially for older people if we don't understand its inner workings.

"...do you think he has the capacity to stop it again?"

Did he stop it once before? It's hard to imagine that Bitcoin has some kind of a switch off button and that Satoshi would someday want to press it. I mean after all the difference it's made so far, there's no reason to stop it anytime soon.

Why do I have a feeling that the more we discuss Satoshi's whereabouts, the more we're disrespecting his/his family's desire to go incognito? I'm not sure if that's really what he wants, but it's not like he lost his fame at some point and he's trying to come back. He can come back into the limelight if he wants to, and the fact that he doesn't do that could only mean that's not what he wants. Maybe he's still part of the team that makes major decisions related to bitcoin. Either way, we're thankful for his existence.    

Inspiring! Despite the current state of your health, you still manage to look on the bright side. It's even more inspiring that bitcoin has been a huge part of your journey. Good to know your coins are going to tech-savvy heirs. At least you know the hard work you've done all these years will not be put to waste.

The dollar continues to plummet as the U.S. struggles to reopen due to the pandemic (and the fact that the U.S. has the biggest number of COVID-19 confirmed cases, which gives its economy a very little wiggle room). This situation is expected to worsen--even down to 2008 level--as euro outperforms it thanks to the European Union’s 750 billion euro recovery fund/stimulus package.

Being the world’s reserve currency, however, the dollar is expected to maintain its strength and recover from the downturn as soon as things get back to normal. But how does this dollar downtrend affect bitcoin (apart from an increase in value)? We all know that dollar downtrend normally coincides with bitcoin uptrend, although some say bitcoin's value didn't really increase and instead it's dollar's value that deceased.

More and more people are starting to perceive bitcoin as a store of value (an asset that maintains its value without depreciating), and now that it's rising while other currencies and asset forms are falling, perhaps the most important impact this global crisis is bound to make is help strengthen the image of BTC for the long term. It offers gravity assist that slingshots bitcoin toward the ultimate goal of decentralizing the financial system. But I wonder how bitcoin will perform when the pandemic is over.

Satoshi Nakamoto is such an icon that he's become the subject of so many speculations. It's like reading theories about the possible ending of One Piece from die-hard fans. And just as Eiichiro Oda always proves those theories wrong, I bet most of the speculations about Satoshi are wrong, too. In the end, if the guy wants to lay low and live a more peaceful life, let's just respect that. It's the best we can do for him in return for creating this awesome community and initiating a campaign that will change the world forever.