I think it would be better for you to save your self the awkwardness and time spent explaining what Bitcoin is and does. Plus it will probably cost a whole lot more fiat to pay with Bitcoin (theoretically) if you go pay with a currency that doesn't have a way to help you with health insurance. I think it would be a noble thing to try, but it will probably just be a headache overall.

But here's the thing, banks shouldn't be in the picture when trying to lobby for new rules or regulations the governments imposes... They are BUSSINESSES, they shouldn't be regarded as a political force, and that's why we are seeing such a shit show today... Banks are looking out for their profits... Not for the people.

Yeah, honestly I don't see how people can have this safe and comfy view point on how the Bitcoin market works... There are a lot of factors that go into price speculation, and honestly I think people are starting to realize that there are big problems going on with Bitcoin core infrastructure which is the block chain and the block size debates. There are some other factors, but I think this is a very big one.

Honestly, I think you are right about that... And honestly, I think the only person who would be willing to recognize and entertain the idea is Bernie Sanders, for the U.S. atleast. He is in full support for taking down wall st. and the Fed, so it sounds like he would be the most likely candidate now to allow mainstream adoption of Bitcoin.

It really doesn't matter if they build up some short term "reputation", they are always considered ponzis and the name of the game with ponzis is basically to speculate when the creators are going to "cash out" and shut down their site and take everything... Fun sometimes, but ponzis never stay or can last forever.

Well that's the thing, it puts people in a very beneficial position... The problem with economies in third world countries, is that they are doing business in a currency that holds little to no value, and can't contribute on a global scale because of the money barrier. With Bitcoin, there can be an actual chance to trace where donation are going in a charity effort to third world countries to start "spreading the wealth"... So that they can start doing business in a commodity that is actually worth something and also can do business in a global scale... There just needs to be an effort to get them the tools such as computers and smart phones to start being able to do these things. This is what's going to help global adoption.

Well to be honest, I think the mainstream adoption might start happening because of the chance that Bernie might win the presidential nomination. He is a big advocate of taking down the Fed and corrupt monetary system policies, and he might actually be willing to throw away the whole Fed monetary system... That is, however, if the Fed doesn't assassinate him while they can before he does, just like what they did with JFK for threatening to go back on the gold standard.

Yeah, absolutely... And there are plenty of resources that helps you along the way. Gamblers anonymous is a huge one, and they will probably try to help you pick up a hobby, maybe find a new/refound spirituality if you deem it fit for you, etc. Just know that people that have these problems are not alone, as it is pretty evident, that even in a small group of nerds that frequent this forum have their own gambling problems. If you have history of addiction in your family, you might have this disease, it's not anything to be sad about though.

It's always better to buy in to something in which it is deemed you are "guaranteed to lose money" on it.  I know gold has been on a steady decline in prices, but I have a feeling we will be seeing another economic collapse due to oil companies defaulting on their business because of the recent global oil glut.  You can't keep selling something that is essentially making you lose money...

I have a strong feeling this will happen within this year... approximately 8 years since the 2008 economic collapse of people faulting on their mortgages.  So buying gold/silver (and I guess bitcoin) will be of everyone's best interest as of right now, IMO.

While I know it's easy to tell Bitcoin's "progress" in terms of price increases/decreases... but people on here should be more concerned about Bitcoin's "rally" into more adoption, better fundamentals of the currency, etc.

All of the price rises and stuff will happen as a result of this.  You are seeing a stagnation because there is a stagnation with new developments and uncertainty about what's happening with the block size debates. 

It's still an experimental currency, so no wonder why people are so concerned about whether it will "survive" or not.  People where the same way when Central Banks started changed the rates of gold standard to the notes issued out to people, and where extremely skeptical when they declared no more gold standard should be used.  When you make a huge change to the way things work, you have to remain skeptical... but these guys are saying it will "not survive" because they don't want it survive.  If it does, then it will essentially put them out of work, because everyone with a computer could easily be their own banker; which in turn puts them out of (high paying) jobs.

While I don't believe in the way Bernie is trying to tax up to 90% on the people making the most money; he does pose an extreme hatred, like me, toward the bankers and understands that they are the root of all evil.  He really has come to finally open peoples eyes to the corruptness of wall st. and big bankers; in which wall st. makes money, if you think about it, by trading money... which doesn't do anything, unlike building cars, teaching schools, etc.

I find my self more in the middle to right side of the spectrum... but if it comes up to choose between Trump and Sanders, I think I would be forced to vote for Sanders, because I truly believe Trump will cause us to go to war in a heart beat.

Which isn't very smart, IMO.  If they know how to get around tor and know how to manipulate their IP address so it would be impossible for anyone to track their location, that's one thing... but if they buy bitcoins using exchanges such as bitstamp, or worse, something like coinbase; then they could be potentially screwed because of the fact that your purchase can potentially be traced back to your bank account, and therefore your identity.

Not exactly... it's been going down for the past 4-5 years or so, ever sense the economic "bailouts" of the major recession of 2008. 





Even though the S&P is a little dated, that's still about where we stand as of right now.  You can see that the price of Gold has been following the trend of when economic prosperity ensues, you have people getting out of gold... and when you have economic devestation, like the 2008 financial collapse, gold rises.  It's been this way for a number of years now, and is a good bet to take if you think the economy is going down the tube in the long run of things.

So will it still decline? No, I don't think so... I don't believe in the fiat system, and believe the economic bubble the fiat system is based on right now will inevitably collapse again.  This time, instead of mortgages being the issue; I can see oil and start up companies being the issue that turns the S&P and other countries economies into dust.

Then I have a quick question for you.. So if it's really up to Visa, Mastercard, and other payment system technologies, then why do we always hear about banks such as JP Morgan Chase boasting that it will be looking to "incorporate blockchain technology" to it's banking sector?  Wouldn't the CEO's of the major banks just leave it up to the Visa and the like to incorporate the blockchain format for them?

I've always wondered about this, and it never really made any sense to me... since there is no "Wells Fargo Card" or "JP Morgan Card"... it's all pretty much Visa now and days.

I don't really think you will be seeing Bitcoin "stores" regardless though... At least for a very very long time.  I mean hell, look at pawn shops that buy gold.  Since it's stable and requires a hefty price tag, they can buy and resell for a small profit to remain somewhat afloat... but, with bitcoin I don't think you would be seeing any pawn shops or any other type of shops for that matter just sell Bitcoin. You might see more adoption of Bitcoin ATM's, which would take out the middle man like you said above... but not shops specifically buying and selling Bitcoins.

The best possible advice I could give you, is to never waste your "precious" time on faucets and that sort of thing, even signature campaigns.  If you have free time and don't really feel like doing anything else, then yeah sure, go on the faucets... and when you are here for a period of time after posting for a while, start trying to join campaigns.

But the worst possible thing is to actually get caught up in it and start missing deadlines for work, not spend time with loved ones or coworkers, etc.  Just make sure to keep everything in perspective, and only come on here and work faucets when you have free time.

I would also suggest it would be easier to accumulate more bitcoin if you know what kind of income you make, and what you could set to the side to purchase bitcoins directly... Don't purchase more than you can afford to lose, but if you can set aside like $10-20 a week to purchase bitcoins, it won't be long until you have a couple coins you can hold for the long haul.

I wouldn't say all altcoins are clones from bitcoin.  There are other coins that pose different purposes now and days, and are different from the original alts like litecoin.  You have serious contenders now that give different purposes from the generic bitcoin code, like Ethereum, Monero, etc.  There are other coins like it, but you have to be careful because some of these coins are heavily pre-mined/instamined/ninjamined (whatever you want to call it really).

But bitcoin is the most widely accepted and used because it was the first one on the scene and hasn't looked back sense.

Miners "Mine" blocks in the block chain (the fundamental part of Bitcoins infrastructure) for a reward.  People sometimes mine in "Pools" where other miners get together and try to solve a block; or sometimes big time miners with a lot of hashing power mine blocks alone.  The current reward for each block is 25 BTC right now, and during the summer, it will be cut in half to 12.5.

You can read more about this here:
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Controlled_supply

Well, you have to consider more than just the "law of the market".  You also have to realize that there is a potential hard fork coming about, and that there might be uncertainty in where miners should point their hashing power towards/exchange sites knowing which version to support, and so on.  There hasn't really been much said to how much notice people will have in advance before the whole thing comes about.  I don't think this potential fork will just be sprung upon miners and other bitcoin users all the sudden; but it could very well happen...

Point I'm trying to make, is that there are a lot of things being debated on that could affect the functionality, and therefore, the price of Bitcoin.