Huh.  Is this guy trying to stack sats by loan scamming or something?  That wouldn't be the most bizarre thing I've seen, but it'd still be strange.  Anyway, I supported the flag for whatever good it'll do.

Not sure if it's this thread that keeps catching my attention or what, but it seems like there have been more scam accusation threads being created for loan defaults than usual.  I've got the Lending section ignored, so I don't know what's going on there or how active it's been, but I definitely haven't seen loads of loan scam accusations in the past year or two. 

Then again, when bitcoin starts to go up all the scammers start coming out of the woodwork.  Never fails.

Are you kidding?  Tons of people fall into that debt spiral you described, OP.  That's been the case for many years, and I'd be willing to bet it's been much worse in the past decade when interest rates were at or near 0%.  Many people (at least in the US) live well beyond their means and use credit cards with high interest rates to buy shit like smartphones, TVs, and all sorts of luxury goods--not the types of things you should only buy if you have enough cash to do so.

So true.  They're all over the place where I live, and they're as bad or worse than pawn brokers.  Usury at its worst--and frankly, a lot of credit card companies charge interest rates nearly as high as those places.

Not that I ever really kept track of its progress or could have contributed anything, that new forum software has been in development for years now and who knows what's in Theymos's brain as far as mobile devices and the forum go?  I don't think a bitcointalk app has been discussed before (that I can remember), but there have been tons of threads complaining about the site not being mobile-friendly.

When I used to try to tap out posts with my fat fingers on my tiny little Android, I had the forum bookmarked.  That's how I accessed all the sites I normally visited on my phone; do people actually use separate apps for websites nowadays?  That seems like it's an unnecessary use of smartphone resources to me--but correct me if that statement sounds ignorant.  The fact is that I'm fairly tech-ignorant. 

Not to go too far off-topic, but what's the state of the new forum software development?  Is that still a thing or what?

Does it have to be that way?  There was a lot of discussion before the channel was launched, and I'm pretty sure there are some pretty talented people who'd be willing to be part of the production of future videos, even if it were for little or no money. 

Also, for a one-man show Cyrus did a hell of a job on the videos that got put up on Youtube so far.  I would have thought there was a team of at least a couple of people in the making of them based on the production quality of so many other vids I've seen by other YT creators. 

I can't remember if this was ever discussed, but were forum funds used to finance those videos?  If not, could they be?  Maybe Cyrus could hire himself an assistant or two.  I was disappointed when everything just came to a screeching halt after it looked as though things were coming along nicely--and I'm still hoping the channel gets resurrected someday. 

I definitely don't think someone ought to ask for feedback after doing a trade, even if they left one for you first.  That's happened to me before, and at the very least it's annoying and at worst it raises red flags (as it should if you're on DT). 

If someone asks for positive feedback after doing a very small trade or if they had nothing at risk, you probably should be suspicious that they're trying to farm trust.  It's happened many times over the years, and I'm sure people are still trying to do it.

This is probably the stupidest part of the article by far.  I don't know, maybe kids are going to grow up in a world where they don't simply just order things on Amazon or wherever but strap on VR goggles to go shopping in a virtual mall, but I'd say the chances of that happening are slim to none.  Meta's metaverse doesn't seem to be gaining much traction, so all of these goddamn brilliant ideas about what can be done in a poorly-rendered VR environment are just public displays of masturbation for the press.

And aren't NFTs just about dead by now?  It seems really weird that Amazon is just now announcing this; it's as if they're so late to the party that there are only passed out drunks sleeping on the floor, and all the furniture in the party house is destroyed beyond repair.  NFTs were never anything other than highly speculative....things.  I hate to call them pieces of art, because the only thing I think of when I hear about them is that they're a cash-grab for some celebrity or corporation. 

All of these companies that jumped on the retarded NFT bandwagon did so because NFTs were hot and presumably were cheap to produce.  They didn't get involved because they believed they added any value for consumers, believe me.

Gah!  I don't believe in TA, but if I recall correctly Coinbase stock fell off a cliff after a piece of news came out--and I'll be damned if I can remember if it was an earnings forecast or report or if it had something to do with bitcoin's price plopping in the shitter for a while.

But just like Meta, Coinbase rebounded.  We're still in a serious bull market as far as stocks go, and when prices are sky high and there's a lot of speculation going on, any news or even rumor can cause a massive swing in a stock's price.  That's been true of every raging bull market, and I think that's because everybody is waiting for the crash to come.

So COIN is back to being an overvalued stock.  That shouldn't be too surprising given that the stock of every company that has business in the crypto space is sensitive to bitcoin's price, and bitcoin just rebounded big time.  If it fell back to $16k tomorrow, I bet COIN would get hit pretty hard.

Yes, the cardiomegaly was noted on my last chest x-ray.  But if you're implying that a soft, cuddly teddy bear lies just beneath my gnarled and hardened exterior....well, you're probably right.  In this particular case however, I see very little hope for jamalaezaz getting his red trust removed (from me; I can't speak for everyone else who negged him all to hell). 

I don't like to use the word never, since my mind can change if situations change, if behavior improves, etc.  Honestly though, does jamalaezaz really think he's got a shot at scrubbing his trust page clean?  As you pointed out, Lutpin and marlboroza seem to have left the forum, and I think there's an infinitesimal chance of their negatives being removed.

Really?  I've had a few PM conversations with aTriz, and I could swear his English was at least 5 times better than jamalaezaz's.  I suppose the aTriz account could have changed hands, but that connection seems strange to me.

In any case, there seem to be a lot of people supporting OP based on his promises.  That's all fine and dandy, but apologies are useless and promises to not repeat shady behavior are just words until actions prove whether said promises were kept.  And from the point of view of a DT member who left a feedback that was meant to warn the community about some serious dishonesty, there's no way I'm going to remove a negative based on apologies and promises.  I've seen too many of them, and I'm too jaded to reverse a feedback in a case like this.

Holy crap!  I thought you made a mistake and meant Michael Buffer instead of Bruce, and I had to google it to make sure.  I had no idea they're half brothers--and I'm very familiar with Michael's delivery of that line you quoted above.  That's been famous since at least the 1980s if I'm not mistaken, as I remember it since I was a kid.

Goddamn I'm getting old.

Exactly, and hopefully OP understands this.  When the media reports that Elon Musk has lost billions in a day, they're basically using mark-to-market accounting based on how much Tesla stock he owns or some other yardstick.  It isn't as if billions of dollars suddenly went missing from his bank account--it's a "paper loss", not something the average person experiences or has to worry about.  Even Musk, Zuckerberg, Bezos, and other uber-wealthy people aren't seen crying about those kinds of losses, because things could go in the opposite direction within days or weeks.

In the case of Zuckerberg, I think he recouped a lot of his paper loss in the past few weeks when Meta stock rebounded from the big dip in October of last year (though it had been going down steadily long before that).  OP, if you want some solid advice: don't pay attention to 90% of what the media tells you, especially if it has to do with finance.

I've got your thread open in another tab, and I'm going to read it shortly--but even without reading it, I have a very definite opinion on 'diversification' in crypto.  That term is applicable to the stock market, where there are different industries whose earnings vary based on a number of factors, and they aren't all correlated.  But crypto?  First, very few coins aren't correlated with bitcoin and second, 99.9% of altcoins are pure shit and will never be used for anything but speculation when there's interest in them.  Some are red-hot for a while and then just fizzle out, and even with bitcoin being as volatile as it is I think it's far safer to hold it rather than buying a basket of altcoins.

As for the points OP made, they seem to be targeted to newbies who haven't heard those terms, which are regurgitated so many times all over the internet and even in the mainstream media that it's annoying at this point.

No surprise the USD is losing its status as the prime reserve currency.  The average US citizen has no clue about the extent to which the government is hastening the downfall of its currency.  We've got all of these insane monetary policies, not the least of which is all the money printing and debt accumulation.  The Fed and everyone involved in the creation of said policies are digging the US economy into a hole that nobody seems to have a clue how they're going to climb up out of.

I haven't looked at the price chart for gold lately, but I know it's fairly close to $2000 right now.  Is that at or at least near the ATH?  I'm pretty sure it is, because I remember gold going ballistic back in 2010-11 (and silver, too), but I can't remember if it ever hit $2k.

That sounds like strange advice from a nurse.  I don't know anything about the hospitals in your area, but a lot of electronic medical records are available to multiple hospitals if they're affiliated with each other.  Where I live there's been massive consolidation of ownership over the years, and if I walked into a hospital 50 miles from where I live, chances are they'd be able to see at least part of my medical record.

But all that aside, I'm happy for you despite your frustration.  I'm also not just a little bit amazed that you kept posting as much as you did through this whole ordeal.  You are a dedicated bitcointalker, my man.

Yeah, sure.  Of those members above, only Lauda had a real scam accusation made against them with evidence strong enough to at least make it a debatable issue.  As for the rest of them, I don't recall any scams that resulted in reputations being destroyed.

That's what I'd advise Poker Player to do for now.  I can't see the future of course, but I'd be willing to bet Royse777 will be able to restore his reputation if given enough time.  I've seen plenty of shitbag scammers on this forum, and I don't think he falls into that category; he may have used some poor judgement in the Bitlucy thing, but I don't think he's here to rip people off.

That's not a ringing endorsement, Royse777, but nor is it a condemnation by any means.  Please prove me right.

Uh, yeah....that's not just something that happened overnight or only since Biden's been president.  That debt clock has been ticking away for years at an alarming rate. 

If tax revenue were sufficient to fund all of the US government's expenses, do you think they'd even be in debt?  Taxing citizens is just like putting a band-aid on a slit artery that's gushing blood.  And the worst part is that I have no idea what the plan is to stem the bleeding in the long term.  Money can't just be printed indefinitely without serious consequences, like we've already been seeing with inflation.

The US might be stable in my lifetime, but I think it's a sinking ship that's just going down very slowly, and it's the next few generations that are either going to drown or figure out a solution.  Good luck, kids!

I was thinking the same thing myself.  Then again, OP hasn't said what kind of passive income he's making and in order to completely quit his job those revenue streams need to be stable and dependable, not subject to major risk of that revenue being slashed (like a dividend cut).

But man, if you absolutely hate the job you're in and have enough money coming in from other sources such that you don't need that job....I'd quit in a heartbeat.  I don't know if I'd stay out of the work force indefinitely, but at least there wouldn't be tremendous pressure to get a new job immediately upon quitting.  If you hate going to work, that'll crush your soul, leave you depressed or angry (or both), and it'll affect every aspect of your life. 

I'd love to know what line of work OP is in, though I'm doubtful as to whether he's coming back to respond to comments.

No, the forum would not be better off without DaveF and members like him who have a high level of expertise and have helped countless people.  And you're a member who calls the bitcoin network fee gas. 

There ought to be a "least self-aware member" category in the annual community awards.  You'd win it hands down this year, and we're only in January.  You cannot be defeated, sir.

He's got to be a troll.  Assuming that's true, he's doing a damn good job of it.

I get the feeling that this is probably the case here, and as I think I said in my post in the other thread OP started, I'm skeptical that HitBTC is under much regulation at all.  There have been enough scam accusations against them that I bet them asking customers for proof of funds is one of the ways they steal funds.  No doubt some users either can't or wouldn't produce that info, and HitBTC knows that.

I wish I could help with your question, OP, but I've never dealt with that kind of request.  This looks like you're in a situation where whatever information you provide is ever going to be enough to satisfy them--but again, good luck in sticking it to 'em.  They're a shitty exchange all around.

Of course we don't need a new rank, and it's a given that idiot shitposters will never even get to Hero member status, but we've had this discussion a few times before and there are a sizeable number of people who would support adding a rank above Legendary.

I'm one of those, even though if nothing ever changed with the ranking system I'd be just fine with that.  But just like any other proposal, it doesn't matter what my opinion is--it matters what Theymos thinks of it, and last I heard he wasn't planning on adding any new ranks.

I guess that's true for some ideas, but not for all of them, even ones that had a lot of community support (like having a mobile-friendly version of the site).  I'm also not sure to what extent the moderators are involved in the decision making process with respect to community proposals.  I get the sense that it's kind of a one-man show up on the mountain where Theymos lives.