I've used probably every major domain register under the sun, and I've always found them pretty much the same. Thing is, if you don't require hosting, or at least don't host with them there shouldn't really be any issues with any domain register that's considered trustworthy. Godaddy, and Namecheap have been leading the field for many years. I believe Namecheap allows Bitcoin payments, which is always a benefit.

You say your domains got suspended; Do you mean that they terminated your hosting package with them, or they suspended, and have taken away your domain? I don't think I've ever heard of the latter happening, but if its the former its probably due to you breaking their terms of service when it comes to their hosting services.

I wouldn't say busted, there''s always going to be crime in relation to Bitcoin, same as with cash. The difference is Bitcoin does give a little more privacy than card payments, but you could argue that cash is better for criminals to use. Obviously, as discussed every transaction is visible to anyone, whether they use Bitcoin or not which is something you'd think a criminal would avoid doing.

There isn't really anything to bust other than stating that a currency has, and will continue to be used by criminals. Unfortunately, what ever currency you use that will remain a fact. Bitcoin isn't special or different in this regard.

Ask thought provoking messages too! We aren't expecting everyone to have a profound understanding of the blockchain, bitcoin or just cryptocurrencies in general. If you've made the effort, and its a thought provoking or encourages interesting discussion based around your question or point made, then I'll be inclined to reward that post with merit, just like a few others around here will too.

This is quite common, and this is why I believe in a certain amount of leniency. Many new users will be of low quality at the beginning, but they'll develop knowledge, and etiquette over time. There's several very established users within the forum which started off as a typical "spammer" excited by the world of cryptocurrencies, and then developed into a very informed, and useful part of the community. That is something we should be encouraging, and not be so quick to write people off. 

I think this goes without saying, but no one trust claims from users without seeing evidence that they can deliver. Certainly don't put your trust in someone who claims to be a pro, but doesn't seem to have any substantial evidence on that, except for what they say. Usually, "pros" have a proven history of contributing, and creating successful endeavors. Also, I think I have an idea what this user will recommend, probably something related to signal trading considering their post history.

That's crazy! I've been involved maybe 7-8 years? And I'm by no means a pro at anything regarding Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies. What I know is a drop in the ocean compared to core developers, and various users on this forum. Usually, instead of being a jack of all trades, someone specializes in certain areas of a field. Are you claiming to be a jack of all trades, as well as a master of it all? Because you've quite clearly shown via your post history, that you want to create an altcoin, without possessing the developer skills for it, and sounds a little bit samey without any glaring advantages over competitors, except for; "Airdrop" which usually translates to "Let's get rich by promising our clients something that's impossible, and we will drop a huge amount of coins, and profit from it. Then, we will leave, and say the project just failed unfortunately". Which is something we see very often in the altcoin section.

You've piqued my interest though; What legit looking companies exist today, but are actually scams?

So, you're an accountant too! Are you able to provide the tax implications that one might face in the USA?

I'd assume most users literally only use it when there's a "pay by paypal" button on a website, and therefore only log in, and pay for things. I'm not overly familiar with Paypal, and I haven't looked at this recent addition of cryptocurrency, and Paypal in depth. For US residents does it even advertise to existing customers that its been added? Like is there any pop up telling them its been added? Even if it was, I'd half expect them to just ignore it, and pay for what they want.

I think its quite well known that Gavin Andersen doesn't even know the real identity to Satoshi despite working in close proximity to each other. I don't know why you would think an exchange would know the identification of Satoshi, especially when we know that a lot of coins of Satoshi are still in their wallets, and there's been no evidence or reason to expect that Satoshi withdrew anything at all. I believe Satoshi's email was even hacked, and didn't bring up anything substantial. Satoshi likely kept his identity completely anonymous, and even several years after there's not much of a lead to go on.

Single board computers are the way to go. They run fairly efficiently so you aren't going to be forking out huge amounts of money on running costs, and there's usually just a single payment for the SBC, and hard drive. Anything else will be overkill, and will cost you more in the long term. If there was ever a global blanket censorship on Bitcoin, then we rely on nodes to keep the network secure, and that's exactly why you should never use a third party to host it. Of course, there's also the issue that you are technically pissing money down the drain every month for running costs. So get a SBC, there are cheaper versions than a Raspberry Pi out there,  but the Raspberri Pi has the better compatibility, and documentation.

Plus, the good news is if you ever want to host another website or anything like that the Raspberry Pi becomes very useful outside of hosting a node. I've got maybe 10 of these little things lying around doing various tasks for me.

380 users is a terrible data set to work with, and when its concentrated to a very specific categorization of users its even more worthless. Honestly, I have very big doubts that 10% of users using Paypal, trade Bitcoin using their app. Any serious user of Bitcoin would have already know that Paypal fees are kicking your butt from the get go, and there's far better services elsewhere.  

This is partly true, I would agree. However, there are better alternatives available on the phone anyway, with more competitive fees. As mentioned the dataset included 380 users which will give very inconsistent indications. Usually, 1000 is an OK number, but basically the bigger the data set the more telling the results.

Might be worth noting, depending on what you're using a mixing service for; I'd assume for privacy, video capturing the process could well put that as risk, if there's digital evidence of you using the mixing service if that's something you''re concerned about.

I also consider myself pretty adept at security, and I'm probably a lot more cautious in some regards to other people. However, I also have made silly mistakes in the past with security, and I've also got somethings right now that need to be fixed from a security point of view. I don't think anyone is perfect. A lot of people like to mitigate going to a wrong address by using bookmarks, that might be something to consider as even when reading out what you've typed, your eyes can play tricks on you just as much as your hand coordination while typing it can. Although, I personally don't like the bookmark method, since that definitely isn't foolproof, and introduces a complacency aspect that I'm not comfortable with. 

There's been many customers over the years of Chipmixer, both larger, and smaller deposits. I personally believe there would be more incidents like yours if they were the culprit. It is very likely, that you made a mistake, as opposed to their system messing up which has been trialed by thousands of people over a course of a few years.

I know this is all a bit of fun, and something the community can get involved with, but it is most certainly a popularity contest! I'll use myself as an example, I've been nominated for spambuster due to my publicly posted reports, but I have it on good authority that there's at least one user that absolutely smashes that record. I've also not reported all that much since becoming moderator, because there isn't really a need the majority of the time. Unfortunately, the data quoted is so out of date, that its hard to determine who's been the most active, and there's a lot of users who spam bust behind the scenes without speaking much of a word about it. I think due to me being quite vocal, and coupled with the reporting effectively guide I made its more about popularity than actual statistics. There's definitely a lot more users that have put in more work on the spam front.

Although, I'm not rubbishing the event at all. I actually think its a real neat idea to get the community involved, but if this was to become a yearly event it would have some benefits, first of all its something to look forward too, and there's also the fact that this can encourage users that may have not made effort in several of the categories, to actually delve into it, and get more involved. Encouraging both activity, and a nicer community!

That said, I'm not sure if I'm going to place a vote since I can't verify certain data, and its very difficult to select 3 individuals in each category, and I don't want to be one of those that sit on the fence

Quite frankly, I look forward to next years candidates dressing up, and posing to become "Miss Bitcointalk".

I think we can all come to the conclusion that Bitcoin as a technology, and currency is safe. The encryption stands the test for the moment, and there's currently no known major exploits, and only some history of certain vulnerabilities being exploited, and usually corrected. However, Bitcoin certainly isn't bulletproof, but its probably as good as it gets. The real issue, is the person themselves behind the tech. How good is their security? Because, honestly looking at a average persons security, they should not be trusting themselves to handle significant amounts of Bitcoin.

It's cliche at this point, but the person themselves is definitely the weakest link, just like that person handling your money at the bank is. Its why social engineering is so successful, especially to those that aren't clued on. Most bank employees go on courses, regularly to assure they are aware of the risks, and different attacks. The normal person securing their Bitcoin, isn't doing this. So, the age old debate of whether Bitcoin is safe to handle for a average person, really does depend on the person in question.

You don't have to store your private key, even if hardware wallets supply a piece of paper to write it down, you are not required too. However, there comes a thin line of good security from physical threats, but there's also the security of guarding from memory loss, and dementia. As you get older, you may be one of the unlucky people to get dementia, and that seed you have written down might mean nothing to you. You might think, you'll just be able to search online for the answer, but those suffering from dementia or even freak accidents, can forget family members, and even themselves, let alone what a search engine is.

Luckigly, dementia is something that's usually spotted early on, but having an accident, and suffering memory loss is a real issue, that might just be as likely as getting stolen from, depending on where you live. For example, if you drive every day, you probably are more likely to get in a car accident, than be the victim of theft.

Obviously, we try to safeguard as much as possible, and I see your concern. However, there's also a point where you have to draw the line. Personally, I recommend relying on a third party here....I know the forbidden words when it comes to security right? Technically, you can setup a bank account, with high security without internet access, and it is covered up to 85k in the UK, and I believe more in the US? You can have multiple bank accounts like this, so if anything happens to the bank you are covered, and by limiting access to the bank to in person, and identifying you that way you greatly reduce the chance of being stolen from.

Bitcoin is great, and at its very core YOU are responsible for your money, and I fully support moving away from banks, however there are some trade offs of that. You have to take care of your own security, and unfortunately, you'll never be 100% safe in any given scenario. Unless, you are absolutely 100% sure you'll never give out the password when in danger, and you have no physical presence of the private key or seed, and also you are 100% sure you can trust the hardware that you've used, be it a hardware wallet, or INTEL manufactured parts. There will always be some risk.


The same is true, if its a fiat based millionaire, that's why its commonplace for millionaires in general to have security, especially if they are a public figure. It's also one of the reasons that many millionaires live in "gated" communities, altogether in one place.

With everything going on in the world, I also sort of forgot to log in every once in a while, because I didn't really use the software prior to this, I guess there wasn't enough time for me to develop the habit, and have been distracted by real world events. Will have to drop in, and check the place out as long as I can find my very makeshift credentials. Hope everyone is doing alright over there!

They may have real humans behind the screen, I've certainly not used them personally, but the description of the problems faced sounding like AI was processing the the information. They could well be using a combination of the two, sometimes certain companies don't like employees handling sensitive data, and therefore opt to software to verify certain things. I believe this is done within some banks. Obviously, the opposite is true when you look higher up the chain of employment, and usually everything is human reviewed.

There's definitely both an upside, and downside to using automated software to process these sort of things, but technology, in particular AI emphasis has grown significantly over the years, and more, and more companies are starting to implement it where they can, and not just tech related companies either. Obviously, the AI is limited to the programmers skill level, and there's almost always a frustrating experience to be had, but I'll be honest peoples intelligence also varies, and I've definitely had frustrating moments with support teams.

Absolutely, I'm almost always pessimistic with investments, because I'm not a frequent trader, but rather in it for the long term investment. So, to me short term effects aren't something I usually overthink, or even analyze. Obviously, my ballpoint figure there is at the low point, and is quite frankly a guess without any evidence, or supporting reasons to expect that. The same as with the majority of investors, and others on this forum. Honestly, I expect it between 8-10k based on a personal hunch, and that's pretty much all I have to back that up.

Again yeah, history may well indicate the opposite, however I'm talking from a principle point of view. Personally, I wouldn't want to invest blindly because of the fear of missing out. Personally, I would have liked to evaluate the market, how its behaved in the past, and that's the reason for my pessimism. I usually, am more inclined to encourage people to expect the worst, rather than encouraging them to think they are going to get rich no matter what. That's simply because I don't want people to be investing because of my viewpoints. Again, talking from a purely principle point of view, you shouldn't be investing in something because someone else said that you should, even if that person has a proven record.  That doesn't mean, you'll earn less if you completely regard what I've said, in fact if you take more risks, you're probably more likely to earn more, but also earn less. It's a slippery slope, and I believe personally that people rely on the opinions of others way too much.

I'm also terrible predicting the weather so there's that. Its come to the point I don't even look anymore, and it is what it is when I get outside. Honestly, very similar approach I have with Bitcoin, I only ever hear of the Bitcoin price through news, rather than checking myself

No matter the time frame, it can be abused. Currently you have a 180 day time frame, which is required on the address, but anyone that wants to get into your club, would realistically be able to forge this within that 180 day time period, or slightly over. If you are looking to reduce multiple users, this probably isn't going to do it effectively. Signing addresses, and having frequently used addresses isn't something that's going to help, unless you consider increasing the timeframe, to something of years, rather than days. Even then, most multiple accounts will likely be using different addresses for each account to avoid detection, if that's what they are looking to do.

Not even that, users will likely have multiple addresses over the years which they haven't tied to anything, and might start using these addresses for this purpose.

Honestly, I think you could probably put as much measures in as possible to reduce it, but it will only ever be harmful to the adoption of your club, whatever it may be. Restrictive requirements, will just annoy those that are legitimate, while only affecting a small minority of those that want to use multiple accounts in your club.

Ideally, from my point that would be the case, but not everyone cares about privacy. I also think its quite rare for users to abide by this even if they do care about privacy.

I don't think its as black, and white as that. Although, indications have shown the early predictions of holding Bitcoin might not be as positive as originally thought, but I think most people have been aware that value is created when large amounts of Bitcoin are in circulation, i.e being used as a currency. The more adoption in mainstream stores of Bitcoin, will provide greater value for those using Bitcoin. This is usually the case for any currency, but is exaggerated with Bitcoin due to the its limited amount, and nature of it.  Although, trading has always hurt the price of Bitcoin, and any other currency. It creates fluctuations within the market, which creates uncertainty for adoption which is ultimately bad for Bitcoin. I believe there's been several companies that have been vocal that they are not interested in accepting Bitcoin, due to its volatile nature, which is a direct effect of frequent trading. It is less noticable in fiat currencies, because of the volume, but as we know with Bitcoin, there is much less in circulation, and therefore is much more noticeable creating these fluctuations.

I completely understand the mentality behind those that do invest at these all time highs, and little surges Bitcoin has had. That's without being in the red as you put it. I do think your advise was sound, although ultimately its their decision. It's usually a good time to give it some time after a surge to see if its worth waiting a little while before investing as normal. I do think regular investments of what you can afford are a good idea though, but I do have a bias as I'm a supporter of Bitcoin not only because of the potential to earn a lot of money, but the technology behind it. So, ultimately I have a scewed view of Bitcoin being successful in the long run, and I know we all have different criteria for success, Bitcoin is undoubtly successful in was it was created to do, but I definitely have visions of its potential being reached.

Was it required that you submitted it? Or was it a pop up, trying to get more information, and didn't actually require you to submit it? If its the latter its very likely customer profiling as mentioned, and they'll look to tailor their service to your needs. As far as I'm aware KYC does not extend to what you work as, or how much you work. AFAIK, no exchange requires this information, but they may ask to better serve their interface to you, or potentially send related information via your email. Likely the latter, where they're trying to gauge how much you could invest on their platform, and then they might send you emails of certain price points they might think you'll be interested in.

I've been asked similar sort of questions in other services outside of Bitcoin, and I've never been required to submit it. It's usually to do with serving up their services specific to you so that they might be able to get more more business out of you by offering you certain things, or by reminding you that their product is on sale, or in terms of Bitcoin has hit a new time high or something.

Its hard to know their exact intentions, but if you are not required to submit it, which I don't think you are, You can just ignore it.

Unfortunately, this is what the customer expects, but in the majority of industries the customer services people are lowly qualified, and can only solve the most basic of problems, otherwise they have to elevate it to higher up. This is why most customer services jobs are lowly paid, and don't require many qualifications or experience. Its considered a entry level job in most companies. Even big companies, that you would expect to have some sort of technical knowledge, do not employ those with technical knowledge. I'm hinting at technology, and computing based companies here.

Comparing the FBI with a lowly qualified staff member on a exchange is quite different. FBI agents are usually trained, and highly qualified. Support workers are not, and they don't have the software or the know how to decipher low quality images. However, I do agree with you that having exact specifications for the resolution is annoying, and does cause some problems. In my opinion, as long as all documentation is included in the frame of the picture, and its of readable quality, then there shouldn't be much of an issue with the resolution.

This leads me to think they are using automated software, to look at the documentation supplied, and either rejecting it or accepting it automatically. This is probably why they require a certain resolution with the pictures, because the software is quite particular about it, and its AI will not be able to tell if its uploaded in different resolutions.