I don't know how Bitcoin is a life savior in your story. If you're stuck in the desert, Bitcoin can't actually help you. Water is your life-saver. A group of travelers is a life-saver. An oasis is a life-saver, but not Bitcoin.

If I'm stuck in the middle of the desert for 3 days, Bitcoin won't probably give me joy. What will give me joy is that bus that will finally fetch me away from that hell and impending death.

Actually, in circumstances like this, cash proves to be much better than Bitcoin.

Everything is about patterns. Avid cockfighting bettors are very observant. They will see patterns in everything. If previous fights saw white-legged cocks winning over yellow-legged ones, they will take note of it. But that's not the only factor. For example, white-legged ones are winning over yellow-legged ones but only if the former are the favorites, or if the latter are red-feathered. It's more complicated than it seems.

As to the phase of the moon, they also have patterns like it's a full moon today, bulik roosters are expected to win over white roosters.

In cockfighting, you can't bet based on performance. You will bet beforehand; you don't know how they will fight.

It's funny how gambling has significant effects on gamblers' psychology that they tend to be keen and creative in their imaginations.

I think you better provide significant information as to the service you're talking about. What is it? Does it require KYC? Is it a custodial service? Is it a P2P app?

Actually, if all you have is crypto and you visit my country, you can also do that. There is no big deal here. The most popular crypto app in my country is also present in Thailand. I don't know how widely adopted it is there, though. The big deal is if you can visit Thailand and tour around the country spending only crypto. But if you have to convert your crypto to fiat first, you probably can do that with several options. You can also to that in a number of countries. 

I don't think there is a national food crisis in my country right now. Although there are families that can't afford to buy enough nutritious food, it isn't because there is nothing to buy. It's more of the fact that they are poor, so it's about their low income. Poverty is prevalent in my country, in certain provinces and regions more than in any other. There is food insecurity and these poor families and areas are the ones who are the most deprived of access. There is also a shortage of certain food, but it's not on the level of crisis.

Yes to all of the above, of course. And that's normal. That's understandable.

On the other side, however, it is also possible that there would also be significantly fewer interesting discussions and posts. The incentive to post brings forth a fair amount of constructive responses, interesting ideas, informative replies, and even curious questions.

Also, because of the spam and lower quality posts indirectly caused by signature campaigns, the standard is pushed a lot higher. I was fond of reading old threads and there were many one-liner responses before which, I guess, could easily be deleted in today's standard.

I think I won't be divulging as sensitive an information as to how much Bitcoin I have. The less information one shares about his/her Bitcoin, the safer he/she will be. But I don't have much, so I might just be in the top 5. I used to have a good number of Bitcoin in the past. Although I am generally a hodler, I also made several conversions before because of compelling reasons. If I'm not mistaken, I even sold a portion of my Bitcoin portfolio in the 2018 bear market. But, of course, it's not because of fear or panic.

I'm not sure about offering to god, but I know that many are praying to win in gambling. Many are putting their lottery and raffle tickets on the altar, in between pages of the bible, underneath the figurines of saints, and so on. Amulet? There is probably also that kind used in gambling, but I have heard of stories that amulets shouldn't be brought inside gambling places like the cockpit arena because it will only bring you bad luck, or it won't actually have powers inside such places. Stories, you know.


That's probably just one factor. There are many others including, and more importantly, the conditioning.

With the number of banks, large ones at that, falling one after another in just a matter of months, this is really indicative of a much bigger problem. The sad thing is that all of this might just be the opening salvo. Surely, the ripple effect of what's been happening might even be worse. If the depositors lose trust and confidence of the banks, more billions will flow out. That will cause more damage.

People should now begin to seriously look for a better alternative. Bitcoin offers that.

Crypto, of course, is very much alive in America notwithstanding the regulatory confusion and the seemingly hostile environment. I think the US is still in the learning process. In fairness, there is deliberation happening. Even in congress, there are legislators criticizing and defending crypto. That's actually a lot better than in other countries where a ban could be issued all of a sudden without careful deliberation. I guess the problem in the US is that while they are still in the middle of familiarizing crypto and studying which regulatory policy is apt, they are already filing lawsuits, imposing fines, doing investigations, and the like.

I belong to a highly superstitious culture where gambling is also prevalent. Superstition and gambling shouldn't go together, but they seem to be deeply intertwined in my culture that things are getting both funny and unreasonable.

Patterns form part of this superstition. I sometimes bet on cockfighting. This brutal form of gambling is also deeply cultural. And this is also where bettors look for patterns everywhere including the color of the fighting cocks' feathers, the color of their legs, the phase of the moon, and so on.

At the end of the day, many go home bringing nothing. LOL!

I guess this happened to so many people. And the main reason I think is that many bought Bitcoin prematurely. Many are too eager to buy Bitcoin, but they don't even have a complete understanding of Bitcoin's volatility and its overall market dynamics. I guess this is primarily because a wrong impression is created in them. Many jumped into the bandwagon with the assumption that Bitcoin is a get-rich-quick scheme. So if one is to orient somebody about Bitcoin, one shouldn't miss emphasizing that it isn't. 

Make it easier for the people here to help you or at least give you an idea of what might have happened. Perhaps you might want to provide more information about the transaction. Which wallet are you using? Do you have the TXID of the transaction?

I suspect that you actually failed to send the funds properly. If you are sure about the address that you send the funds to, are you sure you are using the right network? You could have chosen the cheaper yet wrong network option.

I suppose addiction means going beyond the normal or moderate ways of doing things. It means you are losing control of your urges. If that's so, that should definitely be bad.

There are a number of people I personally know who have more than enough money but stingy enough to spend on basic things such as food and clothing. They have investments; they have savings in the bank; they have businesses, but they don't spend much on things that don't give them ROI.

Here in my country, people with Chinese roots are usually businessmen. And it has become a sort of a widely perceived behavior that they don't spend much on things that don't earn. And if they can still earn on something, they will have to earn from it. They become a subject of jokes because of this. There was one which speaks of 3 different persons stuck somewhere where is no food to eat. When they got very hungry, they started catching flies just to have something to eat. The other two noticed that one didn't eat what he caught. He was of Chinese blood. When they ran out of flies to catch, the Chinese took out the flies that he gathered and sold them to the two. LOL!

Physical Bitcoin is actually a kind of a misnomer. Strictly speaking, there can't be a physical Bitcoin. Nobody can actually take that Bitcoin out of the blockchain and turn it into a physical coin or bill or penny. Bitcoin is digital, so physical and Bitcoin are actually antonyms.

Anyway, there are already a number of bills and coins that are loaded with Bitcoin. Actually, not really loaded, but they contain the private keys that give you access to the Bitcoin. There are even cards, chips, and other physical items and artworks that are also loaded with Bitcoin. If you head to the Collectibles section, you will see a number of them. You have the revered Casascius coins. You have the Lealana, BTCC, CryptoImperator, Alpencoin, and many others. You also have Bitcoin bills like Polymerbit.

But these are largely collectibles. In the future, though, it is possible that there will be bills and coins backed by Bitcoin. Just like the old days when fiat was backed by gold, there might come a time in the future when bills and coins can be redeemed for Bitcoin. As to how they would look like, I don't know.

Well, the campaign didn't actually require to post only on threads with 5 pages or less. After all, who can tell whether or not the thread would grow into a mega thread? What's preferred is that posts are made within those 5 pages. The discussion would continue and create 10, 20, 50, or even 100 pages more. As a matter of fact, you can still join in those kinds of discussions provided you don't focus your posts there. And for a campaign seeking visibility, that's understandable. Posts are quickly buried.

Certain threads in gambling discussion are rather unique. And it's completely understandable also if they grow into mega threads. It's because they're not discussing a specific game or event or tournament or a similar topic. They're basically covering leagues and sports. You mentioned Premier league. There's also the NBA, La Liga, MMA, ESports, and others. They're general topics. They don't have an end.

It's more of trolling but probably with a bit more serious or deeper motive, although it must be a combination. It also looks like Binance is posturing, trying to send a message that it matters, and that if only the state and federal regulators were friendly to them and make things a bit easier, they actually have something to offer.

Or is this just marketing, a subtle effort to create a good image to the public? They also appeared to help FTX but cited certain reasons in the end not to push through. They also made mention of $2 billion to help crypto companies who struggled during the crypto winter. I don't know where it went. Now, they're also trying to help Voyager.

Why not? Because Crusoe Energy is a partner of WEF. They're probably not ashamed of Bitcoin mining, of course-- there's money from it, after all-- but they have to walk on eggshells because "Crusoe is part of the World Economic Forum's innovator communities."^[1] It is telling why despite the WEF being largely composed of Bitcoin critics, they chose Crusoe to be featured. 

Is Bitcoin mining their main source of income? It doesn't seem so. Try dropping by their official website and it appears they didn't even mention Bitcoin mining, even in their Values and Mission, except perhaps in a number of the many articles featuring them which they linked.

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[1] https://www.weforum.org/videos/this-start-up-catches-waste-methane-to-power-data-centres

There's a difference between the deal can't legally push through and the deal is unilaterally cancelled, by Binance in this case. They have the green light. They can make it happen. They can push through with the plan. So, it can't be a reason that the regulatory environment is hostile because there is no legal impediment anymore. At best, it can only be used as an excuse or alibi not to proceed with the agreement. That's what Binance is doing right now.

Also, when they made the offer, was the regulatory environment any different? No, it was the same. It was the same hostile, uncertain, and unfriendly environment.

Voyager is now even considering possible legal claims against Binance. It can't do that if it was the regulators who put a halt to the agreement.

It seems to me Binance is tripping, or at least acting to be helpful or a savior because they assume things wouldn't push through. And when everything has the green light, they would just back out.

If I'm not mistaken, there's a law which prohibits sitting elected government officials to get involved in gambling operations. As a matter of fact, there was probably an order even for ordinary government workers not to get involved in casino gambling. The point is that gambling is perceived, or is actually, dirty and it's better if government personnel avoid it altogether.

The case of Teves is clear, but not unique in the country. He is into legal and illegal gambling. In both cases, he is violating a law. But he can't just be apprehended because he is very rich and powerful and he obviously is more than willing to bribe, threaten, or even kill anybody who gets in the way.

When Voyager went bankrupt in July of 2022, FTX came to the rescue and offered a bail out. Months later, FTX itself filed for its own bankruptcy. The hopes of Voyager depositors were crushed.

Binance, then, offered to buy the sinking FTX only to back out of the deal in the end. The hopes of FTX users were crushed.

Binance, Binance US in particular, then, offered the purchase of Voyager at $1 billion, with a plan to give back to its users a significant portion of their funds. The SEC objected. The Texas State Securities Board objected. The US Federal Trade Commission objected. Binance fought for it.

But just when the government agencies finally decided not to pursue challenging the deal in courts, Binance suddenly terminated the purchase agreement citing no specific reason, once again crushing the revived hopes of its users. The only reason mentioned is the usual hostile regulatory climate. Although that has some truth, why bring it up just as the legal contestations are withdrawn? Just when the agreement could finally be sealed and implemented?

Considering that Binance won't really have to produce that $1 billion, is it just having fun messing around here, giving false hope to the beleaguered users?

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1. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-25/binance-us-terminates-deal-to-buy-bankrupt-crypto-firm-voyager
2. https://twitter.com/investvoyager/status/1650921887512272917