Partly agree with the OP. It's really hard to earn merit points with the current rules. In my opinion, merit point should not be the only way for users' promotion. A more thorough model should use merit point as a multiplier on top of the previous scoring system. Average users shouldn't be punished together with spammers. If this system is not changed, bitcointalk will drive its users away to other platform for sure. I don't see how this can benefit anyone.

If you are into crypto world, you'll have to accept whatever comes your way or just simply leave. Fortify your portfolio so it can survive hard times and stop bitching about other people who took out their money on good measure.

The OP made a common mistake by equalizing BTC to the trading market. BTC is the base of the overall cryptocurrency universe. It consists of the network, miners, holders, merchants and all. Short term pump and dump schemes of course are many but that's unavoidable in any open markets and somewhat even positive in the long run as it attracts attention from the public.

the overall market is still bearish. today's rally is far not enough to confirm a trend reversal. if it breaks above 8600, the short term trend will be become modestly bullish on daily basis. there's still a long way to go for weekly and longer timeframe to turn bullish. trade with caution and do not hesitate to take profits if you can.

It seems it's too early as the whole market is very bearish. You may start investing but don't throw everything in at one shot. Do regular buy-in to control the risks.

The governments certainly can pose huge impacts to the crypto markets through outright banning, taxation, regulations and FUDs. Anyone can also see the potential disruptive effect of cryptos to FIAT economies, so don't expect the governments to cede their control without a fight.

You just need to employ different trading strategy to suit the market's trend. Personally I still do a lot of swing and arbitrage trades. The downward market doesn't necessarily cause problems to me.

I think decentralization is indeed what the current world needs. During most part of human history, decentralization was actually the dominant model because of the vastly segmented economy both in terms of demand and geography. The current centralized economy was the result of the fast industralisation of the last 300 years or so, and it has served the society well to eliminate poverty in most part of the world. However, I think it has reached its apex considering the fact of unsustainable economy/monetary policies of major economies and the disruptive effect of failed large corporations (Lehman Bro., etc.). With the fast uprising of e-commerce and more and more sub-divided consumer demands, a more decentralized economic model should at least become a good supplement of the economy even if it can't totally replace everything.

Bitcoin itself can't bring you any income but it's quite easy to make money from daytrading or arbitrage given the hyper fluctuation of the crypto market.

It's already a fact in China. WeChat and Alipay are so widespread that many Chinese don't carry cash around anymore.

It's definitely a good investment but one should still respect the market and be prepared for fluctuations. The traditional wisdom of proper asset allocation should be still followed. Don't gamble with more than what you can afford to lose.

Google's move is justified given that the flood of ICOs (scams) nowadays. If you're a long term investor, the overall health of the market is far more important than short term gains brought by noobs who n=know nothing about cryptos but lured in by ads.

crashes are good or bad? it depends on which side of the game you are on. it's of course good for those who have sold earlier or come in too late, but bad for those whose hands are weak. People who took out mortgage or took on leverage might go bankrupt due to the crashes. I daresay they won't like any crashes no matter how good it might be for the overall health of the market.

I'm planning to run btc qt wallet and bitcoin abc's core wallet on the same PC. To avoid the 2 wallets meddling with each other, is it sufficient by defining different -datadir and -port options? Any other switches I should specify?

hodl for the long term but short term trading is also very important. it's not only to make some small profits, also you'll gain more understanding of btc's price movements and the factors causing the moves. Good for you to become a more matured investor.

Nothing really disappears from this world. I believe no one can deny crypto's technological advancement and its potential in solving the world's problems. How can such things "be over"? Temporary monetary losses are irrelevant to the overall evolution or survival.

Airdrops are fun. Not only you get free coins, you also get to learn about new ICO concepts. I will do whenever I see no trading opportunities.

ETH is the only serious challenger to BTC's dominance in the long run. Its superiority in tech-centric, community, evolving potentials and real world benefits are so obvious that it's hard to imagine how it could fail.

Nope. Given the challenges cryptocurrency posing to traditional businesses, how can we expect the politicians representing old businesses to be unbiased about cryptos? Only after the crypto industry grows out of its infancy stage, there may be enough interests to attract politicians friendly to cryptos and to counter the views of those against it. Only after that, their opinions will be relevant.

Don't think it's a good time for ICO. Many recent ICOs dropped below the offer prices once getting listed. It's mostly due to the generally bearing mood. I'd wait till the next alt season.