I have a strong faith that cryptocurrency is here to stay and will definitely be defining the kind of future we will have especially in the world of finance, money and banking. Bitcoin has been the dominant cryptocurrency not because it is perfect (far from that) but because it is the most popular, the most recognized and maybe the most utilized (except for stablecoins, I guess). Now, we should not be afraid of competitions because these alternative coins are actually partners of Bitcoin especially in the world of cryptocurrency trading. Until such time that there is no coin that can replace Bitcoin on its throne as the King, we should not be concerned much with perceived competitors. Definitely, there will be new competition from time to time and this is just a natural development in the open market but if we have to base on the past many of these new platforms will just die on the road, not being able to sustain the sizzle they created.

I can only be a millionaire with Bitcoin if its price is able to climb into at least 1 Million USD but since it can be taking so many years before that can happen, I prefer to just live on the present and enjoy the life I am having while holding on to some satoshis I have in my wallet. In the past, I would have been stressed a lot to see the red sea in the CMC especially with Bitcoin but not anymore because I have already learned to accept this digital currency as it is, fully of volatility and uncertainties. The only consolation at the back of my head is that this is just one of the normal phases of Bitcoin and since it happened in the past there are always many precedents we can analyze closely. Certainly, Bitcoin can be rising again in the coming weeks the only not sure is when. So I would just prefer to wait as what a real HODLER should be doing.

Well, let's hope that Grayscale's application with the SEC can be approved soon. Personally, I am in doubt of the real chance of this application as the reasons cited by SEC in the many ETF rejections in the past are still existing today. The right time for a platform like this is not yet today and there is nothing we can do if that is they way SEC is appraising things. When a platform is seeking regulation and recognition, the power is always in the approving agency and all we can do is wait and hope. But the question is: Do we really need this one or is this not just another platform where people can be able to manipulate Bitcoin in the name of getting institutional investors on board?

People are just looking for reasons that is why they considered China, again, as the biggest culprit for the continuing decline of the value of Bitcoin. This is getting to be unfortunate really that the market is allowing wrong perceptions and ideas to be entering the ecosystem but that is what free market for all of us. Of course, China is not really the reason for this bloodbath but what can we do if people are thinking otherwise? Rumors are always flying off the shelves and when a story or perception is sticking to the wall then it can really affect the market, the market that has already been weakened for the past many weeks. Remember that the recent big rise of Bitcoin was attributed to the statement of China's President on the blockchain (not on Bitcoin actually) and this kind of influence is really unnecessary as we should be China-free right now.

BitcoinTalk is very legendary, indeed. A one of a kind and the pioneering forum for the cryptocurrency industry where people can meet many leaders of the industry, and who are very legendary themselves. I am so happy and proud to be a part of this forum, contributing something that I could based on my limited knowledge and experience with cryptocurrency and related matters. Let's all look forward for the next ten years with this forum as the testament or witness to the most exciting digital asset ever, Bitcoin.

Happy 10th anniversary, everyone!

This is quite expected. Blockchain technology is an open-source technology so anybody can have access and use it, including of course the government. Now, just because the government is using blockchain does not mean that Bitcoin can be destroyed, on the other hand it can be enhancing its value because the underlying technology of Bitcoin is being verified to be useful by the government.

There will always be people and organization who are not taking Bitcoin positively and that is quite expected because we are not programmable people and we are living in the society where opposing ideas and opinions are allowed and even encouraged.

Now, if something is really strong and unbreakable - just like what many of us are thinking on Bitcoin - then there is nothing that can hamper and stop Bitcoin and all of these things are just temporary obstacles. Otherwise, if Bitcoin can go down because of these developments, then I would say it is not worth everything we heaped and invest into it. We are in the world where ideas, platforms and projects have to fight it out in the open marketplace and the survivors are the only ones allowed to flourish.

I think there is no superb reasons for this ongoing bloodbath except that the market is getting to be cold with Bitcoin for now. And there is no real good news on the horizon that could have help Bitcoin be energized, instead we hear of the Shanghai Binance raid which is, of course, not true. This is actually a very common scenario with Bitcoin and though can be discouraging I already learned that because of this we just have to wait for months before Bitcoin can have the opportunity to be back at $10,000.

I am fearing that the coming Bitcoin halving has already been factored into the price of BTC because that can mean there can be no real bull run to happen approaching May 2020. Volatility can go either way...up or down pulling apart people's confidence on this digital asset when it goes to the south. As to who created this dump, maybe just blame it to the usual suspects whether it is true or not...the whales, the manipulators making these people really overrated as if they are the market and the only players in the market.

The Bitcoin market seems not so kind enough to be giving us a good gift this coming holiday season.

I am all happy to know that today is the exact date for the 10th year of Bitcointalk's existence. Now, I am really wondering is there an online-streamed party for the forum held somewhere? That would be fun watching maybe some of the known leaders of this one and only forum for Bitcoin which Satoshi Nakamoto founded. Personally, I am thanking this great forum for the education that I continually received here and that camaraderie not existing anywhere but here. Let's continue on sharing and helping each other using this amazing platform.

Don't count on that, my friend. I  think it is quite clear that PayPal CEO Dan Schulman holding in Bitcoin is done personally and not in any way connected with his position in PayPal. Had it been PayPal itself also holding Bitcoin then it can be a different story. Remember that with many big companies, CEOs come and go and certainly Dan is thinking about his future and not of PayPal. Still, am hoping that one day PayPal will decide that their users can buy Bitcoin and cryptocurrency directly using their payment platform - and that can be a good start.

We heard that China raided the office of a Binance operation in that country and that partly impacted the bearish sentiment of the market right now. China is a country of mixed signals and sometimes what you hear is not actually what you will experience or see. While there is no official ban on cryptocurrency, the government has made it known that they are not approving of it and is not allowing operation of virtual currency exchange within its territory and would probably exert effort so that their citizens not be involved with cryptocurrency related activities. So much for the hope of many that China is going to be opened soon for Bitcoin, it may never came maybe not within the next 5 years. No wonder that Bitcoin is retreating because the main driver for its recent rise was that news coming from China on the blockchain. The industry is having a famine of good news that it reacted positively to the statement of China's President even if he was talking about the blockchain technology and not really on Bitcoin. Oh well, there is must be something wrong here and I am not feeling good about it. Are we then under the extension of the rule of China?

Just like the time when Bakkt started, the impact of the things that this platform is offering to the public can not be felt here and now but will be a slow process. And that is actually good since we are already tired of this sudden up and sudden down nature of this asset. Bakkt is about the long-term much more so that we are talking here of institutional investors. On a personal level, am now believing that platforms like Bakkt and even the famous ETFs in case they can be approved by SEC will not be helping Bitcoin grow tremendously but will instead limit its growth.

Talking about that Binance debacle. Thinking about it right now, I could not really believe that until now even if China has not yet recognized Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, the country still has a big impact on this industry. I don't understand why would Binance will not first seek all the clearance from the government before doing an operation in China. These guys are just courting a big disaster and now it is affecting all of us. What a crap!

I am small but firm believer in Bitcoin and an admirer of Satoshi Nakamoto whether he can be a single individual or just a code for a group. Now, Bitcoin and the blockchain technology should be categorized as game-changing technologies and definitely they can be contributing a lot towards making this world a better place. But I don't think we are already stretching a lot to be attributing to this man the "change the world" attributes as if he is the only savior that we never had. Bitcoin is not perfect and we are seeing its many flaws (perceived and real) right now and because of this there should have been a continuing research and experimentation on how to make it grow as an organization. Bitcoin is not going to be the be-all and end-all solutions to gargantuan problems facing humanity.  Placing false hopes on something/someone will only make that something be the focus of disappointment later. Just my own opinion.

Bitcoin is empowerment or putting the many choices and that power to decide right in the fingertips of each individual, no wonder there remains to be a big boom in the personal asset management side. This niche is growing and will continue to be expanding as the whole industry of cryptocurrency is conquering new markets. Now, because investments carry assumed risks, people have to be educated on many aspects of personal asset management and this is where third-party platforms can be coming in, ensuring that all players are receiving the basic information and of course informed of the many options they can use along the way. Education is the key here and I am assuming that service providers are doing all they can to partake knowledge to their customer base.

I don't see these famous platforms decide to be decentralized. Decentralization entails a lot of things and on top of that is the control and censorship. Facebook and YouTube will never be multi-billion companies if they are not controlled platforms though they are open to the public still decisions on many matters are done by the corporate personalities and not by the users themselves. There had been many attempts to introduce decentralized social media platforms but up to now not one is flourishing all of them are still unknown and many are already dead.

USA may not be pioneering this move towards currency digitalization but eventually it will adopt into it when many countries have already successfully entered the game. Now, being not the pioneer, USA can be spared from the many mistakes that the pioneer will eventually be making, so this can in fact be an advantage. The strength of the digital version of any currency is still dependent on the strength of the real fiat currency, the one backing the digital. I am sure that central banks are now seeing this digitalization move as an opportunity to be able to control the fiat money movement and the chance to just produce the digital money almost with no cost plus these digital currencies can be tracked and controlled, the best joystick for control-leaning governments. With that scenario, should we not be happy that USA is not on the lead?

The airline, travel and generally the tourism industry can all benefit with the use of the blockchain technology and this is one big area where innovations are really needed to answer the surge of demand expected in the next decade. What Hahn Air is doing will certainly be watched by other players and once they see that the blockchain technology has been very successful and been doing wonders to this outfit then we can expect others to slowly adopt their own improvised blockchain-supported platform. This is just a matter of time, I am sure.

Of course, IMF is just being honest about Bitcoin. It is not because they are afraid but this is showing us that at the end of the day, institutions like IMF and the governments can go hand-in-hand in minimizing the influence of Bitcoin if there is a threat posed by it. So far, they are not seeing Bitcoin as a present threat but a possible one. Right now, there is no need to do anything but just being watchful. I am sure these guys are good in analytics, they are aware that Bitcoin is having a big problem in mass adoption and they are aware that it can really take years or decades before anything can be adopted on a global basis. People who are so sure that traditional financial institutions and governments can not do anything on Bitcoin are people who are so blind. Just look at China. In between Bitcoin and the government, would you listen to Bitcoin or the government who has the power to make your life miserable?

What I am seeing in here is the versatility of Bitcoin. This means that with Bitcoin there is no censure as what anybody would like to be selling and though this can be a two-edged sword I love the idea of the freedom that Bitcoin can give to someone who might have a very good idea benefiting humanity and not just selling any shit, of course. Now, having said that, anybody then can be hilarious and for as long as there is a market for that and it is not really illegal then let's go for it.

I am sure that this GamerGirl must be so hot that's why she can be able to sell as outrageous as bath water and even a bottled pee to her own captured market. Celebrities or a variation thereof can easily do this because they have fans who are obsessed with them. Same with pron stars and right now there are many platforms exploiting this market, sadly these platforms are not so heavy with cryptocurrency.

So should we use our Bitcoin for a beautiful girl's gallon of pee?

I am sure that coming from the CEO of Coinbase which is recognized as one of the biggest leaders and a known pillar in this expanding and lucrative industry, this can be a big encouragement to many Bitcoin holders especially at this time when it appears that the bears are showing their fangs to all of us. I fully agree that since this is still a risky enterprise, we have to be careful with what we are investing here. As a good wisdom says: Hope for the best but prepared for the worst. Bitcoin is no guarantee that we will have a profitable venture and there is no guarantee whatsoever that it will be staying for good though I do not wish for that.

I would generously agree with you that for sure Bitcoin holders can be mentally ill, thankfully there can be no enough medical facilities to house us if we are going to be diagnosed as such and if the government will decide that all mentally-ill Bitcoin holders will be transported to the government-mandated facilities somewhere. Now, having said that, it would be our consolation that many of the people who changed history and who change the whole game were also accused of being crazy. So in case you want to be a part of the history and be pushing for something that can make all people of the global go crazy, then be a part of the mentally-ill Bitcoin club.