[Interviews] with Bitcointalk members

[famososMuertos]

Interviews with Bitcointalk member:
famososMuertos

Questions:

1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?

I have to name a previous antecedent to understand why I did not get involved with cryptocurrencies before.

Well my psychologist recommended it to me like this.
__
For professional and recreational reasons I was related at the beginning of the 21st century with two important wallets Neteller and Skrill, so the use of electronic payment alternatives was important to me at the beginning of the century. the kyc, its commissions among other situations were not simply an alternative to saying no, it was what there was yes or yes.

The years passed and in 2010-2011 I do not remember well someone related to the world of poker in a live tournament he speak me about bitcoin, I did what many idiots do today, I do not like being pejorative, but how I include myself, it is not necessary to apologize, in short I ignored it.

There was even always the "sounds," "noise," but now that I think about it in my memory, it did not sound like bitcoin, it did not sound like crypto as I understand it today, it was just like knowing that there was another form of payment and nothing more, well the sound died away.

They would spend +/- 6 years, incredible! and a teenage niece told me about a cryptographic project related to creating content where she was having a lot of success, she likes photography, and it was turning out very well to her, I think she was making more money than me ...
Anyway, he tells me about Dash, ethereum and ends with "the price is governed by bitcoin" boom! (They know about that Marvel character that is activated with a word, something similar happened).

At that very moment it was really my genesis in action with the crypto world.

Answer: 2010 and I was interested in 2016, it is very simple and leaves out that I was an idiot but already recovered, overcome and happy 

2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?

I don't remember, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that the first crypto currency I got was not bitcoin.

3. How did you get on the forum?

I already knew the forum, everyone who gets involved with cryptocurrencies sooner or later will get here, in my case it was crypto poker.

4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?

The idiots.
e.g. What I mention in Q1.

Excuse me, I'm not trying to offend, don't take it literally, it's a humorous comment.

4.2. How do you think mass advertising of gambling projects has a positive effect on the development of the forum or harms the community?

The forum should be an example of adoption in every way, allowing campaigns is a good example of this.

I think that the community should be participatory in any project that is started in the forum before criticizing it, because before any project can harm the forum, the community can do it.

4.3. How do you consider whether 2-3 years of experience in cryptocurrency is enough to successfully invest or does an investor need to receive special education?

Success is not measured by experience, this helps, but success is quantitative but has a qualitative brilliance associated with it that can be wrong.

I assure you that in the cryptographic world, there are people who have been successful with an investment, but have never had experience.

So it is a bit of everything, but the main thing is to have capital, a capital management under well-established criteria can bring you success.

Finally there is something that develops over time and is the "instinct" or the talent "flourishes".
This is achieved with a lot of practice and theory, especially it is useful for those who do not have much investment capital.

5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?

Everything that is done for the benefit of the community is positive.
The forum community must always have their opinions in favor and against any implementation, it is a forum, discussing is the soul of a forum.

Anyway nor the merits or signature campaigns can harm the forum.

6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?

I can't give you one, there are many. Bis.

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?

-Official ambassadors.
-The forum must be an organization that certifies projects.
- An espresso machine for when you get to legendary. if possible Power Matic-ccino 9000.

8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?

The trade is inevitable, in my case it is for speculative purposes
Invest in projects?  bitcoin covers everything in that regard. BTW I don't have a lot of money to invest.

9. Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?

... big loss?  Q1.

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?

Thanks to them, people can realize how big bitcoin is.
It may not convince many, but the first among thousands It is a good signal.

DEFI ecosystem? the above so as not to go into technical, economic details that would greatly extend my answer.

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?

Anonymity is a right, security is associated with it even without being anonymous.

12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?

The "Blue Forum" 

13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?

Go to the answer Q1 then go to Q4.3 and if you are interested in more information read question 10.

14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?

It is good to have left so much time to answer this interview because it brings me closer to a value that allows me to be more accurate in how difficult to forecast, $ 16,001


15. P.S. (Optional)
Better late than never, better to give some answers than never.
I'm sure that in some upcoming campaign we will have to include our post number from this thread, or maybe those who do not use the web address in their profile include their interview there. 

G.B./Ty zasad@

[1714000241]

1714000241

[dkbit98]

Questions I got from @zasad:

1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?
2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?
3. How did you get on the forum?
4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?
4.2. How do you think mass advertising of gambling projects has a positive effect on the development of the forum or harms the community?
4.3. How do you consider whether 2-3 years of experience in cryptocurrency is enough to successfully invest or does an investor need to receive special education?
5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?
6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?
7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?
8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?
9. Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?
10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?
11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?
12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?
13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?
14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?
15. P.S. (Optional)

My answers, and notice that I skipped answering some of them

1. Probably sometime in 2017 because I read some articles on internet.
3. I was looking to learn more about Bitcoin and mining crypto and found Bitcointalk forum.
4.1. Governments and lack of research.
4.2. Gambling projects had positive effect on bitcontalk forum community.
4.3. People need to learn more about Bitcoin every day without time limit.
5. Merit system and signature campaigns are contributing the forum, but they are not perfect and can be improved.
6. There are many useful topics, and most helpful users are all OG's that are still active reporting spam and helping new members.
7. New moderator for Croatian local board, more sections for Croatian local board, more transparent system for ban/unban
8. I don't trade very much.
10. Most of defi is pump&dump scam.
11. Anonymity is important for me.
12. I haven't read any cryptocurrency book
13. Bitcoin x3.
14. ATH, but dyor.
15. Thank you

[JanEmil]

Questions:

1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?
August 2017. Hype was starting the bull run. My contacts started to talk about crypto and I saw it on TV. Started to follow a few guys on twitter. Around same time I made a login to Bitcointalk because I could see it was a good place to learn.

2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?
I am not that interested in bitcoin. I like to be a part of projects, learn and make things myself. I am probably what most people call a shitcoiner. Why? Because I like to get involved. I tried to get tasks for BTC, LTC etc – but to many good people there already. With new projects I can get some very cool tasks.

3. How did you get on the forum?
Was searching for some things and ended on bitcointalk almost every time. So made an account.

4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?
Gas price for many things and because a database is so much faster. But crypto have some things that is fantastic when you get started. So maybe someday.

4.2. When did you start collecting physical coins - bitcoins?
December 2017 I bought my first collectibles.

4.3. What is the rarest and most expensive collectible coin?
My most expensive crypto collectible is an NFT. I have a pre fork 0.1 BTC as my best BTC physical. My problem is I always need money because I have to many children 😉

4.4. Please tell us about the market for collectible crypto coins? Is the market increasing?
It was bigger during the last bull run. Follow BTC price. Soon it will come again full speed.

5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?
It don’t matter for me. It only mattered in the beginning when some people did not want to trade with me because I was low ranking. Never a problem anymore. Small world and have traded with most here already.

6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?
MinerJones, krogothmanhattan, vizique and many other from the collectible section have been very friendly to me. I like the show off posts in Collectible section.

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?
NFTs, crypto games and more respect for shitcoins (they help to grow crypto world)

8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?
I earn my crypto helping. Have no money to invest.

9. Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?
Made a ref link where someone bought 50BTC value on it. CraZy to see that.

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?
Zero-sum game where all think they can earn. But like the ones that use game/NFTs to run it.
Uniswap etc will probably soon get into problems because of money laundering. But hope they survive. Easy and fast to use.

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?
For me personally anonymity don’t matter. I always tell who I am.

13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?
ENJ (games) – think it could take off
ETH – Vitalik is a Hero 😉
BTC – sure bet
ELET – because I then get rich

14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?
22k$

[aliashraf]

1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?

It was in 2014, I suppose, bitcoin came in the news, I googled it and became overwhelmed by the concept and more importantly by the cause which looked very attractive to me: resistance against the corrupt monetary system.

2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?

It was in 2015 when few traders showed-up in Iran and I bought my first bitcoin it was below $150 as I remember. I bought 10BTC for a friend who became interested just after I recommended it to him.

3. How did you get on the forum?

From the first beginning and via google, I made a registration here in  2015 which I lost as I didn't provide a valid e-mail address back then, thereafter I registered and continued with this id in 2016.

4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?

Actually this question was the main reason that encouraged me to make this interview happen. I've extensively discussed the mass adoption problem of bitcoin in many occasions in the development and technical discussion sub-forum. I've even started a topic titled: Bitcoin adoption: a technical challenge. Interestingly this specific topic starts with a brief introduction to my personal motives and background because I felt it is very important to understand the diverse motivation and stakes involved in bitcoin adoption. My basic arguments regarding bitcoin mass adoption could be summarized as follows:

- Although different groups of stakeholders in bitcoin has different levels of enthusiasm regarding the adoption problem, they share the same strategic interest in bitcoin to be adopted massively.

- Although activists and the (probably tiny group of) community members who still hold a political standpoint to resist established monetary systems across the world are the most reliable and consistent force behind bitcoin mass adoption, basically this is a technical problem.

- Bitcoin mass-adoption is subject to technical developments that should and can happen simultaneously in three critical fields: Decentralization, Scaling and Privacy.

4.2. How do you think mass advertising of gambling projects has a positive effect on the development of the forum or harms the community?

No comments.

4.3. How do you consider whether 2-3 years of experience in cryptocurrency is enough to successfully invest or does an investor need to receive special education?

Considering the radical cultural shifts needed for becoming a smart bitcoin investor, I think the need for improving and developing knowledge and skills in the field is not ever ending.

5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?

Merit system is fine and works relatively well. I think signature campaigns need improvement in terms of being overseen by mods not to be used for advertising shady/suspicious items.

6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?

Lots of topics out there but I personally always learn a lot from @Achow and @Maxwell (putting aside his rush rhetoric and conservatism).  

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?

I'm going to publish a very crucial development project very soon and I suppose the most important part of the discussions will go through this forum

8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?

As of trading in exchanges, I tried it once and for a while years ago, but generally speaking, I've almost zero interest in trading bitcoin.
As of investing in projects, like ICOs etc. as a matter of fact I've been investing on my own project which can be summarized as finding a way out of mining centralization in bitcoin.

9. Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?

I lost a few coins in the embarrassing scam carried out by Bittrex  which seized many users' assets in the name of KYC!

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?

I don't like the whole idea of Universal Turing Machine and smart contracts which Ethereum is built around them and most importantly I hate that Ethereum is a "project" rather than an established crypto ecosystem. So, even if DeFi is going to hold any water, Ethereum is the wrong platform, Buterine and Ethereum Foundation are serious threats to DeFi agenda.

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?

I'm not paranoid neither I care about anonymity that much but I believe in virtual identities as being an independent entity who live o their own and should be kept alive and not confused/mixed by our real identity. It is why I barely use platforms like Facebook or Twitter.

12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?

I have never read one to be honest. I prefer papers and research material.

13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?

No comments.

14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?

No comments.

15. P.S. (Optional)

Thank you op, for contacting and having me here. Actually I have something to add:
I'm deeply concerned about what I've bolded above about mass adoption of bitcoin and I think I'm on the verge of proposing/developing something useful in this regard that helps bitcoin in tackling the infamous pooling pressure flaw. I need help, lots of help in this regard and readers interested in the subject are more than welcome to contact me.

Cheers,

[odolvlobo]

1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?

In July 2011, I was researching alternative currencies and found out about Bitcoin (among others).

2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?

I bought a small amount late in 2011 in order to pay for some Casascius coins. Bitcoins were about $4 at the time.

3. How did you get on the forum?

I started reading Bitcointalk in 2011, but I didn't join and start posting until July 2012.

4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?

I believe that adoption has been hindered by its lack of usability and its lack of strong use-cases, but those will lessen with more adoption.

4.2. How do you think mass advertising of gambling projects has a positive effect on the development of the forum or harms the community?

I think that if Bitcoin is seen as useful for gambling, the effect will be positive for Bitcoin and this site.

4.3. How do you consider whether 2-3 years of experience in cryptocurrency is enough to successfully invest or does an investor need to receive special education?

People are better off if they only invest in things they understand. Investing in something you don't understand is no better than gambling. The level of your understanding should determine the amount of your investment.

5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns? Do they harm the forum?

I believe that signature campaigns are bad for the forum. They encourage people to post in order to make money rather than to learn or be helpful. I think the merit system has helped, though I think the ultimate solution is to remove the incentive for signature campaigns.

6. The most useful forum topic?

I mostly read posts in Bitcoin Discussion, Legal, Press, Development & Technical Discussion, Economics, Beginners & Help, and Serious Discussion.

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?
Better formatting (tables, cough cough) and better search.

8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?

I don't trade much. Trading is difficult to do profitably and its not worth my time and effort -- I already have a job.

9. Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?

I lost some that I invested in mining farms.
I lost some bitcions when I thought I could outsmart people investing in Pirate's ponzi scheme.
I lost the small amount that I was too lazy to withdraw from Cryptsy.
On the other hand, I sold some at $18,000 and bought it all back at $4000.

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?

I think it has potential, but right now it is in a big bubble. People are going to get rekt when the exuberance wears off, the scams fall apart, and token prices return to rationality.

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?

It is mostly a precaution, but when there there is no benefit to being identified, I try to be anonymous.

12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?

I'm reading The Bitcoin Standard right now.

13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?

Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Monero. But more importantly, I would advise against investing in any coin or token that has no real purpose or is not valued for what it is intended. That means avoid all of the D-Fi "governance" tokens, and avoid any project that is just a promise or a pyramid scheme.

14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?

I have no idea, and I don't really care, actually. I mostly hope for more adoption.

[ezeminer]

Questions:                                                                                          
1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?                                      
I jokingly learned the basics about crypto back in 2013 when we learned we could use our computers on campus to mine (but never did). Then actually learned and became part of the environment in 2014 after learning from a friend about Bitcoin.

2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?                                                      
I bought my first bitcoin from the same friend that taught me about it. I helped him out by buying it OTC.

3. How did you get on the forum?                                                                    
I think I stumbled across it from google.

4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?                                                
Some others have mentioned this, but due to the overwhelming amount of choice we'll likely not see crypto in mass adoption anytime soon. Probably about 99% of cryptos are shitcoins, while the ones that have been around a while and have been tried and tested. There are probably some great projects pushing great ideas, but it's just that we'll be swarmed with cash grabs every time.

4.2. When did you start collecting physical coins - bitcoins?                                        
I started collecting back in 2014. One of my first purchases was for a casascius 0.1 coin with milk spots on it.

4.3. What is the rarest and most expensive collectible coin?                                        
The rarest coin would be the Casascius 1,000BTC 1oz. gold coin loaded. Based on https://casascius.uberbills.com/ only three have not been peeled yet, while two have.
There are other awesome rares like the Casascius 1,000BTC bar, which has two loaded out of the original sixteen loaded bars.

4.4. Please tell us about the market for collectible crypto coins? Is the market increasing?        
It's been increasing since I joined around 2014. Although unfortunately it has had bad actors releasing coins then sweeping the funds later, but has ironed out in the last three years I'd say. We've had more reputable companies come in, and small projects start up. Such projects like BTC China and Denarium are some of the larger companies playing. Then we have many reputable and trusted members, like Polymerbit, Minerjones, Bitcoinpenny and many other veterans of the collectible community that have done their own projects and releases (sorry if I missed anyone, you're all awesome tho). Collectible art has also taken off too, and has grown the environment a large chunk as well.

5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?  
As an older member of the forum, I get to be at a crazy advantage over newer members by already being in the legendary status. So here's my take, the merit system does try and cut down on signature campaign spam, which was a large problem back 2015-2016 I think. Nowadays I'm not as active to see what's going on, but as long as members are posting useful information I feel that signature campaigns are alright. But in reality, signature campaigns push members to make more posts and post quality goes down.

Overall, signature campaigns are great in moderation and the merit system is a great idea, but may need some more tweaks.

6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?                                                  
Since I'm primarily a collectibles guy, the most useful topics are those documenting previous collectible releases (there are so many), and those that document trusted people and untrusted people. Most senior members and legendary members in that section are very helpful and want to push an even better environment. Whether that help be from assisting with trades as a middleman (the almighty mantis shipping), to those that want to help members with information and learning.

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?                                                        
I cannot answer this, since I'm not a very active member on the forums anymore.

8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?                                                  
I used to. Then figured out hey most of these side projects are pump and dumps and stick to BTC, LTC and XMR.

9. Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?                                                  
Honestly have way more loss stories from pump and dump coins, haven't had any big profits tho. I sold BTC before the whole 2017 runup to buy a car thinking I could just buy back in a couple months later. We'll likely never see those $900 days for BTC again.

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?                                                      
Haven't looked into it at all, but based on the definition it sounds like more ethereum congestion. I do think having a decentralized exchange is a great idea for privacy, and smart contracts do have a use. But many ethereum projects I've seen seem to be just cash grabs. There are many pointless tokens just marketed in different ways, and will probably die off in 6 months.

Hopefully the system is cleaned up and more useful projects appear.


11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?                                              
Anonymity is vital anymore. With as much data tracking that is done today, we have to create our own privacy. If you're fortunate enough to live in a place that practices GDPR, it's a godsend knowing that you can sort of delete your footprint. Now it won't delete everything, but it'll clean it up.

Also as someone within the technology field, it is amazing how much tracking we do on people. Whether it's targeted ads, internet provider logging, geo tagging, just the amount of aggregate data for a single individual is insane. Honestly, that just needs to stop, but it's always been a trade privacy for convenience (and profits for the company).


12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?                                                          
Coin Making Guide: From Sketch to Strike
A comprehensive guide to designing and manufacturing coins, medals and bars.
by Jonathan Frammingham


13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?                          
These probably won't make as much money as other random currencies/tokens, but I solely believe in these three:
BTC: the gold standard of crypto
LTC: the silver (also speedier) standard of crypto
XMR: the more private standard of crypto


14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?                                                  
Who knows, but could repeat December 2017 hitting $18-20k. I'd bet it'll stay between $11-19k however.

15. P.S. (Optional)                                                                                  

[cryptomaxsun]

Thanks for the invitation, found time to answer questions.

1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?

It was way back in 2011, on the distributed computing forum, someone wrote about Bitcoin mining. But then there was still little information, and I did not try.
And after 2 years, I still started to mining cryptocurrency.
because I attracted the opportunity to earn money and it was new, I wanted to figure it out more.

2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?

I did not buy bitcoins with fiat. There have been exchanges of altcoins for bitcoins.

3. How did you get on the forum?

The forum was quite famous in those years; search engines easily found it. Other crypto forums have also linked to this forum.

4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?

Everything has its time. This is still a young technology. After some time, the mass use of cryptocurrencies will come.

4.2. How do you think mass advertising of gambling projects has a positive effect on the development of the forum or harms the community?

Difficult to answer, I don't play games.

4.3. How do you consider whether 2-3 years of experience in cryptocurrency is enough to successfully invest or does an investor need to receive special education?

There should be a vocation and understanding of investment processes. Not everyone is able to invest wisely. Just as not everyone can be a surgeon, musician, poet.

5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?

The current merit system isn't perfect, but it is needed, and it encourages forum members to post quality content.
Signature campaigns are needed, but when they take everyone in a row and force them to write dozens of messages a week, this is harmful. Everything should be wise and in temperance.

6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?

I am at a loss to answer.But lately I became interested in a coin with an unusual history - Gapcoin. And these two users did a lot to develop this coin. BitcoinFX, gjhiggins .

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?

An up and down button would have been nice.

8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?

I am not a trader, I am rather a miner, I also hold masternodes.

9. Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?

Masternode coins have brought in a lot of profits and losses. The price of many coins went down and I didn't sell most of the coins. Now the price is unlikely to be that high.

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?

It reminds me of a social experiment - when a previously dead idea generates a wave of scams. The very idea of a defi is stillborn and has no practical use or
application other than using fraudulent actions to take possession of users' money. The defi tokens themselves are a dummy, I hope and believe that the
defi scam will soon pass and give way to real technologies, not dummy scams.

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?

Everyone has the right to anonymity. Yes. it is a necessity.

12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?

Popper N. - Digital gold. Bitcoin's Incredible History - 2016

Singh Simon. The book of ciphers: the secret history of ciphers and their decryption

13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?

Definitely number one is Bitcoin. Ethereum looks good, especially in light of the upcoming transition to phase 2.0. I would also pay attention to PIVX,
they have a strong team and many interesting releases for ease of use and anonymity.

14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?

$13-15k

15. P.S.

Remember that in cryptocurrency - your keys are your coins, keep them safe and make regular backups.

[irfan_pak10]

Thank you for providing me the opportunity to write about something which I would love to share with the community.

1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?
In early 2014 days, I have been wandering the internet and found a giveaway launched by coinbase, they were giving away free BTC by just joining, After joining that I searched more about it and found about this forum and after spending some time on this forum I started liking it and also it turns out to be a nice earning source. This is all how I became interested in this Ferrari (crypto)

2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?
Never, I was good at luck, within 2 years in the crypto industry I made much, That I never felt the need of buying them.

3. How did you get on the forum?
In your first question, I gave the answer about how I came across this forum. I am really happy to be part of this community. And very happy that I have joined this forum that early.

4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?
There are always pros and cons to everything in the world. People at the start of every new thing are always reluctant to adopt it. If we talk about the early days of the human race, people use to trade things to buy necessary items, After that coins took over people started using the coins to buy those items, and many people oppose it. Similar after coins paper money came in and many people opposed that too, and after paper money plastic cards came in and the same things happen to it, In my country, people still are reluctant to use the plastic card. And now is the era of digital currency, I think as it is in the early stages it will be adopted but it will take time.
I am reading that digital currency can be used to fund terrorists, money laundering and etc. My question is how terrorists are funded nowadays? How money is laundered these days? These are just excuses which all will vanish after 10-20 years.

4.2. How do you think mass advertising of gambling projects has a positive effect on the development of the forum or harms the community?
In my opinion, if someone wants to gamble, he/she will gamble, there are no advertising factors involved. But Yes! If someone wants to gamble why not advertise about different gambling sites so that both parties can benefit.

4.3. How do you consider whether 2-3 years of experience in cryptocurrency is enough to successfully invest or does an investor need to receive special education?
Both factors involved, To be expert in something one needs both experience and education about that field.

4.4. I see a decrease in activity in many local boards. What do you think needs to be done to develop activity in local boards?
It might be due to the merit system, Where I believe more merit sources are required so people again started taking an interest in making quality content.

5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?
Big No. I have seen many forums, after some period their activity started going down, and eventually they vanish, as it’s human nature that he loses interest in something where he isn’t getting anything in return. Pleasure is for time and where the money is involved, how one can refuse?

6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?
Since when the merit system is introduced most people started posting many useful topics and they become very useful.

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?
Nill

8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?
I used to invest in projects but since most of the projects are a scam, I started trading on exchanges.

9. Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?
There are many but there is one which I use to tell most. Once I had an opportunity to trade coins which just jumped from 0.3$ to 6$, But due to some reasons, I thought it will go to 10$, and didn’t trade it. But it started going down and down, and I loses hope and exchanged them at 0.2$. If I trade them @6$ I could have made $0.8m. But whom to blame :p

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?
Another way to make money. As IEO era is also at its verge of end.

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?
Precaution.

12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?
Never read any.

13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?
I always suggest the top 10.

14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?
2020 is ending soon and I think it will be ~$14k

15. P.S. (Optional)
I love being part of this great community. And more power to the digital era.

[hulla]

Hello zasad@,

I'm happy to be part of the forum interview you created


Questions:
1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?
I was interested in cryptocurrency back in the year 2015 but I don't totally see it as an investment then and I only see it as something I can try out maybe something good will come out of it.
 
2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?
I bought my first Bitcoin in December 2015 through zapo.

3. How did you get on the forum?
I found this forum doing some reseach about Satoshi and I find out that he created this forum and I decide to join.

4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?
Cryptocurrencies investors see crypto as an asset than a currency, the government having a negative thought about crypto and the crypto community believes about centralized companies that want to join the crypto scheme.

4.2. How do you think mass advertising of gambling projects has a positive effect on the development of the forum or harms the community?
Mass advertisement of gambling gives the forum the sign to be well known in the gambling sphere and it also creates some sort of competition between gambling sites. However, this is a sign that a lot of gambling sites believe cryptocurrency is the future and the way to make a profit through their business.

4.3. How do you consider whether 2-3 years of experience in cryptocurrency is enough to successfully invest or does an investor need to receive special education?
Something someone is doing for 2-3 years is enough to have good experience in it but sometimes the level of individual understanding plays the big roles cause someone who's a guru in C++ can easily understand cryptocurrency than someone who's into it for years.
 
5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?
The current merit does no harm to the forum and it only makes user that make a reasonable contribution to the forum rank up.

6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?
I believe the most useful topic of the forum is usually found in the project development, mining, technical support and meta aspect of the forum. The most helpful users I could think of right now are TryNinja, LoyceV, Vod, Coding Enthusiast etc.

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?
Moderation of scam especially in the bounty setting and permaban of newbies accounts that spam the bounty with high ranking profile information.

8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?
Ever since 2017 I never invest in any new project but I do trade on exchange sometime cause I'm too lazy to be a day trader lol.

9. Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?
My big profit was through Komodo and my big loss was selling my AR coin last year when it was $0.5.

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?
There's too much hype surrounding the Defi ecosystem and I hope those that invest in it sell now before it too late because when the market correction happens a lot of Defi project will be dead.

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?
My anonymity is very vital to me and it good that Theymos also respect that cause liberation was the reason why 97% of us decide to join the crypto scheme.

12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?
Honestly, I never read one

13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?
I only believe Bitcoin, ETH and BNB to be a reasonable investment for the 2years.

14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?
No one can predict that but if the market maintains this current trend we may see a new ATH before the end of this year.

15. P.S. (Optional)
Thank you for the questions.

[Vlad2Vlad]

Kk, I’ll do your Q&A for free so you may gain much better insight. 


1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?
Almost a decade ago.  Saw the game for what it was and the potential to make billions off selling an old truck. 

2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?
Days after I found out about btc even tho i thought it was gonna die.  Used all my BTC to buy the real coins that will survive and moon after the crypto apocalypse most likely late next year. 

3. How did you get on the forum?
Ran into a random guy on yahoo finance where I was trading stocks and he said this was the number 1 place for crypto. 

4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?.
Too complex for the dummy 90%.  Too insecure.  Too much theft and lost wallets with no recourse.  No ease of use at the promised low costs and instant txs.  Next year all that changes, muppets.   

4.2. How do you think mass advertising of gambling projects has a positive effect on the development of the forum or harms the community?
It shows the lack of character and imagination in bitcoin leadership.  That’s why the titanic will soon take the rats down with it.

4.3. How do you consider whether 2-3 years of experience in cryptocurrency is enough to successfully invest or does an investor need to receive special education?
Investors are born not made.  You need time to hone your Skills and discern the many lies from the hidden truth but no seminar or education gives you that.  That comes from above.  Call it intuition if you want. 

4.4. I see a decrease in activity in many local boards. What do you think needs to be done to develop activity in local boards?
Telegram is much more instant and simple with more features.  But Bitcointalk will always be the coal mine.  I’ll always enjoy coming down to see how the plebs are chasing the best lie and hyped coin.   

5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?
Merit system is great.  Post good content and you get merit.  Before every clown posting all day became a legendary.  Sorry, that’s special place for special people, such as myself.  In fact we have too many legendarios now, we need one more level of separation.  Soon. 

6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?
Riddle thread.  Soon all muppets will read it but a bit too late.  Most helpful users:  hmmm, Tough one, some good users here but I’d say it’s probably my socks and I.  True story.

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?
1) I NEED a unique special ranking.  2)  none of my posts should be censored or deleted.  C)  Sell me part ownership in Bitcointalk so we can make it great again.  Too many natives are on telegram and we need the hoard back.   

8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?
Coins are projects which trade on exchanges.  So yes. 

9. Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?
Hundreds of K $ of paper profits off just a few hundred $ or a few grand investment.  This is The last chance for 1,000x++ returns.  Next year will be the biggest run but probably the biggest crash too.  Too bad you’re all in the 10x coins.  Not bad for mediocrity minded people. 

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?
Haven’t looked at it enough to give a decent answer. 

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?
I’ve never been anonymous, cause I don’t care.  Bring it!!!

12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?
Read?  Books?  Wut?  I just write them in my head.  Wait, I did buy and read Dan Treccia’s Satoshi’s Secret Coins. 

13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?
Tired of giving out straight names for years upon deaf years.  Just know the first will be last and the last will be first.  Kosher? 

14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?
End of 2020 we should see minimum $20-$21k which will get the media FOMO machine pumping it to $50k+ soon after.  Start dumping soon after that cause super bad Attacks and crashing Will be imminent. 

15. P.S. (Optional)
I just really wanna be a multi tres comas and I feel i earned it so it WILL happen. 


You people don’t deserve me,


- Tres Comas Vlad

[nullius]

Although I am not really following this thread, I noticed this by happenstance:

5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?
Merit system is great.  Post good content and you get merit.  Before every clown posting all day became a legendary.  Sorry, that’s special place for special people, such as myself.  In fact we have too many legendarios now, we need one more level of separation.  Soon.

Liar.  As of this writing, you have a total of 339 earned merits.  You should be stuck at Sr. Member rank.  You are a fake “Legendary”.

You are correct that there should be a separation between idiots who spent years actively shitposting before the introduction of the merit system, and special people such as myself.  (All of my merit is earned, yes; and it took me less than 310 total days of actually active posting with the merit system to sail past 2000 earned merits.)

Now, somehow, you must have obtained merit source status.  According to BPIP, you have sent 3464 merits (!)—including 16+24+3+7+7+7+1+7+7 = 79 merits that you have sent to the “Bitcoin SV” account, which is alleged actually to be a korner alt.  That would be 46.6% of your earned sMerit—if you had neither cheap “Legendary” grandfathered merit, nor the source merits that absolutely should not have made available to you.

You people don’t deserve me,

Why do I suspect that you may be my secret fan, and you may be stealing from me?  

I am sorry that I somehow missed that before.

[Vlad2Vlad]

Although I am not really following this thread, I noticed this by happenstance:

5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?
Merit system is great.  Post good content and you get merit.  Before every clown posting all day became a legendary.  Sorry, that’s special place for special people, such as myself.  In fact we have too many legendarios now, we need one more level of separation.  Soon.

Liar.  As of this writing, you have a total of 339 earned merits.  You should be stuck at Sr. Member rank.  You are a fake “Legendary”.

You are correct that there should be a separation between idiots who spent years actively shitposting before the introduction of the merit system, and special people such as myself.  (All of my merit is earned, yes; and it took me less than 310 total days of actually active posting with the merit system to sail past 2000 earned merits.)

Now, somehow, you must have obtained merit source status.  According to BPIP, you have sent 3464 merits (!)—including 16+24+3+7+7+7+1+7+7 = 79 merits that you have sent to the “Bitcoin SV” account, which is alleged actually to be a korner alt.  That would be 46.6% of your earned sMerit—if you had neither cheap “Legendary” grandfathered merit, nor the source merits that absolutely should not have made available to you.

You people don’t deserve me,

Why do I suspect that you may be my secret fan, and you may be stealing from me?  

I am sorry that I somehow missed that before.

I Don’t Steal.  And When the merit system atarted They had a formula where some legendariess got thousabds of merits.  Now go change your tampon cause soon I’m Gonna elevate to legendary extraordinaire. 


Ahd BTW, I’m just getting started maxing out the Pro bitcoin SV guys.  Don’t blink. 

[Apocalipsa]

Although I am not really following this thread, I noticed this by happenstance:

5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?
Merit system is great.  Post good content and you get merit.  Before every clown posting all day became a legendary.  Sorry, that’s special place for special people, such as myself.  In fact we have too many legendarios now, we need one more level of separation.  Soon.

Liar.  As of this writing, you have a total of 339 earned merits.  You should be stuck at Sr. Member rank.  You are a fake “Legendary”.

You are correct that there should be a separation between idiots who spent years actively shitposting before the introduction of the merit system, and special people such as myself.  (All of my merit is earned, yes; and it took me less than 310 total days of actually active posting with the merit system to sail past 2000 earned merits.)

Now, somehow, you must have obtained merit source status.  According to BPIP, you have sent 3464 merits (!)—including 16+24+3+7+7+7+1+7+7 = 79 merits that you have sent to the “Bitcoin SV” account, which is alleged actually to be a korner alt.  That would be 46.6% of your earned sMerit—if you had neither cheap “Legendary” grandfathered merit, nor the source merits that absolutely should not have made available to you.

You people don’t deserve me,

Why do I suspect that you may be my secret fan, and you may be stealing from me?  

I am sorry that I somehow missed that before.

Noob with barely 400 activity points.  Lol

Vlad was legendary long before you Even got here.   And you think he only gave merits to bitcoin SV, check out _hv, he got at least 50 points (And he’s just getting started).  You commie, you think you can tell a man what to do what he’s earned?  Did you see the guy he got to 777 merits?  That was the funniest.  Vlad gets fixated on numbers, like triple 7’s and he had to get those numbers lined up.  Ha!

And do you even know what Craig is building or are you just another muppet chasing the quick cash.  And Vlad and Craig worked together for a while, they were TIGHT, but had a falling out.  Is that fake too?  Do some research noob cause I’ll reach legendary before you the way you’re working.  Lol

There will be another level added above legendary and you won’t reach it cause you don’t have what it takes. 

[Vlad2Vlad]

Snap:  forgot about my buddy, Craig.  Ok so he blocked me but he rages on everyone.  Lol

But I know what he’s building so I think our paths will cross again soon.  Looking forward to it. 

Commie noob, is this a fake pic like I’m a fake legendary?  We need to downgrade noobs like you a notch for insubordination and looking to discredit legit legendaries. 

image hosting

[allyouracid]

Also thanks for the invite. I first thought it was an attempt to lure me into a scam when I saw that dm
So, here we go:

Questions:
1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?
I first heard about it I think in 2011. But I really became interested in it in 2012 (see next reply).

2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?
I had a friend who was using Silk Road, and he told me about this "new kind of money". This was still in 2011 and I think it was at 1 Dollar, and I thought it might be a little expensive. Then I totally forgot about it, again. In February of 2012, that same friend told me about it, again. I had no interest in Silk Road (never used it or any of its successors), but being a technical person, I dug a bit into it, found bitcoin.de and bought a few BTC for ~3.80€ and set a buy order a bit lower for 100 more BTC (which, by the way, got filled, but I forgot about Bitcoin and never sent the payment).
Later in 2012, television had a report about Bitcoin being at 250 USD (I was like "…hmm, Bitcoin, this sounds familiar. Don't I have this, too? Where only did I buy it... let's try bitcoin.de" and  there were my dusty almost 1 year old bitcoins ), and this was when I started really researching it, read the whitepaper, understood its concept and started buying as much as I could.

3. How did you get on the forum?
Simple: I was searching for a place with people who had similar interests, and bitcointalk.org showed up on Google.

4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?
Governments. This is a realization I just made recently. For me, Bitcoin / crypto was a great achievement, always. But I never thought it was really meant for "greater purposes". And it was only now that I realized that countries like North Korea and Iran are already using it to at least partially circumvent restrictions imposed on them by the big countries. So I'd say our lives are still too comfortable for Bitcoin to really spread. Will this change? I don't know, and I'm not sure if I want it to.
So, you could say it's  governments who prevent the "mass adoption", but will also enable it once the political situation is bad enough for people to move to BTC.

4.2. How do you think mass advertising of gambling projects has a positive effect on the development of the forum or harms the community?
I think it just is what it is. Gambling is something that comes with a tool like cryptocurrencies, and if it's there, already, why not just deal with it. It won't go away if we ignore it, and I think it's a legitimate use of crypto. I'm not a gambler (in the classical sense, see more below).

4.3. How do you consider whether 2-3 years of experience in cryptocurrency is enough to successfully invest or does an investor need to receive special education?
I don't think any special education is neccessary. It's more of a personality thing, either you are strong enough to resist the temptations that come with trading or you aren't. I think most who try to sell you trading as some kind of "profession" they need to educate you on are scammers.

4.4. I see a decrease in activity in many local boards. What do you think needs to be done to develop activity in local boards?
I don't know. A bull run is in the making, so I think the activity will increase, as more users flock to crypto. Other than that, things get more and more international, and many people (including myself)  have no problem speaking English, so that could be a reason for decreased use of local boards, too (assuming the international ones don't face this problem).

5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?
I think it's ok... it is what it is, and theymos made a quite efficient approach to reducing the amount of crap accounts. Good job.
Regarding signature campaigns: I mostly ignore them. It's also an "it is what it is" thing, and I'm free to ignore it if I don't like it. It doesn't hurt me nor the forum. It arose because there was a demand for it, and if it is what people want, why not. I wouldn't wanna be part of a signature campaign, personally.

6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?
I like those who I have in my trust list (which is why they're there). Mostly helpful users who are technically advanced and who are able to educate others.

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?
Oh, I even have more than three:

• Blinking GIFs in every corner,
• a guestbook,
• a visitors counter,
• a fancy flash menu,
• frames or table layout in the HTML code,
• a sound file which always plays in the background when you open the site,
• auto scrolling in a fixed speed when reading threads

... just kidding, I think it's fine as it is. It is a forum and it works well as such. What I wouldn't do is roll out that new forum software. I've tried it and I don't like it.

8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?
Yes, I actively trade on exchanges. I don't "invest" because I think all of this is mostly gambling anyway (see the mention above: in this regards, I consider myself a gambler), but I do "gamble" sometimes. And with "sometimes", I mean often haha. I don't believe in the ICO concept, because if paid upfront, the developers (or "developers") have no motivation to deliver, anymore. I only buy projects' coins when they're already being actively traded.

9. Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?
Fails:
#1: 2013  or 14: I bought Litecoin at the very top at 45 USD, only to see it go down the drainer right after.
#2: After the 2017 run, I've bought Dash when it went from over 1000 USD to 400 USD, just to sell it at 280 USD. I have lost what some would consider "life changing money" in this dumb trade.
#3: I had hundreds of thousands of RaiBlocks / XRB. Need I say more?

Wins:
#1: When Renos, a small altcoin, launched, they gave away all their supply to 1000 users, each getting 30000 (or 3000? not sure, anymore) RNS. At its top, one airdrop was worth well over 3 BTC. This was in 2017, I think.
Right when Renos was trading on a small exchange, I set buy orders as low as 7 sat, because the airdrop concept was new (I think this was the 2nd airdrop I've seen) and I expected people to dump their airdrop for a Dollar or two. So  I grabbed a significant share of the total supply for an average price of 21sat. I sold my coins for up to over 3000sat. This was great, and I was impressed over how much money is possible to make from such a tiny project.

#2, also 2017 (or 2016+): Viacoin: started buying at 1500sat, and I've traded it back and forth on its way up, and I  had sold my entire bag even before the actual run started. This also made a lot of money.

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?
Technically, interesting idea and I've played around with it (and sometimes, still am… using Uniswap, Oasis to get leveraged trades decentralizedly etc). But also here, lots of scams and 99% of the projects in that domain are there to rug pull you once enough money is on the table.

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?
It's a precaution. Sometimes, I'm treating it kinda sloppy, but I have several layers of precaution which go way beyond anonymity. So if my anonymity layer fails, there are still a few more layers to protect me from whatever might happen.

12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?
I don't read crypto books because I think most aren't worth reading. They can't teach me anything I don't know yet or am interested in. Also, I don't like the "I mastered this topic, and now I need to monetize it by writing a book about it" kind of people, hence I won't buy their products.

13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?
1. Bitcoin: buy any dip you find. I'm convinced we'll go to 1-400.000 USD in the next 1.5 years!
2. Ethereum: have a small share in case it outperforms Bitcoin
3. Throw a darts and put in a small percentage. Maybe find a super low cap and use it as a moonshot.

14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?
It will probably be at or around its old ATH, ready to continue its way into the realms of six digits.

15. P.S. (Optional)
Don't invest more than you're willing to lose. And for fuck's sake, don't be stupid.
If you follow those two simple rules, everything will be aight.



Edited a few things

[zasad@]

We have 199 interviews, the next interview will be number 200

[Savemore]

1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?

The funny part is, I'm one of the haters of the bitcoin before because I though that it is scam but luckily I made a research about it and look at me right now I'm part of the people who are can considered as one of the supporters of bitcoin. I became interested to cryptocurrencies in the beginning of January 2017.
2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?

I bought at the validation candle on October 30, 2017. I really remembered that day and the truth is I wrote it in my journal
3. How did you get on the forum?

When I'm not yet a good trader, I keep finding tips or predictions because I thought it is the way in order to be a profitable trader and luckily one of the link that I found is this forum. I forget what topic or what section that my click goes.
4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?

The BANKERS, "the one who prints money" they are afraid that a decentralized currency will adopt by most of the citizens in every economy because they will not able to print cash anymore. They want the currency that we are currently used are the one that they can control and implement. 
4.2. How do you think mass advertising of gambling projects has a positive effect on the development of the forum or harms the community?

For me it depends on how the people see the gambling, there are people who treat gambling as bad but for me it is good as long as we have control to our awareness.
4.3. How do you consider whether 2-3 years of experience in cryptocurrency is enough to successfully invest or does an investor need to receive special education?

Actually, 1 year is enough; as long as we are focusing to our education and mindset as a risk taker then we can become a successful investor.
5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?

Before, I'm against with the merit system because I thought it can destroy the forum where I thought that many will not be interested to make a post here but actually it developed the forum where the system really improved and the farming of shit accounts already stopped.

Signature campaigns are actually good because it created a solid community here in the forum as long as the projects that are promoting is a legit and not a scam.
6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?

The most useful topic for me is the BTC futures by @fillippone. I actually have a hard time to understand it and luckily I found the thread of it. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5188060.0
7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?

I do not request anymore because all of my need and wants are now here in the forum.

8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?

I do not invest in new projects but my portfolio in local stock market is actually bigger than the portfolio that I trade in Binance.
9. Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?

My first investment in bitcoin which give me a gain 184%. For me is it a beginner's luck 
10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?

The fastest way to lose all of your money is by making investment in DEFI 
11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?

It is a necessity and we should protect it through online and it is the reason why I do not like participating in KYC.
12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?

None

13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?

make investment in worth it coin and not a coin that just because it is "cheap". My top 3 coins are : BTC, ETH and BNB.

14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?

If the momentum will not yet die, expect that it can reached near ATH or it can even beat the current ATH.

15. P.S. (Optional)
If thing must change, first you must change. Hustle Hard do not ever stop!!!

[qwk]

1. Bitcoin: buy any dip you find. I'm convinced we'll go to 1-400.000 USD in the next 1.5 years!

1$ to 400K$? Such precision! So narrow! Very exact.

[tvbcof]

1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?

When Visa, PayPal, etc cut off Wikileaks.  Bitcoin has always been mostly political to me, but there are other interesting elements.

2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?

Early-ish, and because I needed some to play around with the system.  I had to port the code to my OS, and there was no auto-configuration system.  Only after doing some of that did I find that 6 month old writings were obsolete and CPU mining was no longer practical.  Ultimately I decided that buying made a lot more sense than mining, or at least it would most of the time due to the adaptive nature of proof-of-work cryptocurrencies.

3. How did you get on the forum?

T.V. BitCoin.Org Forum.  This was split off from bitcoin.org about the time Thermos took it over from Sirius IIRC.

4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?

Common sense to a degree.  It's not a good solution as an exchange currency in my opinion, and relatively few people have use for a reserve currency.

4.2. How do you think mass advertising of gambling projects has a positive effect on the development of the forum or harms the community?

Dunno.  I see people's spam sigs but don't pay much attention to them.  Gambling is not my thing, but it doesn't bother me, and after 30 years of practice, recognizing and ignoring spam is pretty second nature.

4.3. How do you consider whether 2-3 years of experience in cryptocurrency is enough to successfully invest or does an investor need to receive special education?

Some people get it right with no 'education' at all, and some never will.  Anyone is is competent to play around with Bitcoin (maybe 5% of the population) ought to be able to figure out a strategy for 'investing' as you call it.  I'd call it hard-core speculation.  Still.

4.4. What are the main ideas of bitcoin maximalism do you think are good and what ideas do you disagree with?

Never heard of it.  Sounds like a stupid gimmick to me.

5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?

I think it's funny to see assholes like the 'cycling club' guys abuse it.  Like wiping one's ass on Thermos' hard work which is laudable for it's good intentions but not thought out with appropriate system analysis.

6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?

Dunno.  I fuck around almost exclusively on P&S just for fun.  I'm actually not very interested in Bitcoin and have not been since the bloat wars of half a decade ago (which were won by 'my side' ultimately thank God!)

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?

anti-censorship (which they do a reasonable job with and always have which is why I am still around.)

8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?

I support alternative media content creators mostly.

9. Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?

I like to 'sell into strength'.  Because it's hard to sell, I have routinely sold later than desired and it is normally an extra windfall for me.  Thank you, SEC and friends, for fucking with trading platforms and the like.

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?

Don't know what it is.

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?

Not a bad idea, but 'security through obscurity' is a loser.  Best to have other methods of protecting oneself.

12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?

Never read a hard-copy book on the topic.

13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?

Consider your 'investments' to be thrown away.  If they pan out, great!  I've not screwed around with any alternate cryptocurrencies.  To lazy to learn what I would need to know to do it successfully.

14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?

Between $10k and $20k would be my guess.  We need it to become widely illegal before the big fireworks, but I could see another cyclic run-up before that happens, and the next one (if there is a next one) might get us up into the $50k to $100k range.  Much higher than that implies a hyper inflationary collapse where it doesn't make much sense to denominate in USD terms.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5262967

[allyouracid]

1. Bitcoin: buy any dip you find. I'm convinced we'll go to 1-400.000 USD in the next 1.5 years!

1$ to 400K$? Such precision! So narrow! Very exact.

But you can bet it will be right.

Between 100.000 and ~400.000 USD is my guess, and I have this idea of the bull run ending at 420.000, but that seems a bit very high. One never knows, though.

edit (I don't wanna pollute the interviews thread with too much OT, hence I'm replying here):

Hearing This pipe dream chatter Makes me wonder if any of you are prepared for the biggest Bitcoin crash ever which it will never recover from?  The real bitcoin will hit $1 million in 2-3 years but it ain’t BTC.  Be happy with the $50k that’s coming and take some profits.  

Nice troll Vlad

Other than that, I'm happy to take whatever comes. If we go up, I take the extra money, if we go down, I don't and if I get rekt, I'll continue with a normal lifestyle. But what I will never, ever, under no circumstances, not even if the hell freezes, do, is consider BSV the real Bitcoin. Because Bitcoin is Bitcoin. Not BSV, not Bitcoin Cash, not Bitcoin Gold and not Bitcoin Fart.

Things evolve. And taking the description of an initial idea literal word by word won't make BSV any more Bitcoin.