Topic: [Interviews] with Bitcointalk members - page 19. (Read 30584 times)

Thanks for the invitation, zasad@! I'm honored.

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

I wish I didn't dismiss, pretty aggressively, btw, the message from an acquaintance of mine about some "new Internet money", that cost around $10 at the time. The reason for that was that I didn't have spare $10 at the time. Then, much later, Silk Road bust news hit the web, and I started researching, like a maniac, about Ross Ulbricht and all this new movement, and ended up in "Inigo's Book Club" on Silk Road 2.0 Forum, discussing Murray Rothbard's "Anatomy of the State" with Inigo himself! I was so excited about this new money, Bitcoin, and wanted to possess at least some of it, and yet I got my first 200k satoshis months later, after claiming various faucets for many long boring hours. In total, it was less than $1 at the time, but I was happy.

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

I wanted to buy $10 worth of Bitcoin somewhere in the middle of 2014, but the minimum one could buy on LocalBitcoins in my place was $50, too big money for me back then. I ended up earning BTC through faucets, and later through this forum, never actually buying a satoshi in my whole life.

3. How did you get on the forum?

I was hanging out on Primedice chat quite a bit, and one day they announced a promo connected to bitcointalk, and that's how I registered.

4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?

As of today, nothing. Mass adoption is happening at a decent pace.

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?

They are not just "gambling projects", they accept crypto, and this is what counts. They contribute to Bitcoin adoption, and also pay us money, money which for some of us, constitute a significant part of our income. Of course they help 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?

In my opinion, it's impossible to learn how to invest in today's rapidly changing market, because the info they possess is already outdated before they start teaching you.

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

I have a great deal of respect for the current Merit system. I think it helps the forum a lot. Needless to say I feel the same about signature campaigns.

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

Regarding topics, I enjoy reading all of them. The Off-topic section, for example, is really fun to read, and although I rarely post there myself, I like browsing through it occasionally. Most helpful users? I would name a hundred easily, without differentiating between them. Overall, people are very helpful here, most of the time.

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?

Can't name even one thing, I love it so much. Sorry.

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

I used to trade (small amounts) on various exchanges, just to see how it works, and I regularly exchange BTC for my local currency, if that counts.(unfortunately, I was never able to afford hodling all my BTC). But overall, no, I'm not a trader, nor an investor.

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

One day, I was awarded by Betcoin.ag with a ticket to the 1 BTC Guaranteed tournament. I was procrastinating it to the limit, until I was informed that it was my last chance to play(they were planning to discontinue the tournament). So, I played, took the 3rd place, and won 0.175 BTC with that. It was $450 at the time. It has been my biggest profit in BTC, so far, but, actually, USD-wise, I earned approximately the same amount just recently, in the end of August, by winning #3 Bitcointalk Poker Series.

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?

Never heard of it.

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?

I don't believe in anonymity on the Web. If they so desire, you will be tracked down sooner or later. Just try to not break the law, and you'll be okay without relying on that pseudo-anonymity.

12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?

Mastering Bitcoin by Andreas M. Antonopoulos. Still reading it, cos I'm not that tech savvy to understand it right away.

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

BTC and ETH

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

$14,500

15. P.S. (Optional)

I'd like to thank Satoshi Nakamoto and his team and supporters for making this world a better place.

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

The first time I heard about cryptocurrencies was in 2013, but then I did not attach any importance to this information.
Business was going well and I was not interested in bitcoin.

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

The first bitcoin I bought cost about $ 350 in 2015, but at that time I did not understand anything about cryptocurrency.
In 2015, business profits began to fall, and one friend reminded me of cryptocurrencies.
He gave me the address of the Polonex and Bitrex exchanges and told me to learn to trade. This is how my acquaintance with cryptocurrencies began.
It was a great time, there was no control, no "know your client" procedures ..

3. How did you get on the forum?
The Internet. I tried to read more and write less, so I was not an activist and a fan of forums.

4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?
Human stupidity, greed, misunderstanding. Revolutionary ideas always cause a lot of resistance among the ruling class.
But every year we see that this process is gaining momentum.

4.2.Who do you think will win bitcoin or banks?

This is the most interesting point. It is important what people choose: what they want or what states and banks will impose on them.
If we talk about the massive implementation of CBDC, then this is a loss. The government tells us that it is fast, convenient, does not require visits to the bank, but no one says that this simplifies total total control.
All information is available on the blockchain and there is no need to collect statements from different banks.
It's bad that there are few people in the world who think and will understand technology. Most will choose what the state and the central bank will impose on them.
Now in the world of Ethereum and BTC can play the role of large decentralized payment systems. We should support alternative decentralized solutions, and not succumb to the general sentiment that the DEFI ecosystem is a Scam.

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 have 5 years of experience working with cryptocurrency, but I started making money after studying investing. A person who possesses knowledge achieves success faster than someone who learns from experience.

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

I had to earn all my merits myself, the system works perfectly. I think signature campaigns are a great addition to bonuses for useful members.

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

I will not single out certain participants from the list so as not to offend anyone.
A useful participant is constantly gaining new knowledge and sharing this knowledge with other forum users. A useless person posts for an award in signature campaigns.
The most useful topics are here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;stats=toptopicsat

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?

Some local forum boards are needed to add new subsections. This needs to be discussed with every local boards.

At least once a year, make a new interesting competition like this
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/10th-anniversary-art-contest-5193860

Introduce a new title for developers and project representatives. For example, "Developer" is like a "Copper member".

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

I am constantly investing in various projects. Most of the savings in coins are bitcoin and ethereum, and the rest of the investments are tokens that can be bought on uniswap. I plan to completely stop trading on centralized exchanges

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

It's a big loss that I didn't come to this forum in 2009.
Most of my losses were caused by my lack of experience in trading. I bought bitcoin for $ 350 and Ethereum for $ 1.5, but I didn't have enough experience to keep these coins in my portfolio. I made money, and if I had built my trading strategy correctly, I could have made 10 or 100 times more.
In 2017, I received a huge profit, at the end of 2018, I realized for myself what it means to lose 99% of the Deposit when investing in shitcoins.

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?

If you are interested in my opinion, read my latest topics and posts, most of them about DEFI.
And the very first topic on the forum was written by me.
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/defi-eth-financial-ecosystem-september-2019-5198245

This is the most promising direction among cryptocurrencies, just don't confuse fundamental ecosystem projects with yield farming

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?

"Money loves silence" is a well-known Russian proverb. The utmost care must be taken in everything related to money.

12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?

"Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money"
by Nathaniel Popper

How To DeFi
https://landing.coingecko.com/how-to-defi/

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

BTC, ETH, BEAM

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

14000-14500$

15. P.S. (Optional)

My articles and other useful materials
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/--5235612

Thank you for the invitation and sorry it took a while before I could respond ^{[I had to read the first 109 responses before giving mine]}:
^{- Even though it took a very long time, I have no regrets when it comes to reading all of these interesting posts.}

---

---

Back in the day ^{[early 2011]}, I used to be a gamer ^{[FPS games, PC]} and in one of the Facebook groups ^{[gaming & PC build niche]} that I was part of, there was a dedicated section that mentioned about BTCitcoin mining and I said to myself: "I already have the gear, I might as well use it to earn something back". So I did some GPU mining and everything was great for the first couple of months until my GPU died and I decided to completely abandon both mining and BTCitcoin as a whole ^{[I was on a limited budget since I was just a college student]}.

I never bought a whole BTCitcoin ^{[just fractions of it]} but I've mined a few.

In 2015 I decided to give it another shot but my rig wasn't good enough for mining so I looked for alternative ways of earning BTCitcoin and I stumbled upon a blog post that discussed faucets, rotators and how I could earn by getting indirect referrals from this forum.

• After a few days, I joined this forum to promote my free website and later on, I moved to a real website ^{[it didn't last though]}.

Its public image and the greedy people surrounding both cryptocurrencies and various governments as a whole.

Even though it certainly contributes by bringing more traffic, I think it doesn't necessarily affect the development process.
^{- This forum is a self-sustaining one, it'll survive with or without either gambling or other project types.}

I can't give an accurate answer since there are a lot of fields within each cryptocurrency and depending on which one you're referring to, my answer would be different but in general, it's best not to rely on the so-called "years of experience" mainly because of the fact that things are always changing and someone's previous experience may not be that relevant now. In other words, it's never enough and it'll never be good enough ^{[a never-ending process that investors should hope they're standing on the right side]}.

• Merit system: A great system in place but users aren't using it properly.
  ^{- Many are using it as a "like button", instead of giving it for higher-quality posts.}
• Signature campaigns: It depends on who is handling it.

There are so many topics and active helpful users but I would like to give credit to someone that hasn't been active for a very long time: shorena

• Ability to change our usernames ^{[not referring to our displayed names]}
  
  • A security measure.
• Adding more sub-boards.
  
  • Certain boards need to be polished.
• An algorithm that automatically chooses new Merit sources whenever they've met the requirements.
  
  • Those requirements must remain unknown ^{[with admins and mods being an exception]}

I do but only on local exchanges ^[non-crypto].

Continuing on what I said in #1: After my GPU died, I sold my desktop in exchange for a laptop and a big portion of my mined coins were still in there ^{[I wasn't that serious so didn't make any back ups]}.

I hate it's getting so much hype at the moment ^{[it has turned into a food court for scammers]}.

Mine is more of a precaution against scammers but it could also be the first one since I prefer to see other users judge and respect me for who I really am and not base it on if there's a certain title attached to my name.

I'm not a book person.

Wait a minute! So you're telling me that there is more than a single "real" cryptocurrency apart from BTCitcoin?

• On a serious note:
  - I don't like seeing the words investment, BTCitcoin/cryptocurrencies in the same sentence, since most users are using cryptocurrencies ^{[especially BTCitcoin]} for the wrong reason so I rather not give any advice on this front.

Around 12k.

If you're reading this, I hope you'll have a great year ahead and always remember that "putting others down won't make you rise any higher".

Hello @zazad
Sorry, it takes too long for me to reply and answer your interview. Yeah, I was thinking it almost everyday and it is my pleasure.

Questions:
1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?
An online search engine helps me to find crypto. Doubted at first but as I continue reading, review feedback, and it comes into the moments that one of my colleagues talking about it drives me to dig more about crypto and I was truly amazed that this is a gaining opportunity especially for a student like me.

2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?
As a student with a small budget, it is impossible.  But I’d find a way to have and luckily, giving a chance to participate in the signature campaign helps me out and also for my studies.

3. How did you get on the forum?
Just like what I said in the first question, it is all coming from an online search. What it leads me to the forum and has registered because of what I’ve read and comes to some suggestions. I took this opportunity, yet it is really hard to understand what they are doing but it gives some interest to know what it is.

4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?
Factors are:
1.   Internet connection
2.   Legality of Bitcoin/crypto
3.   Bad news
4.   Questionable existence

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 those gambler wants to keep themselves anonymously, this is a perfect place for them. I don’t think about addiction because it was on our control, if we can do it then seem impossible to happen in our ends.

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’m already in the crypto community for almost 5 years, I don’t read books but all of my learnings are coming from my personal experience. 
2-3 years in the market is enough for us to know about crypto, can’t be an expert but for sure we know already what is the best thing to do for a better investment. Special education is not really necessary.

5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?
I’d find this as a way to improve the forum and more informative but for the newbie, it is really hard for them to rank up.
In regards to the participating campaign, I hope CM will look into the post history, not only for the number of merits. It somehow been a practice by most and so I consider that this is very important by now.

6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?
 Forum Rank/position/badges John K.
LoyceV’s seclog
Newbies

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?
Thumbs up to the MODs and DT’s. They are already been working on it well and clean the forum. Only I can do is to give support to them.

8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?
I’m not doing any investment since from the start but I do trading quite sometimes.

9. Tell a story about your big profit or a big loss?
As the bullish season hits on the market last 2017, I believe it was the time that I gain a lot from trading.

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?
I lost my expectation for them. Actually, I didn’t think also that the HYPE will keep their momentum for so long. 

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?
That is one reason why people are adopting Bitcoin, I should be preferred for it. But as the developments continue it was noticed that we are started to lose our anonymity due to KYC required.

12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?
Sorry but I don’t read any books, all are coming from an online search.

13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?
I suggest keeping and only invest in Bitcoin. Some altcoins did some great ROI but couldn’t guarantee to long-term holding will work.

14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?
I’ll keep in bullish, $14,300 is my bet.

15. P.S. (Optional)

Well, here is my answer to @zazad's interview that recently asked. It is my pleasure to be a part of the interview and it is time for me to express publicly what I have experienced here in BTT for almost 4 years of journey.

^[1] When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?
Since the year 2016, I was interested in cryptocurrency and I am looking for a community where I can hang on --but for a while, I started also accumulating small amounts of bitcoin on that day, faucets and airdrops have been pushed me to pursue my self fully engage in bitcoin. After the year 2017, bitcoin becomes bullish and skyrocketing the price, until now I am still here as a crypto a part of enthusiast and until I found this BTT community that the right place to learn cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.

^[2] When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?
That was the year 2016 right after a bullish trend happened but unfortunately, --I still doubted to bitcoin and I did not invest and accumulate a big amount. Thinking that I was not able to afford a big amount to risk on that day since I don't have a job and I was a college student at that time. I was so happy when bitcoin reached the price of $20k price while I am here in the forum joining bounty and joining the airdrop year 2017.

^[3] How did you get on the forum?
Well, accidentally I found on google while I am browsing and looking for an airdrop. When I typed on google search box the word airdrop. I saw the link to the BTT forum. I tried to register and make an account, and to be honest, it was hard for me to understand before to join the discussion here in BTT, but perhaps due to the curiosity of what is bitcoin and the technology of blockchain I pursue my self to learn topics and joining the discussion, until such day the time come I become a regular gambler through this forum. Hoping that my luck was here ^{[but until now I did not my luck on gambling]}.

^[4.1] What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?
Well, the major reason that I have seen here is the decentralized nature of cryptocurrency. But this is not a big deal, I don't see there is prevention towards mass adoption, as a matter of fact, --we are now in the mainstream and everyone knows about cryptocurrency and we have the freedom to use cryptocurrencies even though we have different law of each country where we belong. Somehow, negative news will perhaps affect mass adoption just like hacking and fraudulent activities, but that is not the reason to prevent mass 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?
Well, not much directly, there is no need to have developed on the forum. The advantage is, --it will have to bring mass adoption of bitcoin, and of course, the revenue of the BTT forum will increase. I saw the large mass adoption of the gambling industry in the forum, every now and then, there are too many gambling companies pop up and have a business here. That is enough for bitcoin to have more mass adoption.

^[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?
Perhaps it is, 2-3 years experienced is enough. You have been mistaken on previous that surely you will learn. As an investor, it needs time for them to analyze what they invest or planning to invest and 2-3 years are quite enough for you to gain knowledge and skills upon looking at potential projects to invest <sup>[unless, if you are lazy enough to have research]

[5]</sup> What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?
It is indeed, it has a good result and the merit system did not have a failure of what is the goal upon creation of theymos. The merit system was designed to have an improvement in a forum, eliminating spammers and shitposters not to allow to join the signature campaign which is the result of spamming. The merit required before you can join the signature campaign has a great effect, that means if you are a spammer you did not even earn merit. Indeed, cheers to theymos, merit system was a great tool to have improvement of the forum.

^[6] The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?
I don't give a single topic that the most helpful in the forum, instead, give attention to the topic that pinned post by the forum staff, --they are surely most important and of course, don't forget the forum rules, perhaps that is also first and very important to know.

^{[7. 3]} things you would implement on the forum?
If theymos give me a privilege regarding that matter here are my 3 things implementation.
-increase the level of rank, next to Legendary rank.
-Increase the number of merit requirements by a newbie to rank up in Jr. member, ^{[at least 5]} because 1 merits easy to manipulate by their alt.
-Fix the DT system.

^[8] Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?
Well, of course I do. But it is quite rare investing projects, when Defi continue growing, I don't know which is legit. I rather prefer to gamble than investing hype projects.

^[9] Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?
Big profit on gambling? I will share you a story that I never forget.
Unfortunately, this is not online gambling, it is an local lotto jackpot that I won. It was almost half million of our currency in my country. I won the 6/42 mega jackpot but we are 3 who was won and the prize was splitted in to 3. That was a big profit that comes into my life and until now I will never forget.

^[10] What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?
Defi ecosystem was a great hype so far, I did not judge so far because I did not engage too much with this projects but I see that it has a greater impact to the bitcoin price based on what I have read on the BTT discussion. Perhaps it has a potential but let us be careful on a hype that commonly scam projets.

^[11] Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?
In crypto, we need anonymity. But I ama also willing to reveal my real identity if needed. I am not a high profile person, perhaps there is no problem if I will reveal my self in selective trusted person not by publicly.

^[12] The last cryptocurrency book you read?
I never read book but e-books there is a lot. Perhaps, the best that I read is the ^{[Cryptocurrency in a Nutshell]}.

^[13] Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?
I don't give any advice, just research your own if you want to invest. But I suggest to stick on bitcoin investment what ever happen.

^[14] How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?
This is unpredicted speculation, but I am very optimistic upon giving my prediction. As we expected to break the previous bullish trend of bitcoin and go beyond $20k.

^[15] P.S.,
Dont panic sell everytime when there is a small correction, HODL as much as you can or accumulate bitcoin if you have enough fund to invest. In Crypto, we believe.

^---END--

Thank you @zazad.

Thanks for sending me a PM, I answered all the question, sent you my answers but decided to post it myself here.

Questions:

1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?
I was a gambler and I was looking for ways to gamble easily, I found crypto and everything went well, I fall in love with it until I found different opportunity in crypto.

2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?
Year 2016, I just could not remember the exact month though, like I said, I love to gamble so I buy bitcoin.


3. How did you get on the forum?
I just search it, it's a popular forum it's not hard to find it.

4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?
Government not open for revolutionary changes I guess, but I think we are at the right path now, adoption is already happening.


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?
As long as it's not illegal it will always give positive effort to the community and the forum, everyone who gambles are not only focus in gambling, they would also be interested exploring this big market.


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?
Special education is not necessary, that's a waste of money, being active in the forum and in the crypot community already making yourselves aware of what is happening, and as long as you are willing to learn, you can find free education that is very much useful in your journey.


5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?
I'm not against with the merit system and will never be against of what the managers are requiring the participants to follow, they manage the campaign so it's their rules. Actually the spams were lessen due to the merit system so I find it very effective.


6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?
Gambling discussion, since I love to gamble... I don't want to name them, I don't want politics.

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?
Just strict implementation of the rules, no to trust abuse and abusers should be ban.

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


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

I would share my big profit, I forget about my loses already and I'm happy with that.
Let's just say I acquire a house and properties through crypto, for me, that's big enough and it's a life changing.


10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?
Just a hype I think, not really explored them a lot though I know some of the projects.

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?
Definitely, that's the purpose why I love crypto.


12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?
Never read a book, not a fan. watch videos, yes.


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

14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?
$15000


15. P.S. (Optional)
Sorry if there's a typo error, I didn't review what I written anymore.

When I created an appreciation for attained Hero rank Charles-Tim said he like Zasad to interview and I was so happy to hear from him. Zasad thanks for giving me the opportunity to be part of this movement.


1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?
I was interested in cryptocurrencies in early 2016 when looking for a remote job but I started with faucet and some online tasks.

2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?
I bought my first Bitcoin the same year I was interested in crypto and I bought it in other to have an alternative learning strategy

3. How did you get on the forum?
Through Google, I guess luck was on my side that day cause I was tired of the faucet and decide to look for the right place to learn more about Bitcoin when I find this forum where I can learn and also earn Bitcoin while I was wasting my time on faucet.
 
4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?
The number reason I believe that prevent the mass adoption of crypto was the government stance towards cryptocurrency.

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 mass advertising of gambling project positively affect the forum and a piece of evidence is some gambling site which doesn't support cryptocurrency before that now support crypto and also running some campaign on this forum.

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?

2-3 experience should be enough to invest in crypto successfully but it all depends on individual personal understanding and research level about crypto cause I have seen people that joined crypto last year and well experienced that someone who's into crypto for 3years.

5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?
Base on the reason why the merit system was introduced, I believe it some clean the forum and I can't imagine what the forum will become now if the merit system was not implemented.
 
6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?
I consider the bitcoin technical support, meta, altcoin discussion and beginners & help.

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?
Firstly, I will implement the moderation of scam projects and individuals.
Second, remove the Cloudflare.
Third, add more newbies restriction.

8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?
I'm a part term crypto trader and I also invest in newly listed projects with a good concept.

9. Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?
My big loss was not joining cryptocurrency investment when I first read about it in the year 2011.

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?
Defi gives crypto and decentralization enthusiasts a new opportunity but the sad part is people abusing it.

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?
My anonymity is a necessity especially when it has to do with cryptocurrency.


12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?
Investopedia

13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?
Every crypto investors have the right to do his own research but Bitcoin and ETH are the best investment for 1-2 years.

14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?
No one can predict the actual price of Bitcoin at the end of this year but I expect Bitcoin to maintain a good trend this year.

15. P.S. (Optional)
I want to thank Theymos, other moderators and donators for keeping this forum alive.

I was asked by Zasad to provide an interview so here it goes.

1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?
I became interested in cryptocurrencies in July 2017. I know almost the exact day because I started my journey through crypto world by accumulating about 3k EUR and buying my mining rig. It had 4x Nvidia cards and I learned so much about the crypto space while setting it up and choosing shit coins to mine. In the end I settled on dual mining ETH and stopped tinkering with it all the time. That left me enough free time to learn some trading basics and try my luck on exchanges.

2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?
My first satoshis weren't bought, I traded for them or later on earned some on this forum by selling services (translation, coding). I actually bought BTC for fiat first time when we were in bear market in 2018 and BTC has just fallen to 6K. I was sure it would not go any lower. We all know how that went but I didn't panic sell I bought more around 3.5K. Too bad I had very little spare cash at the time so we are talking small amounts.
Why I bought? Very simple, I believe in BTC long term.

3. How did you get on the forum?
I needed to read quite a lot of stuff while setting my mining rig and this place was the place to find most of the answers and software.

4.1 What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?
There is whole bunch of usual answers like government policies, market manipulation or whatever. I am actually thinking that biggest obstacle to mass adoption is user experience. I am doing stuff on computers my whole life and that includes web design and coding in several programing languages and I have to read tutorials and loose hours whenever I want to do something a bit more advanced in crypto sphere.  We need to buckle up, stop complaining and start building user friendly interfaces and installation programs. I am actually hoping to transition my work full time to crypto space and do something about that but I still haven't found that one perfect serious project to help me on the way.

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 don't think it influences the whole bitcointalk community that much, either positive or negative. Yes those campaigns lead to more spamming but there will be spam as long as there are campaigns and they integral part of this forum and it would not be the same without them. Gambling discussion section is like a second home to me and I love conversations I am having there with some users. Other users which just spam and don't say anything constructive I report and put on ignore list. Works for me.

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 can't judge if it is enough for everybody but it was more than enough for me, but I am very realistic person and not prone to FOMO & FUD. I needed about a year to stand on my trading legs and I am happy to report that the journey has been mostly successful with few bumps along the way.

5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?
Both have their positive and negative effects which has been discussed in detail all over the Meta section and I don't feel like adding much to that. Yes there is misuse but in general they are important and good part of bitcointalk experience and I got used to them. Merit got introduced while I was Full member and it considerably slowed my climb trough the ranks but at the same time new rank feels like a much bigger achievement so all good.

6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?
Really tough to point out. There is a lot of useful topics and very helpful users. I will not even try to list them since I would be doing a disservice to the ones I forget to mention and this interview would end up using second post as well.

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?
Nothing really, I would try to change users to be a little more tolerable of others opinions or reduce the spam in some sections but I don't see a way to enforce stuff like that and keep the spirit of the forum.
Actually I would post official rules of the forum and then made moderators enforce them equally across all sections and seniority.

8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?
I trade on exchanges and usually invest in projects after they are already established. I had some small/short/riskier investments during ICO fever but mainly I invested in well established projects which I consider will have a bright future with intent to keep them at least few years.

9. Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?
Most of my trading is quite boring but since you want a story...
My first airdrop (ETHD) which brought me real money will be something I'll never forget. The project was a total shitcoin without anything positive going for it but I sold my airdrops for about 500$. Money from nothing is a real crypto story
To balance that out I was a victim of scam once as well. I am usually quite careful and those quick money offers that sound too good to be true I am avoiding even subconsciously but I have fallen for scam website of one ICO project. Not quite sure which one was it but it was an ICO on NEO network, it was a great project and it did quite well but I invested my 500$ on wrong site. It was a combination of running out of time and wife nagging about me having to do something. I consider that as tuition for life school.

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?
I still have to do a lot of research in that direction. I don't know nearly enough to make competent decisions regarding DeFi. I am sure DeFi has future and I am also sure that most of the projects coming out now are total shit. So I am waiting for real projects to rise to the top or to find enough time to do proper research and FA which would make me comfortable to throw some money DeFI way.

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?
It is definitely a precaution. There is quite a few guys from Croatian local that know me personally and several more high rank users which know my real name. I am always for hanging out with fellow bitcoin enthusiasts and that is hard to do anonymously. If you are a known member and visiting Croatia for holidays contact me on PM and let's go get some drinks.

12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?
I never read a single cryptocurrency book. Most of my technical knowledge came through tutorials, this forum or YouTube videos. YouTube has actually been my biggest source of info and I used to watch TA videos while walking my dog several times a day.

13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?
My choices are all well known and quite boring but I am in for a long run and I don't need to do 10x next week.
1.   Bitcoin
2.   Etherium
3.   BNB, LINK, DOT

14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?
Let's go with 15K USD but as I already said I am in this for the long run and I don't really care what the price will be at the end of 2020. I am more interested what it will be in 10 or 20 years and I have a high expectations for cryptocurrencies and blockchains in the future.

15. P.S. (Optional)
I was really surprised you contacted me for this interview, I just hope somebody found it interesting since it did take a nice chunk of my very precious free time

I'm so surprised that i'm here. Thanks zasad@ for invitation. But why? I'm just a silent mouse and this is list of 100 most interesting BTT members.

Anyway here are my answers

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

I was a trader for 3 years on regular stocks when 2017 bubble started and bitcoin was all around the place. Every investment portal wrote about bitcoin only. I looked at chart and said "mm what a outstanding bubble". Lets play on it. Bubbles like that happens no more than few times in a lifespan (dot com was 17 years before). It was my chance to learn a lot. Trade on such big emotions.

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

December 2017 . It was meant to be a training amount for active speculation, so I do not regret it. I only regret that cantor that I used set transaction fee so low that my transfer was stuck for 2 weeks. It was awful 2 weeks. During this 2 weeks bitcoin dumped from 19k to 14k and all i could do was waiting. When BTC was at 14k i said fuck it and I bought LTC and it came the same day. I deposited to exchange and started to trade. But.. I did not waste those 2 weeks of waiting. I started to read about BTC, why my transfer stucked etc. I started to really love this technology but ... was afraid about future of bitcoin because of this high fees and transfer stuck - Bubble was build on paradig that BTC will replace Fiats - any altcoin seam to be better than BTC that day for me (not anymore ... I'm bitcoin maximalist right now). I started to trade altcoins and in the meantime reading more and more about technology. After few weeks BTC become my third love (maths, economy, bitcoin).

"3. How did you get on the forum?"

Seeing how volatile and exciting this market is I've decided to quit my job and earn for a living with trading. I felt confident with my 3 years trading experience on stocks. Since now i don't know if that was right decision. Emotional roller-coaster every day. To have additional income and still be able to control my trades i started doing bounties. That's how I've found Bitcointalk (I am not proud of the reasons why I came here). After a while on forum i found out that BTT its great place with interesting community. I've quit bounties and start to contribute for community. Sharing my maths/economy analysis with others. Discussing with others. It's started to be very relaxing and helps me not thing about trades all the time.

"4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?"

Why did the people allow the gold standard to be abolished? Why they accepted current situation - printers doing prrr prrr prrr all day? Because they are too lazy to educate and too lazy to add a little bit more effort. 90% of people that you will ask on the street what inflation is will say - "I don't know, I'm not interested in things that don't concern me ". They wants to pay with VISA - 0 fee, instant, no extra stuff to do. The promise of possession replaced possession for simplicity of use thanks to weak economic eduction in school. Crypto will have to be cheaper, faster than visa to speak to masses. And that's impossible.

"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?"

Thanks to merit system and good mangers, gambling projects hire mostly quality members. So it boost their activity and their presents on the forum. Speaking from my perspective. I would be here without signature too but I might not be every week. Signature campaign makes me a habit to take care of my hobby regularly. Because bitcointalk is my hobby.

"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?"

2-3 years of experience in cryptocurrency is enough.

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

Already answered in 4.2

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

Currently I think that a topic in which Ninjastic bring his tool: https://ninjastic.space/ or @BTTSuperNotifier_bot (telegram bot for notifications)

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

Better post search, notifications of quotes, mention and merits

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

Trade(manually and I also have few automated algos - liquidity providers), invest (BTC, BNB, iDNA)

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

Hard to tell. My algos are doing houndreds of trades per day. Consolidating the profits from these transactions is my greatest success. I invested only in BTC ,BNB, IDNA with my money for long enough to give them time to generate profit.

"10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?"

99% scams. Top of bubble that is currently bursting. Everything with DEFI in name is overpriced as f... Link f.e. is just an oracle worth 5 bilion $. How many information should it process to generate over $ 1.5 billion in profit (to compete with BNB P/E). How much profit should companies have that use this oracle so they be able to afford to spend $ 1.5 billion only for oracle? This infrastructure will take decades to build, and in the meantime, many better "LINKS" will be built.

Technology that was here for few years is now being presented as something that will rapidly change world. It will not. Few projects will survive but will wait years to start to generate real profit.

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

Same as gentleman said:
"You may as well guard it and hang on to it. Once it's gone, it's gone. You may become a big player in the future and bitterly regret throwing it away."

"12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?"

Ashamed to admit, but none

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

BTC - king ... do I need to say more ?

BNB - fundamentally undervalued (P/E) coin that yields 50-100% passive ROI while remaining deflationary (it is a sensation in the scale of the entire crypto) - https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.53299809

iDNA - The most decentralized coin (close to 5000 unique nodes with equal voting power) and only $4 M MC. First proof of person coin - 0 KYC. This is high risk high reward for x0 or x100. Not much $$$ in there.

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

Close to current price.

"15. P.S. (Optional)"

Great to see a lot of old buds are letting them being interviewed. I have received a PM but I'm a little busy that I ccouldn't make it yet. I would be honored to be interviewed to be honest.

We don't no who is that one person 

This is my cross examination.


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

I read about it first in 2009 on an anarchist forum. The OP said it was going to change the world. I downloaded whatever and forgot about it. I reremembered in 2012 and investigated properly in mid/late 2013.


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

Bought my first in Sept/Oct 2013. Why? To get RICH.


3. How did you get on the forum?

I really can't remember. One of this forum's oddities is that it doesn't turn up as often in searches as you'd expect.


4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?

Education, or the lack thereof. You need to understand money as a whole first to get why Bitcoin counts. Not many do.


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?

If people want to chuck their money away gambling then so be it. I wouldn't advertise it myself, more than partially because the only thing I'd write about it is 'stop bloody doing it, twat'.
 

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 invested long before truly understanding it. Maybe I still don't. Most others will be the same. Who am I to tell anyone else what to do?


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

Sig campaigns have been largely tamed. Merit is doing its job pretty well but I'd make ranking up in the middle ground a tad easier than it is.


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

Anything with me in it and.. me again. I'm absolutely sublime.


7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?

A proper mobile version is the only major thing I'd change. It works for me as is. I'd love a demerit function but that could be abused horribly by people, including myself.


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

Nope. I'm shit at it and have failed almost every single time I thought I was a hero. I'll stick with what I know and do not very much.


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

Losses and profits have largely been on paper so far so they don't count in my book.


10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?

Yet another broken piss take put together by clueless knobheads that'll burn everyone's money due to their dishonesty or leaving gaping holes for brighter people to exploit. Some day it may count for something. Not today.


11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?

You may as well guard it and hang on to it. Once it's gone, it's gone. You may become a big player in the future and bitterly regret throwing it away.


12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?

Digital Gold, Nathaniel Popper. Probably the only one I've read.


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

Rapecoin, BBQ coin, Trumpcoin. Rapecoin raises awareness of the 'victims of rap', it dropped the 'e' after some thought it was a little offensive. BBQ coin is apparently the tastiest coin you can buy and there's very little edible crypto out there so there's a gap right there that needs filling. Trump sure has a bright future ahead of him.


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

12-14 grand.


15. P.S. (Optional)

Hello, you.

Thank you zasad@, I would be honored to be the one being interviewed.  

Back in 2013, I wanted to explore how I could tip some uploaders in file sharing sites for the work they do. I found out they accepted bitcoin and wanted to learn more about it.

I never did buy any bitcoin. All I have amassed is from earnings here and there. Obviously it is not my main more of earning, I have a busy day job.

I used to claim from faucets at a time when bitcoin was priced in the 600-700$/BTC mark and ran into some bugs on some sites, so wanted to ask here. You can see I was talking about faucets back here - https://bitcointalksearch.org/user/theultraelite-878630

In the order of importance in my opinion,
1. Public negative view about crypto.
2. Thereby a lack of trust from merchants who could have accepted crypto.
There are several more, but I think these two are the biggest.

Gambling has been considered as a taboo in many communities. But point is that humans are risk taking organisms, they want it and thus there is a demand for it. Gambling projects saw the opportunity to use this method of payment to anonymize their customers money and allow them to gamble at peace.

However this is a still a niche group. The prevalence of land casinos and its patrons is still large and will probably remain side by side for long.

That said, I do not advice anybody to gamble in order to make profit, play for fun not for money. Because you are more likely to lose money than win big.

I think 2-3 years is enough. Besides if the investor has already been grilled in stock markets, commodities etc, they should not have difficulty in coping with this market within 1year of regular watching.

But that does not mean that they will be successful in investing. That depends on many other factors too.

Merit system - My opinion on merit system after seeing it from the pre-merit era to becoming a Legendary from Hero stuck at 500 merits, is that it was a patching of something that was broken for a long time. It was never possible for the creators of this forum to predict such a influx of spammers but I think theymos did is as a necessity to prevent the problem from getting even bigger. No system is perfect but this one is running well IMO.

Signature campaigns - They can be a good impetus to post regularly and allow lower income strata users to get some money as a side earning. Some threads are spammed pretty much for this which is bad for the forum, so it both a boon and a bane. I believe every user should strive to reduce this as much as possible. The well known managers on the bitcoin signature campaigns have been weeding out such users regularly which is a good thing. I would actually be happy to see a complete stop on the altcoin bounties signature campaigns. Majority of the spammers come from that section, IMO.

Every pinned topic on the forum is important for a newbie.

Not going to take any names here. Every user can be helpful and that is what we must all strive to do. Even a newbie can help out another newbie. It costs nothing.

I think the forum does not need any improvements beyond this, some users might have specific complaints about things that have plagued them but I try to stay away from any drama/politics because I got life outside this forum so I would not raise the same things said by other users about DT, Meta or trolls.

Rather one thing that could help is a mobile/smartphone oriented website for when using the forum on smartphones I find it a bit less ergonomic having to zoom in for reading and then zoom out for clicking anywhere else.

Trade but recently I have been more busy so not doing much.

One big profit - I took part in a twitter bounty for a project called BCDiploma (BCDT), back in 2016 and held on to it for these 4 years. Since very few participants were there we all got a nice stash of tokens. Only recently the price touched new highs and I sold half of the stash a couple of months back and made a nice zero investment profit.

One big loss - Another twitter bounty for Viuly (VIU) price had become huge in the 2017 pump but I didnt sell it at that time. Eventually the project has been abandoned/failure in my eyes, so that profit became zero, but could have been a nice dump for me.

DeFi is not new. It has been there since a longer time than we know and one of the pioneer projects is Bitrefill. Just that some projects have called themselves as DeFi and promoted themselves to create a lot of hype. Essentially they are a copycat of what ICOs have been at one time. I believe them to be the next bubble. I have previously posted in many threads of this forum why DeFi is a copy of many concepts of ICOs. Scammers will always make money, investors need to be careful.

Both and even more than that. In the real world, this username does not exist. Who I am in real life can be your next door neighbor, the guy you see everyday in the train or one who sells you groceries every morning. (I am joking )

Owning bitcoin of big amounts makes people paranoid but that only hurts their mental health which I try to point out in many users on and off this forum. It is true that you will be targeted if you are average joe with a large volume at hand. Hence it becomes both and more than that.

I dont read such books.

Bitcoin only. If you are going to take risks, buy bitcoin. Altcoins will never be first. They all end up the same way.

I cant say with certainty, but my guess would be something about 10k USD.

1.The points I made are completely my own opinion. These are not financial advice, so dont take them seriously or ask me why something didnt give you profit or so.
2. Invest your money at your own risk.
3. Do not send money to some username on the internet first, use an escrow.
4. Always remember, Scammers are professional liars.
5. P.P.S To all the new members of this forum remember:

Lauda is a ninja cat (
Thanks for reading till the end. Cheers, Ultra out!

Try it, just please be serious.
Questions:
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)

i want to make intwerview but know one will care

Thanks for the opportunity to write my part here.

Damn I missed the 100th place by 10 minutes.


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

I became interested in crypto currencies around 2014. There were a few newspaper articles about bitcoins which made me curious to find out more about the this new currency. At first I was just reading news artible before finding this awesome forum here.


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

My first bitcoins I bought 2016 after doing faucets for some time I decided to actually spend FIAT money to buy bitcoins. Today I am very glad I bought bitcoins before the huge demand.


3. How did you get on the forum?

Noticed a few recommendaitons on a crypto blogs about this forum.


4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?

First of all I think the older generations are to afraid to go into cryptos. If I look at my parents or grand parents they don't even like to do digital banking, they prefer talking to the bank employee and have personal interactions. For the younger generations it's more about understanding what crypto currencies are and if the have high security with their coins and wallets.


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 mass advertising can help the cryptop community, there are still plenty of people who have no idea about bitcoins and the crypto world in general. With advertising we could reacg many new people who maybe never heard of it before. Without a lot of advertising I would have probably never found this forum.


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 think so yes, because bitcoins and other crypto currencies don't require you to add a lot of money. You can start small and grow your way up. The thing with investing that you learn a lot of things with actually using money. You can read as much as you want about it, but once you start using your own money everything becomes different. In my opinion it is best to just jump in the cold water and try yourself while you keep reading more and build up knowledge.


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

Signature campaigns are great way for people to earn a few coins on the forum. I think they are a good way for new people to get into cryptos and offer a first step to earn some coins. It's also nice to get a little bit of play money for the casinos each month.

With the Merit system it's quite hard for new people to rank up on the forum, it might seems a bit overwhelming at first.


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

I like the Alt Coin section a lot on the forum, I learned so much about other crypto coins than just bitcoins. Also the gambling section is quite interesting, I enjoy reading about new strategies.


7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?

First of all I would implement an extra APP for bitcointalk. So many people like to check the website from their mobile phone. It would be nice to get a better layout on the phone.

Second, I would add more emojis to the forum. There are so many cool emojis on platforms like Twitch we could copy here.

Third, I would adjust the Merit system to make it a bit easier for Newbies to earn some Merits and rank up.

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

I mostly trade on exchanges, or I use coins to cash out when winning in betting or cash out some trading wins in CSGO skins.


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

So far I didn't make a bit profit yet. Most of my coins I am holding for more than 1 year now. Almost all of my coins are in the green but I am just not realising any gains, I want to keep holding them.

My losses are mostly coming from gambling.


10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?

I think it's a good idea and big pillar of the crypto coins, but my understanding is still too low to have a really well informed opinion.


11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?

Anonymity is mostly a precaution for me. There are a lot of scammers on the internet, it's better to protect our identity.


12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?

Anarchy, Inc.: Profiting in a Decentralized World with Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain

Not really about cryptocurrency but about Blockchain, still a nice book.


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

Bitcoins, ETH and LTC.


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

Probably close to today levels because of Corona. My bet would be 12,000 USD


15. P.S. (Optional)

Not much to add here. Great questions, I hope my answers could help.

Thanks for inviting me. let me be the 100th.

1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?
I don't quite remember how it started because it happened slowly. but i think it was mostly in 2016 that I kept hearing about bitcoin from my friends and how its price is on the rise and will reach $1000 and things like that.
Sadly I wasted some time on faucets back then instead of buying bitcoin.

2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?
I made my first purchase in 2016 and because I wanted to join the profit wagon but slowly I became fascinated with bitcoin as a currency and that led to more investment or I should say me dumping fiat every month for bitcoin. and I've been doing it with any amount of extra fiat that I have and don't need ever since.

3. How did you get on the forum?
The same friends that introduced me to bitcoin and faucets introduced me to this forum so that I could learn more from experts since they stopped being able to answer my questions!

4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?
Oooh that's a tough question to answer. I guess there are a lot of reasons and I see most of them are mentioned by others. The only thing I could add is that lack of adoption is itself a preventing force. For example a merchant sees there is little bitcoin adoption so they don't bother adding it as a payment option, the average Joe sees there is no merchant accepting bitcoin so they don't adopt it. like the chicken and egg problem.

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 has been very useful. The online gambling business is growing and like many other things it suffers high fees, terrible regulations, taxation, issues with banking system, and a lot more. all of these are fixed by using a decentralized currency like bitcoin.
These gambling sites have created a niche business that is also introducing bitcoin to many people all around the world.

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 there is any kind of education that can teach investment in general. Of course we have lots of it available for investment in general and the knowledge can be used in cryptocurrency world too but the problem is that the whole thing is more of a pseudo science.

5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?
The merit system has been one of the greatest things added to this forum. It single handedly cut down the spam to very little amount.

6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?
I would reference the merit stats page that contains both:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;stats

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?
The new version of the forum with a little bit more modern look would be nice.
Some additional security measures such as 2FA
Removing cloud-flare...

8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?
I'm mostly buying bitcoin but yes I also sometimes trade altcoins specially when we have these big altcoin pumping seasons when there is a lot of easy profit to be made.

9. Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?
My biggest loss was in gambling and with the damn martingale strategy where you keep increasing your bet until you win back all you had lost so far. the best thing out of that was my decision to never gamble again.
My biggest profit is simply owning bitcoin!

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?
I'd stay away from it because all I can see is the same ICO scams with different names and different dev groups.

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?
Obviously a necessity. Specially when you hear about all the crimes that happen against people who flaunt their dirty laundry in public (eg. those getting robbed at gunpoint).

12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?
I've been meaning to finish reading Mastering Bitcoin, but so far I've read only some of the chapters.

13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?
I don't think it is a good idea to make such advice. People have to always make their own choices when it comes to investment.

14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?
Another hard question. I see in my magic ball that price will be $16420

15. P.S. (Optional)
I'd like to thank Satoshi Nakamoto for all the efforts he put into inventing bitcoin and changing all our lives.
And hope everyone stay healthy during this world wide pandemic.

We are already 99

Who will be the hundredth?

source image: zen.yandex.ua

I get invitations from zasad@. Thank you for that.

---

Hello.
I want to interview you. I hope for your consent.

Questions:
1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?
I don't remember when I knew cryptocurrencies but I am sure that is from 5-6 years ago. I don't have any interest in the first time and I think it is fun to get a free coin from the internet without doing anything. I don't invest any money that year because I can get bitcoin from the faucet like other people.

2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?
I bought my first bitcoin about 2014-2015 for trading after I sold some of mine. And after that, I often buy bitcoin and sell it again because I can make money from trading.

3. How did you get on the forum?
I found this forum by coincidence. I search on Google about bitcoin, and I click one by one the website on the list. I even don't know this forum has been used by Satoshi to introduce bitcoin to people.

4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?
I don't know. But maybe legality will be the most thing that prevents the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies in many countries. Besides that, scammers are the other thing that can prevent people from using cryptocurrencies because scammers will always trick people and invite them to be the next target.

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 the gambling project helps the growth of cryptocurrency, not just in this forum but also in out there because each gambling site will try to promote their site in other places such as social media to gain more members. It is a positive effect to invite more people to join with the crypto worlds. But maybe that people need to have many things to avoid addicting to gambling.

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?
Yes, I think it is enough to start investing in cryptocurrency, as long as that person can have a responsibility to his funds. People need to learn by themselves, and they don't need to have special education to use cryptocurrencies because they can search for the right lesson they needed.

5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?
The current merit system and signature campaigns don't harm the forum. The signature campaigns can help the project grow, and the members can advise the team of the project to make their project better.

6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?
I am confused to answer the question because many forum topics are useful for all people, especially for new people who want to learn about cryptocurrency. That happens too with the question about the most helpful users because many users try to help each other. It's not about they got so many merits from other users because of their posts.

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?
I don't have any idea about that because I only a regular member who doesn't know much about programming or some skills about the forum.

8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?
I am trading on the exchanges, but I will invest in some funds if I think that the project is good.

9. Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?
The big profit that I can get is in 2017-2018 when the bitcoin price increase to $19k. That year, I sold almost all of my coins at the highest price, which makes me get a huge profit. I want to repeat what I get in that year in the next bull run.

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?
I think the DEFI ecosystem is a new way for every people to make money after draining our money with useless projects in the last 2 years. The DEFI project's presence can help us make a huge profit, and I think that was the same as when the ICO comes to us.

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?
I think anonymity is something that I want to have on the internet, not just in the cryptocurrency, especially for people I don't know. I only tell my identity to people who I know and meet in real life. Except for my friends from my neighborhood, I don't tell other people about me. I am really afraid of the internet because once we tell the public, they can easily track us, especially if we use social media to tell our activity.

12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?
I don't read cryptocurrency books, but I search for the news from the internet. I prefer to search from the internet than to read from the book because most books need to be bought before reading the content.

13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?
Bitcoin, ethereum, the last one will be your option

14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?
I don't want to tell you my prediction because I am afraid that I can be wrong

15. P.S. (Optional)
I am surprised to get your invitation

Once again, thank you.

It seems my fellows from 777coins get zasad@ invitation.

kassex (Legendary)

Let's start

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

"My acquaintance with cryptocurrency happened at the end of the 16th year, I completed a task on the site https://freebitco.in/ and since then I have been fond of cryptocurrency."

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

"I didn’t buy bitcoin. I earned my first bitcoin and the subsequent ones too on bounty, trading, and just clicked on faucets."

3. How did you get on the forum?

"I came from another forum. I heard a lot about bitcointalk and decided to register."

4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?

" A lot of scam. A lot of scammers. Yes, and propaganda works against the crypt. As long as the crypt is associated with a pyramid."

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?

"Unlikely to hurt. Las Vegas doesn't do much harm to the United States, but rather the opposite."

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?

"Education is always an important thing. But it is better to combine theory with practice. Smart people, regardless of profession, learn all their lives."

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

"I didn’t think about it. I accept innovations calmly. If it doesn’t suit me, I just find more acceptable conditions for me. So far, everything suits me."

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

"There are many useful topics, but it’s hardly possible to name all of them."

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?

pass

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

"I invest for a long term."

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

"The biggest profit came from the ONION signature campaign. The biggest loss is participation in trust management and investment in the EOS."

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?

"A good way to make money, but you definitely need to understand the topic."

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?

"As a precaution, I don't need anonymity."

12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?

"What is defi?"

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

"Litecoin, dashcoin and bitcoin"

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

"About 12k. It is unlikely to rise above."

15. P.S. (Optional)

"I wish all the other survey participants a great investment in the new year 2021."

Thanks to kassex for the interview!

__
Translated from Russian by me.

The end.

Zasad@ solicited me, so here are my answers :

1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?
In ~May 2017, due to a colleague who spent his days on whitepapers and charts.
I made a little remark to him that we had some work to do and in the end he explained to me what Bitcoin was, its philosophy, the speculative aspect...
And that's when the drama began, everything escalated very quickly for me .

2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin ?
I bought fragments of Bitcoin a few weeks later (early July 2017) on Kraken. At the time, it was complicated to connect to Kraken.

3. How did you get on the forum?
In June 2017, my productivity at work has dropped significantly. I started to be interested in Bitcoin, reading articles, videos, etc... And each article/video made me ask more questions about another aspect of Bitcoin. And 90% of the time Google took me to Bitcointalk.
In the end, I created my account here to save time.

4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies ?
The bad reputation of cryptos in general. When I speak to friends about Bitcoin, they think I'm a drug dealer. Hacks and scam don't help either
It's not very user friendly yet.
And for example when I say that if you lose your private keys, you lose everything, it discourages them from using Bitcoin right away.

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?
Advertising for a good project is not a problem. It is a problem when the project is a scam.

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?
We all make mistakes every day whether we are beginners or experienced.

5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?
Ha, vast debate.
When the merit system was introduced, I cried all the tears of my body (I was just a simple member). But the situation was unbearable, something had to be done. Now the serial-spammers can't go up in ranks. But at the same time it can also discourage new comers. No system is perfect.
Let's be honest, signature campaigns generate spam (see 10 people giving the same answer, it's not really useful). I wish campaign managers didn't put a minimum quota (like ChipMixer), it would take the pressure off thinking that I have to make 100 characters messages in some sections in a week.
What I like about signature campaigns is that for some people (especially in so-called poor countries) it can change their lives. If/when the BTC is going to get the $1 million, I could say thank you to Theymos, to the signature campaigns because I wouldn't have to worry too much about the money anymore. And this by posting 3-4 (or more) messages a week.

6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users ?
I don't want to put these or that users in the spotlight for fear of forgetting some others.
Of course, the "Unofficial list of (official) Bitcointalk.org rules" is worth reading.
And also use the search function (even if it's not perfect).

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?
A notification system.
That mods can leave notes on a profile that is only visible to them. For example "I banned this user for 7 days because he was spamming too much". If we see that a user has been banned 9 times for spamming, the 10th will perhaps be definitive. Epochtalk can do this kind of thing.
Put back the shadow banning for hyper-trolls.

8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?
Sometimes I sell, sometimes I buy, but that doesn't make me a trader.
And I've never really invested in a project.

9. Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?
No sorry, I don't have a story to tell, I didn't make a big profit or a big loss.

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?
That's the thing that's making people talk right now. But for how long ?

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?
Being mod, we can be a little more exposed than others, so I would say that anonymity is a vital precaution.

12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?
Does Crypto, the movie, count? (if you haven't seen it, you haven't lost anything)

13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?
I'm too bad to advise anything.
Make your own choices, take responsibility for them and learn from your mistakes.

14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?
No idea, but this guy's gonna be right one day.