Wish I could have found this thread earlier.
1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?
Back in 2015, I was all crazy about earning money online. I was passionate about computers since childhood and used to find one way or another to get access to a computer and learn new things in it. Things were becoming more difficult as I grew up since I had to manage my own expenses. I had a few whatsapp groups which were tech related and I found one guy who was rather passionate to teach tech stuff to others. I told him how much I am in the need for money and how much I loved computers. He introduced me to bitcoin and bitcointalk and I was really fascinated. It took me a quite some time to understand things. I started learning more about bitcoin and started earning from faucets. I learn a lot over the years and found many other ways to get more bitcoins and altcoins and to be honest, crypto has changed my life and has made me an independent person and I am really proud of it. If it wasn't for this forum then I would have probably been through a tough life.
2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?
Though I didn't buy any bitcoin as I was financial unstable, I managed to earn some from the past few years. I never really acquired a whole bitcoin as I had to manage the expenses too but I did save a decent amount. Savings are required to make the future secure and saving in bitcoin would not only keep me attached to this forum but will also make me a part of this community and it's great to be a part of such an awesome thing.
3. How did you get on the forum?
Well I guess I answered it in the above questions. It was a friend whom I never met introduced me to this forum. I still thank that person for what he has taught me over the years.
4. How do you think mass advertising of gambling projects has a positive effect on the development of the forum or harms the community?
There are some haters for gambling and I know that. People hate gambling because they keep losing money in it. If only nobody lost in gambling then the whole world would have been gambling.
I don't think it's bad to gamble unless you know what you are doing. So advertising gambling is not a bad thing according to me. Besides that I would consider it as a medium for many people to make some money out of it. It gives an opportunity to so many people to make some money which in turn brings in more technical discussion in the forum. It brings the forum more traffic.
5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns? Do they harm the forum?
I have been on the forum since a long time and I have seen both pre-merit system and post-merit system. I consider it as a best method to overcome spam, shit posting and account farming.
Though I think there are only a selective boards where people throw their merits like rain, I have actually managed to earn some merits post-merit system. It has been a tough and a long journey but some day I will definitely rank up to be a Hero Member and feel like a real Hero.
6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?
The first two threads any person joining the forum and the most useful ones are
Unofficial list of (official) Bitcointalk.org rules, guidelines, FAQ
Forum ranks/positions/badges (What do those shiny coins under my name mean?
Most useful users : Heisenberg_Hunter, Webtricks, Hhampuz, Efialtis . These guys are some really good people and I have interacted with all of them.
This forum has many more useful members who have contributed a lot to this forum Yahoo62278, LoyceV, suchmoon, Darkstar etc...
7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?
- Liking a post - Just like how people like a post on Instagram
- The most merited + like post would earn crypto - Just like how people earn steem to their posts from steemit
- Live chat - Where people could communicate with each other
8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?
Depends from time to time. Most of the times I just hold but I do make some trades inbetween to take shorter profits. Also, I do invest in some projects which I think has good potential.
9. Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?
It was few years ago when I had joined a bounty program which distributed it's coins and those were at a good price back then. I sold some and bought BTC for it.
I holded some for future but after the ICO era it went down like anything. But still I sold the rest recently for a good price and bought some ETH.
All in all it was a good profit for me.
10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?
To be honest, I have not paid more attention to it but I know the concept. Though it has a cause, I feel that this is something that will turn end soon.
Just like the ICO era many people will join in the hype. It's just that this will last longer.
11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?
I like anonymity not because I do something wrong but because I feel it gives us more freedom. This is why I like to stay anonymous but even it's broken at some point I won't feel bad.
I can be anonymous again. The internet has taught us a lot of things.
12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?
I know I should have read "Mastering bitcoin" but I didn't. I have not read any crypto books. I did start "Mastering bitcoin" but since it was a PDF I didn't really open it again after a few pages.
13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?
Bitcoin - The king coin (No comments. We all know why this would be the obvious choice)
Ether - My favourite altcoin (I like Vitalik Buterin's personality and the concept behing Ethereum. It's the only potential altcoin which I think will make it big in the long run)
Monero - The privacy coin (Companies are behind monero and are rewarding hackers to break it's privacy. I wanna see where this thing goes)
14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?
It's almost the end of 2020 and bitcoin is still at $10600. So my guess would be it will reach $12000 by the end of 2020.
15. P.S. (Optional)
Time heals everything. Nothing is permanent.