Foxpup (Legendary)

Founder of the Merit Cycling Club


Let's start

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

" Late 2011. I think it was an article about the Silk Road that first drew my attention to Bitcoin, and I realised that it could potentially solve a lot of problems in e-commerce, if it became more widely used outside the criminal world."

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

"Early 2012, when the price was just a few bucks. Naturally I didn't jump on Bitcoin immediately after I heard of it; I did a little research first (including on how to buy it in the first place, since this was before there were any true exchanges in Australia)."

3. How did you get on the forum?

"Google, though I mostly use DuckDuckGo now."

4. You rent an avatar from LoyceV. An interesting way to spend bitcoins. Why are you doing this? How much would you pay to rent my avatar   ?

"I rented LoyceV's avatar mainly to prevent anyone else from renting it, while also playing into the conspiracy theory that the merit system is controlled by a handful of "merit cyclers" who only give merit to each other instead of people less deserving. It was originally meant as just a little joke but it ended up getting way out of hand.

The Merit Cycling Club is not currently accepting new members. Sorry.  "

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

"I was on the forum since before signature campaigns existed, so I can say from first-hand experience that they have caused massive harm to the forum from which I doubt it will ever fully recover. The merit system has helped, but not as much as one would hope."

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

"I think the unofficial list of rules is pretty useful, or at least it would useful for more people to read it. More seriously, there's still some useful topics in Development & Technical Discussion and Bitcoin Technical Support, though even those sections have not totally escaped the signature spamming that has rendered most of the rest of the forum all but useless for serious discussion.

The most helpful users would be gmaxwell, achow101, o_e_l_e_o, LoyceV, suchmoon, Vod, The Pharmacist, and of course Lauda.   "

7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?

"1. Bring back Ignore button highlighting. The Ignore button used to be highlighted on users who were frequently ignored, which made trolls easier to identify.
2. Introduce a "Banned" rank. This is standard on most other forums, and I don't really understand the reasons for not doing it here.
3. Ban all signature and avatar campaigns (yes, including mine). This is probably the only forum in existence where being paid to post is permitted. The result, I feel, only serves to demonstrate just why all other forums prohibit it.  "

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

"I mostly just buy and sell Bitcoin."

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

" I'm embarrassed to admit that I did lose a fair bit to the Playtin casino exit scam way back in 2014. There were a lot of shady operators back then, but this one appeared on the surface to be one of the least shady among them. There were no real indications at all it was a scam except for being based in an African country I had never heard of before (which, in hindsight, was a pretty major red flag). As is often the case with exit scams, it was actually a fairly decent casino until they halted all withdrawals, went offline, and absconded with everyone's money. No matter; I can afford to write off a few "educational expenses".  "

10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?

"Is that an Ethereum thing? Because my antipathy for all things Ethereum-based is well known:
 "

11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?

"Yeah, about that... As a gender-nonconforming furry pornographer with controversial opinions on a forum with a large right-wing nutjob userbase known for doxxing anyone who gains sufficient notoriety, I expect my life insurance underwriter would say "yes". Also I'm wealthy enough to be a target of all manner of thieves, scammers, and extortionists, but it's mostly just the first one, since I'm inclined to agree with the Red Cross when they say I can't put a monetary price on my blood.  "

12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?

"I honestly forget. It was one of the ones about Bitcoin that was full of elementary information being presented as revolutionary even though it was long obsolete by the time it was published (which probably doesn't narrow it down much). This is why I tend not to read books on recent trends. "

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

" Bitcoin, Bitcoin, Bitcoin. Accept no substitutes. "

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

"Just over US$10,000, assuming the Novikov self-consistency principle holds and I'm not changing the future by talking about it.  "

Thanks to Foxpup for the interview!

The end.