For those of you who are interested in the regulation and enforcement side of things, I am posting here the link to this conference organised by the Basel Institute on Governance and Europol. The hybrid conference explores trends, strategies and tactics in tackling crimes involving virtual assets.

Register for virtual participation on Day 1 on the Europol website (https://eu.eventsforce.net/europol/3524/home). Enter the code OTY659%^$OTHETY and click "New registration". Virtual participation is free.

And all my friends asked me how (and IF) to buy at 60k. I was saying guys, this is not the right moment, wait for the next drop in 2022. Now, if I say "hey this is a good time to buy"... they say nope. Every cycle is the same. And those are they same I tried to orange pill at 700$.

"Here's to the crazy ones, the HODLERS, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see the market differently -- they're not fond of ATHs... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push BITCOIN forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can HODL forever, are the ones who do"

Steve Jobs

Here's my story!

First heard about Bitcoin at a cyber-crime conference in Prague from a guy from the US. It was mid 2010. Bitcoin had basically no price. I didn't know that at the time, but around that period Lazslo bought his two pizzas for 10,000 btc on this forum. Did I buy back then? No I had to understand first. I had no clue about mining, how bitcoins were created, how you could exchange them for fiat, inputs, outputs, cryptography... nothing. And so I went through the rabbit hole, which took months. Many months. In the meantime I started teaching about it. I was giving and still give classes on financial crimes all around the world, and I incorporated a module on Bitcoin & ML since early 2011. A few months ago I made a rough estimate: I have personally talked about Bitcoin for at least 2 hours to almost 3,000 people. I always wonder if any of those guys ever bought bitcoins, especially in the early days. Thanks to the courses I was conducting and the legitimate questions I was asked, I was forced to study-study-study. At the time I was literally reading each and every piece of news there was around, and every source available, including this forum. This forum was and is the best source of info. It was a wonderful place and all the devs were here and you could talk to them and ask questions. I didn't register immediately, as I was only a passive reader, absorbing all the knowledge available (I only did it in 2013). I still have some of the slides I used to teach during this period, and I see screenshots of the different exchanges. Price? from 2 to 15 USD. Aaaaaaarrrrgh! Time flies, the price goes up, I keep on teaching, and I finally buy my first coins.. probably at around 100 USD. I remember starting talking to friends about it, but none would follow my advice at the time (they did it much much later). I securely print some paper wallet from bit address.org (offline website on air gapped computer using a linux distro and a dumb printer) and i put my treasure there.
After a few months I have the worst idea ever! "I am so smart that I can easily day trade bitcoin and gain more and more"! I still have that MtGox account that I used to purchase my first bitcoins. So yeah, let's go, let me send a quarter of my bitcoins there! It was mid 2013. "what can go wrong? They are so reliable, they even send me a yubikey to secure my account! Wow, smart guys. And this Mark seems a great person!". I start smelling something was wrong. I made a tiny withdrawal, just to test, everything is fine... it seems. A few weeks later, when I try to withdraw everything, the collapse. Bye bye bitcoins!!! I am still waiting for the end of the bankruptcy (first) and liquidation (after) process to be over.
Now I am living my first big Bitcoin rally! Bitcoin reaches 1,100 USD before capitulating. I didn't know at the time, but I was seeing the first of the 4-year cycles. But what a great time! I fly to Amsterdam to join Bitcoin2014, a big gathering organised by the foundation (rip). Patrick Byrne from Overstock gives a keynote, I meet Gavin, I meet Roger, Eric, Tuur, the foundation's people, everyone is friendly and they all spend a few minutes talking to you. I keep holding and teaching while 2015 brings a new low at around 200, people are giving up, bitcoin is declared dead. But I HODL. But now I am holding with an hardware wallet.
Fast forward, another cycle... this time all the way up to 20,000. it's 2017.Everyone tells me to sell! Please sell! And I say "no way"! When the price crashes they are all ready to put that sarcastic smile on their faces, the "told you so" smile. And I give back the "he who laughs last, laughs loudest" smile. It's crypto-winter again... all the people that were begging to learn more about how to buy bitcoin at 15-20,000 have now disappeared. The price goes down all the way to 3,000 and I try to explain that this is the moment to stack sats, buy the deep! But no, it's a bubble, we told you so. That's what they said. And now we are back again in 2021 with another rally. 60k and counting. I keep on giving classes, now online due to covid, and keep on HODLING. Could I sell everything and retire? Yes, definitely. Will I do it? No way. I plan at some point to sell some coins and buy a nice house, but only when that is a fraction of my bitcoin holdings. That's my story! See you at the beginning of the next cycle in 2024!

No way I am going to buy a depreciating asset with my bitcoins.

You don't see SilkRoad and Bitcoin as having something in common? SR would have not been possible without Bitcoin, and the second wave of adoption, after the first pioneers, was SR users. Bitcoin started being in the news thanks to SR.

They aren't books about trading. They talk about Bitcoin.

"Here's to the crazy ones, the HODLERS, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see the market differently -- they're not fond of ATHs... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push BITCOIN forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can HODL forever, are the ones who do"

Steve Jobs

Ledger o Trezor sono estremamente sicuri. Ma se non hai bisogno di fare operazioni e l'investimento e' a lungo termine, puoi optare per il paper wallet.
Se hai dimestichezza con il pc e con l'inglese, ti copio qui una breve guida che ho scritto per un'amica. Io sconsiglio la soluzione 2, e andrei con la prima che e' estremamente sicura. Se hai bisogno di info fammi sapere.

If you want to go the “paper wallet” way, I’ll give you two different explanations. The first one is “security paranoid”; it means that you will be 99.999999999% secure that your bitcoins are extra safe and hacker-proof. BUT, it is more complicated. Probably this is too paranoid, but I prefer to give you all the options!

The second is less safe, but much easier. If the amount involved are not too big, you can maybe choose the easy way.


1.              Super-safe mode

First of all you need to create a bootable USB stick with a linux distro. I have always used Ubuntu. Here you have an easy guide (https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/linux/create-a-bootable-ubuntu-usb-flash-drive-the-easy-way/).  The extra secure way would be a brand new USB stick. But it's sufficient if it has been formatted using a secure method (like formatting with three passages).

Then you would need a second USB stick, that you will use to save the paper wallets. As above, you want to be sure it is a clean USB stick.

On this stick, you will also save the webpage “bitaddress.org” : this is the page that will generate your key pair and the paper wallet. In theory you could do it directly on the website, but it is very insecure. You want to save the page offline and run it on a secure computer disconnected from the internet, so that the keys don't leak. You just go to the page, and than you save it (file -> Save page as) on the USB.

Now take a computer that you think is sufficiently secure, and disconnect it from Internet. Make sure you first set it up to boot from the USB. Insert the Live USB stick and turn the computer on. You will see that Ubuntu starts loading. You will be asked if you want to install or try it. You don't need to install it, try is ok. Make sure the computer is NOT connected to internet.

Insert the second USB stick and save to the desktop the webpage bitaddress.org

Open bitaddress. You will have to move your mouse to generate randomness. Then go to the tab "paper wallet" and generate some new ones. Now press "print" and save the paper wallets as PDF on the second USB stick.

Turn everything off

Now you need to print the paper wallet. Try to find a good printer but that is not connected to the internet (network printers are not good for you). Most advanced printers make a copy of whatever the print or scan in an internal memory. You want to avoid this, so try to use a dumb printer. Print at least three copies of every paper wallet you created

Keep the paper wallet in a sealed bag, to prevent it from getting wet. Periodically (once every 6 months) check if the ink is ok and can be easily read.

Remember to destroy or format in a extra-secure way the USB stick were you saved the paper wallets (or keep it in a secure place like a safe).

 

2.              Relaxed (less secure) mode

Use a computer that you think is sufficiently secure. It would be good if this computer has just been formatted, to be sure that there are no viruses or keyloggers.

Open the page “bitaddress.org”. Once the page is open, (even before generating the randomness) you will disconnect the computer from internet.

Now move your mouse to generate randomness. Then go to the tab "paper wallet" and generate some new ones. Now press "print" and save the paper wallets as PDF on a USB stick.

Turn everything off

Now you need to print the paper wallet. Try to find a good printer but that is not connected to the internet (network printers are not good for you). Most advanced printers make a copy of whatever the print or scan in an internal memory. You want to avoid this, so try to use a dumb printer. Print at least three copies of every paper wallet you created

Keep the paper wallet in a sealed bag, to prevent it from getting wet. Periodically (once every 6 months) check if the ink is ok and can be easily read.

Remember to destroy or format in a extra-secure way the USB stick were you saved the paper wallets (or keep it in a secure place like a safe).

Ciao a tutti! Qualcuno qui è di Parma e Provincia?
Incontriamoci qui e, perchè no, di persona.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/265106143940614/

Now that people have told you what a paper wallet is, let's see how to make one in a secure way.
I’ll give you two different methods.

The first one is “security paranoid”; it means that you will be 99.99999999999% secure that your bitcoins are safe and hacker-proof. BUT, it is more complicated. Probably this is too paranoid, but I prefer to give you all the options!

The second is still relatively safe, but much easier. If the amount involved is small, you can maybe choose the easy way.
 
1. Super-safe mode

First of all you need to create a bootable USB stick with a linux distro. I have always used Ubuntu. Here you have an easy guide (https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/linux/create-a-bootable-ubuntu-usb-flash-drive-the-easy-way/).  The super/extra/mega-secure way would be a brand new USB stick. But it's sufficient if it has been formatted using a secure method (like formatting with three passages).

On this stick, you will save the webpage “bitaddress.org” (verify the page is legit - here you have the hash of the legit page https://www.bitaddress.org/CHANGELOG.txt.asc): this is the page that will generate your key pair and the paper wallet. In theory you could do it directly on the website, but you want to avoid that at all costs. You want to save the page offline and run it on a secure computer disconnected from the internet, so that the keys don't leak. You just go to the page, and than you save it (file -> Save page as) on the USB.

Now take a computer that you think is sufficiently secure, and disconnect it from Internet. Make sure you first set it up to boot from the USB. Insert the Live USB stick and turn the computer on. You will see that Ubuntu starts loading. You will be asked if you want to install or try it. You don't need to install it, try is ok. Make sure the computer is NOT connected to internet.

Open bitaddress. You will have to move your mouse to generate randomness. Then go to the tab "paper wallet" and generate some new ones. Now press "print" and save the paper wallets as PDF on the USB stick.

Turn everything off

Now you need to print the paper wallet. Try to find a good printer but that is not connected to the internet (network printers are not good for you). Most advanced printers make a copy of whatever they print or scan in an internal memory. You want to avoid this, so try to use a dumb printer. Print at least three copies of every paper wallet you created

Keep the paper wallet in a sealed bag, to prevent it from getting wet. Periodically (once every 6 months) check if the ink is ok and can be easily read.

Remember to destroy or format in a extra-secure way the USB stick were you saved the paper wallets (or keep it in a secure place like a safe).

 
 
2. Relaxed (but still relatively secure) mode

Use a computer that you think is sufficiently secure. It would be good if this computer has just been formatted, to be sure that there are no viruses or keyloggers.

Open the page “bitaddress.org”. Once the page is open, (even before generating the randomness) you will disconnect the computer from internet.

Now move your mouse to generate randomness. Then go to the tab "paper wallet" and generate some new ones. Now press "print" and save the paper wallets as PDF on a USB stick.

Turn everything off

Now you need to print the paper wallet. Try to find a good printer but that is not connected to the internet (network printers are not good for you). Most advanced printers make a copy of whatever they print or scan in an internal memory. You want to avoid this, so try to use a dumb printer. Print at least three copies of every paper wallet you created

Keep the paper wallet in a sealed bag, to prevent it from getting wet. Periodically (once every 6 months) check if the ink is ok and can be easily read.

Remember to destroy or format in a extra-secure way the USB stick were you saved the paper wallets (or keep it in a secure place like a safe).

 

I will only sell the day I can buy a nice villa and still have something left for pop-corns.

I have been reading this post for more than 5 years, and it never stops to amaze me. Such a pity OP was not registered at the time, and therefore anonymous. It would be fun to hear a comment about the prediction becoming almost confirmed as price approaches the $10.000 "a pop".

It looks like the amount you moved is just 0.0010273 BTC, which almost entirely went on fees, with just 0.0000273 BTC reaching the destination 1NpcgLtYeuwNDmtr9EbJG6dvkQK2cBH7D5.

However this looks very far from the 1,500 USD you said you had on Poloniex. Has your balance there gone down to zero?

Do you have the transaction ID?

Ahahahah, you're great!

I know of another guy who had that sort of visions, he saw and heard things that others couldn't. And guess what, he wasn't sent to a psychiatric hospital (there wasn't any back then). He actually founded a religion! So maybe you can do the same!

Spoiler: actually it didn't end well for him and he died pretty young (around 33yo).

It's now available on youtube for $1.99 https://lifeonbitcoin.com/

Don't see the point in blaming him.

One of the following:

- It is his own real reason, and he's entitled to do whatever he likes with his business (unlikely)
- He received pressure, but obviously he will not say it publicly (possible)
- He has read the writing on the wall and decided to leave and enjoy the profits before they put him in jail (likely)

Localbitcoin, luogo pubblico e frequentato, cash, non grandi quantita' per volta. Andare con un paperwallet non funzionerebbe, non garantisce la transazione.

Yes, he confirmed the "private beta" will be released in August. Now, "private beta" should mean that it won't be ready for public released yet, but for testing purposes.