I've been trying to withdraw ZRX for about 6 months now...ZRX withdrawals have been disabled the whole time.  Finally sent in a support ticket 6 days ago and crickets...

3 hidden gems that I like for 2018 based on the fact that they have solid offerings.  KNC, POLY, and DeepOnion.  I don't see the point in investing in new currencies that can't truly differentiate themselves from the big boys that already exist.  Instead, I think it is important to find networks or differentiating features like privacy coins.

I teach at the college level and I haven't noticed many (if any) students whose performance is affected by Bitcoin.  For those who struggle to balance Bitcoin and school, I assume if it wasn't BTC, there would be something else that would draw the student's attention away.  For me, it was the internet and message boards when I was in college 

So I get a lot of what people are saying here, but what is the alternative?  Banks do create value, they allow us to store money in a secure location and allow us to take out loans, etc.  As much as I love my ledger I would trust my money in a bank over a ledger.  The real culprits to increases in money supply and price inflation are the central banks.  Obviously, I'm in the minority, but I feel like the crypto world would be better if the big banks bought in. 

One of the biggest reasons that I love the idea of BTC and crypto in general is because I hate the unpredictability and inflationary nature of fiat money supply.  If it were up to me, we would get rid of the US Federal Reserve and go back to a gold standard or completely adopt crypto.  But one of the other big reasons that people seem to gravitate towards crypto is the hatred of big banks.  I'm wondering why that is.  I use Chase and I never have to pay any fees to wire money, move money around my accounts.  Yeah, the bank pays out only tiny bits of interest but I don't feel like I'm getting robbed by these banks in any way.  When I need to transfer money, I use PayPal, when I have to buy stuff I use my credit card and I get points for it.  I just don't see why this community has this hatred towards big banks so I'd love to understand some of the reasons people have.

As someone who doesn't completely understand all of the risks, I play it safe and never send eth to get air dropped coins.  EthBTC is asking me to do that now so I've decided to stay out.  I'm probably missing out on some free shitcoins, but the best advice I can give anyone is to be a little paranoid.

For the most part, I have given up on AirDrops.  I signed up for the Polymath, EtherBTC and a couple of others but for some reason I don't get my tokens or they'll add some requirement after sign up that I don't want to do.

The only one I am active in is DeepOnion (see signature).  I've gotten my airdropped coins for the past month or so now and it has been pretty easy, no games.  The one thing about DeepOnion is that you have to own 50 coins, be a jr member, among other requirements in order to participate in the airdrop.

Until cryptocurrencies become usable, they will remain a speculative investment.  Yeah, yeah, I know that you can technically use bitcoin, but it is exponentially easier to use cash or a credit card at this point in time.  When we start seeing real live use cases and see more adoption we can get a better idea of the market value and we will see more stability.  When this happens, you'll also see less people jumping in a make a quick buck.

The way I understand it, the amount of BTCP paid out per BTC or ZCL you have is 1:1  So if you have 5 BTC, you will get 5 BTCP.  If you have 500 ZCL, you will get 500 BTCP.  Anyway, I doubt BTCP is going to be worth all that much, with all of the forks we have been getting very few are going to be worth anything at all.  If your sole purpose is to get BTCP, then you should pick up ZCL now or wait and just buy BTCP instead of buying BTC now, but there are other reasons to own BTC.  ZCL was pretty much dead and BTCP seems to just be a new project for the ZCL team.  Personally, I think it seems like a hyped up coin that will eventually be worth very little.

Take a look at the Dapps running 0x.  Kyber Network will also be released in a few months, I think that one will be a real game changer.  Trustless, on chain, and instant.

Does anyone know the total supply of eth tokens which will be created?  Even with the popularity of ethereum, it doesn't seem like anyone knows for sure.  I've seen varying numbers like 95 million (which we are already past), an undetermined amount but finite based on when ethereum moves to POS, and I've seen some say it is unlimited as 15 million per year will be created.

Coinbase came out earlier this month and said that they have no plans to add any more coins in the near future.  If I had to guess, they don't add any coins this year. 

I am a very big believer of bitcoin, but to say that it cannot crash or go down is not accurate in my opinion.  At the end of the day the price of bitcoin is determined by supply and demand.  The demand continues to go up as there is a finite amount of BTC compared to fiat so we have seen the prices go up, but there can definitely be external forces that impact supply and demand.  Lately we have seen the rise of alts and to a large degree that gives people a substitute from BTC.  The greatest threat though is probably government regulation.  Of course it is probably impossible to shut down BTC or crypto completely, but if countries were to ban exchanges or impose ridiculous taxes, it could seriously impact the benefits of owning BTC.  Remember that a large amount of the value of BTC is in the network effect, and without that large network, BTC/crypto loses a lot of value.

In the end, I don't think governments will be successful in shutting down the movement and I think BTC/crypto will continue to grow.  But as I tell my friends when they ask how much BTC will be worth in the future, I tell them anywhere between $1 and $1 million.

Sure, people might sell their merit points, but honestly, what would be the market value for them and how would you even go about negotiating the sale of merits?  Since I'm just a Jr. Member the new system isn't really good for me but I like the fact that it will keep discussion quality high.  Or at the least prevent people from spamming the board just to join a bounty campaign.  

Another side benefit is that I believe newbies will do more research before they start posting so that they can earn merits with their posts.  That helps all the users here become more informed.

Thanks Deeper.  Making sure that the jr. members are taken care of is another example of the strong leadership and community that DeepOnion has.  To be honest, I was a little skeptical about the coin after reading mixed things on bitcointalk, but my experience there has been very positive.  I love that onions are fast and private, the development team is terrific, and the DeepOnion community is the best one around IMO.  I'd strongly urge any other jr members who are looking for a high ceiling, minimum risk coin to join the DeepOnion airdrops.

I actually think a lot of the talk of the crypto market struggling at the beginning of the year is a little misguided.  While its true that we have had January struggles for the last few years, I think it's just a coincidence.  I've been active in crypto since June of last year so its been 8 months for me.  In those 8 months we have seen 4 major corrections, that basically means a correction every other month.  When you think of it like that there's a 50% chance that we see a correction in any given month.

Transaction costs probably don't make investing $70 a worthwhile investment.

Check out the DeepOnion message boards, lots of free giveaways of coins there, might help you build up a portfolio on the cheap.  Also check out various airdrops and hope to hit a good one.

Ledger Nano S is only $79, I think.  It is a little better than the Trezor in my opinion because it supports more coins.  It is also cheaper, so I'd go with that.

I like it and I feel like it has a low element of risk at this point in time.  The consistent free air dropped coins ensure that you won't lose any money even if the price falls a good amount. 

I guess it depends on how much you value your time.  Most of the air drops take anywhere from 30 seconds to 10 mins.  If these airdrops took hours of my time I wouldn't think it's worth it, but if a decent project takes a few minutes, why not?