Disclaimer - this works only for places accepting Bitcoin but with enough digging you will most likely find almost anything this way ;)

In this case i will show how to buy VPN that im using since half a year. VPNs are important - gov, hackers, ISP or any haters will have harder time getting to you if you use them. IMO using VPN is a must this days while surfing net.

Step 1 - Get SBD

So lets say you made money from posting. STEEM we leave in STEEM POWER to have more influence on the platform, SBD which are pegged to USD we use to buy VPN.

Step 2 - Get to Traceless Site

They are VPN of my chose - they are small company who was verified by man (well as much as can be) to not log anything, you can run everything you want with them (torrents etc), no bandwidth limits and many countries to choose from (everyday you can change IP, or even every hour).

Step 3 - Order and Choose BTC

In this case i choose 12 month package but you can test with smallest for one month.

Step 4 - Get to @blocktrades

Address is http://blocktrades.us

Choose on left SBD on right BTC and in BTC field paste amount you need to pay. Now it will show ho many SBD you have to send.

Step 5 - Send to Blocktrades

Now go to your STEEM account and send SBD to @blocktrades with right memo.

We are all somewhat aware of the efforts taking place now to update bitcoin and the terms thrown around, BIP91, BIP148, Segwit, Segwit2x, UASF, UAHF, Bitcoin ABC, BTU, BTCC ...

All that does is create FUD in the market, if you do not know what FUD is read about it here:

https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@joseph/fud-and-trolls

As an expert/casual bitcoin investor, or a holder of Bitcoin for any reason. What should you do to keep your Bitcoins safe and avoid all this nonsense?

You do not need to know anything about segwit activation or any of the other terms, names of possible forks. What you need to know is how to store your bitcoins safely, and in case of forks how to recover all the coins that will result from this.

Right now it seems we are looking to have one bitcoin that stays strong and no forks, but that is not 100% certain, there are many parties interested in splitting Bitcoin into branches and vowing to fight to be the top chain. Each wants his own Toy to play with as he pleases.

No matter what happens, if we end up with one strong bitcoin or 2 or 3 like ETH/ETC, you should make sure you get all these coins. Leaving your Bitcoins on an exchange will subject you to what that exchange deems as a valid forks, exchanges are not obliged to give you anything but what they approve as a valid chain, chains that might start trading on other exchanges could be completely ignored by your exchange.

So move your bitcoins to a wallet that will give you access to your private key. Move all your bitcoins to one address, with one private key.

I recommend using Electrum https://electrum.org/#download

once you create your wallet, save your seed and create a password, export the private key/s as shown here:

Since this is a wallet I have used often, it has 85 private keys. You should not have that many. You should save the file on a USB stick, do not save the file on your hard drive. It's also better to do this process while you computer is not online.

once you have the wallet private keys, and the seed. Save a copy of your public receive address in a text file on your desktop.

• As a safe measure, write down the seed on paper, this will allow you to restore the wallet and all the keys in case your USB stick is lost/damaged.

Now delete the Electrum wallet and associated files from your PC. Send your bitcoins to the public address you copied to your desktop.

Now your Bitcoins are safe. Hold on to them until all the drama of the forks is over, sometime in late august or maybe as late as the end of September.

This process will give you control of all the coins that might result from possible forks. The process to load your wallet and send the coins to exchanges for trading while avoiding possible replay attacks is the subject of another post.

• I recommend doing a full scan of your computer for viruses/malware before attempting this. For this I use Kaspersky Total Security.

• Your wallet seed is not related to your password, a seed will give access to all your keys without the need of a password.

• A newer version of Electrum might be available now that's different from the screenshots shown, that does not change the validity of the seed or private keys, wallets are only tools to sign TX's with your private keys.

LedgerX passes final hurdle:

The U.S Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced yesterday that it has granted LedgerX registration as a derivatives clearing organization under the Commodity Exchange Act.

Under this order, LedgerX will be authorized to provide clearing services for fully collateralized digital currency swaps.

The entire release can be read here:

http://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/pr7592-17

This marks the final hurdle for LedgerX to begin trading options contracts.

They were initially granted an order of registration as a Swap Execution Facility on July 6, 2017. 

I wrote about that originally here:

https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@jrcornel/wanna-trade-bitcoin-options-we-just-got-one-step-closer

Some specifics:

LedgerX said that they plan to offer options contracts initially in the one to six month time frames. At first they will be primarily based around Bitcoin.

From there, there are plans to expand the virtual currency base to include Ethereum as well as a couple others. 

Also, longer dated options are expected to be added as well as the platform matures. 

Options will start to be offered in the late September to early October time frame. 

What this means?

It likely paves the way for large institutional investors to get involved in Bitcoin and possibly some of the other virtual currencies.

Given the volatility of the cryptocurrency markets, it has been a tough sell to get major financial institutions involved. However, now that options are an "option" it allows them to greatly mitigate some of the volatility via hedging.

It also allows for speculators to take on even more volatility should they so choose.

On the flip side, it will also make it easier to make bets against the virtual currency space. There is always the chance in smaller markets like these that large players make big options bets and then manipulate the markets to move in the direction of their bets.

Buying large amounts of puts and then spreading fud is one option that likely will be tried at some point.

Overall though, I think this is great news for Bitcoin and the entire space. Anytime we can add more would be investors, speculators, and traders the better off we will be.

In my opinion this is going to increase the investor base, possibly pretty substantially. 

Stay informed my friends!

Sources:

http://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/pr7592-17

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-24/bitcoin-options-to-become-available-in-fall-after-cftc-approval

Image Sources:

http://www.wallpaperup.com/678752/BITCOIN_computer_internet_money_coins_poster_binary_code.html

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-08/cftc-approves-options-trading-bitcoin

https://www.bitcoingg.com/bitcoin-gambling/binary-options/

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