Kinda depends on what you’re buying. If you’re buying something illicit, then there are a few extra steps that you need to worry about, like downloading the Monero blockchain, and finding an exchange where you can convert your Bitcoin (BTC) to Monero. Yes, BTC can be traced; Coinbase, Circle, et al. will close your account if the wallet address you’re sending money to is someone that you shouldn’t be sending money to. (And they need a lot of information about you because too many people have used crypto to try and circumvent money laundering laws.)

The nice thing about BTC (and Monero) is that you can buy things overseas–assuming that you have some level of trust with the seller–when credit cards, bank cards, etc., will likely forbid the transaction, or charge steep fees for it.

To do the basic things with Coinbase, etc., you’ll need to open an account, give them a lot of proof that you are who you say you are (because of regulations on banks), and link to a bank account. You will buy cryptocurrency either with a credit/debit card (high fees, low limits, and quick turnaround times) or bank transfer (lower fees, high limits, very slow turnaround time). Once the transaction is complete–which might take up to about two weeks), you will have a fixed amount of BTC; the value of that will vary based on what it’s currently trading at.

To send money, you’ll need a wallet address. Every time you send BTC, there will be a network fee; that’s a fraction of the funds that are used to pay the people that are doing the computations on their computers (mining rigs) needed to confirm the transfer of funds. The higher you opt to set the fees, the faster the transfer will confirm; it can be five minutes to about an hour. You should get confirmations.

If you’re setting up your own wallet, there are a few more steps to go through. Be aware that setting up offline storage can be a bit of a pain, but is quite a bit more secure than using an exchange to store your currency, as long as you don’t lose a hard drive, have a major computer crash, etc.

That is very interesting, and sounds… Well, like what the US could devolve into if the anti-regulation political right-wing had their way.

I’d prefer to ride a bicycle, but I’m just too far from where I work now.

costs at least a comparable amount to a used motorbike (~135$)

Wat.

My motorcycle cost about 5500$ US, and that was an amazing deal; '12 Honda CBR600RR with 18,000mi/30,000km on the odometer (I’ve maintained the motor well, even if the body doesn’t look great). I’ve never seen a working motorcycle cost less than 1000$ US, and tires alone are a minimum of about 100$ US/ea. Given that I’m usually riding on mountain roads at, um, about 80mph/125kmph, I would never consider riding with less than a full-face helmet, jacket, gloves, and boots. And 95% of the time, riding pants as well.

IIRC–and its been a long time since I’ve bothered reading the bible–what happened is that Moses got one set of commandments from god, came down from the mountain, sand saw the Israelites worshiping a gold cow. He got mad, broke the tablets the laws were on, and then disposed of the Israelites that were engaging in idolatry. Then he went back up the mountain and got the rules we call the ten commandments.

Point of fact: the right wing militias in the US are already armed.

Okay, and?

Russia is the pressing threat. Throw Russia out first, and retake Crimea. Then deal with Azov fanatics. That’s what triage is; you deal with the big thing first, and then the smaller things. You don’t treat an amputated finger while someone is gushing blood from a severed carotid.

FWIW, whiskey is expensive because the market had grown sharply, and production runs a minimum of seven years behind demand (for Scottish whiskey, due to laws on aging). Ten years ago you could get a perfectly decent Laphroaig for $25-35; now it’s more like $60 for the same thing.

I’ll disagree to a point on liquor.

I like single-malt Scottish whiskey. I like Islays the most, followed by Speysides, Cambelltowns, Highlands, and Lowlands (in that order). I’ve found that, generally speaking, the longer a whiskey has been aged, the better it’s going to be at mellowing out the harsher flavors in a given distillery’s offerings. Compared to blended whiskeys–which are usually cheaper–single malt, and single barrel are a better experience in my opinion. I’m usually paying $50-200 for something that I’ll really enjoy, with most being in the $100-150 range.

But $5000 for a 40yo bottle of Macallen? Absolutely not.

I disagree to an extent on motorcycle helmets. Yes, never ever buy a used helmet. (“Open box” might be okay.) Never buy a helmet off Wish, Ali Express, or similar; buy helmets from reputable motorcycle apparel dealers, like SportBikeTrackGear, ChapMoto, or RevZilla. But beyond that, you need to look at safety ratings. Don’t get anything other than full face if you actually plan on riding, and that includes modular helmets (the chin bars tend to collapse in a crash). DOT approved (in the US) is bare-bones, and a helmet that’s only DOT approved is not worth getting. Snell is… Okay. It’s a North America-only standard. ECE is the global standard for helmets. The UK’s SHARP - Safety Helmet Assessment and Rating Programme - probably gives the overall best idea of how effective a helmet will be in real-world situations. (SHARP ratings can be frustrating at times, because they don’t let you sort readily by date; that means that you can end up seeing a lot of helmets that are no longer produced, and newer helmets may not be listed at all.)

An AGV K1 is going to be as safe as an AGV Pista GP RR, and will be about $200 v. >$1400. My $150 AGV K1 is a better helmet in every respect than my Shoei Neotec, despite the Neotec being about 4x the price.

At the upper end, you’re paying for fiberglass or carbon fiber shells (less weight), better aerodynamics, better airflow, and better sound isolation. You notably aren’t paying for better safety.

There are new helmet safety standards that started to be rolled out about 3, 4 years ago; not many helmets meet the new standard yet, and it’s not clear whether it’s a serious improvement on old standards or not. IIRC the new standard is mostly affecting helmets that are used solely or primarily on the track at the moment.