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Night Fury: Welcome, Ninetales, to edition 364 of HF News. Let's get into the interview.
Your account is over four years old now. What brought you to HF back in 2013?
Ninetales.: I think the first time I registered I was originally searching for Need for Speed cheats. I played a lot of older Xbox games before I got interested into the internet.

Night Fury: Did you find those cheats? Were those cheats what made you make an account?
Ninetales.: I was way past the game's time, so thankfully I found them but unfortunately it wasn't on HF. Having to register to view threads is what originally made me register, but there was definitely some dormancy between then and when I became active on HF like I am today.

Night Fury: That's interesting to hear. HF did not have what you offered at first, so you left the forum.
What gave you the motivation to come back to your dormant account and establish yourself within this community?
Ninetales.: I was a lurker for a while. I found a lot of the hacking tutorials interesting, and I played around with DarkComet and other tools shortly after being keylogged myself. I was an avid runescape player with a guilty pleasure of botting and my bank was swiped due to a backdoor in a botting client. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? My first post was in a lounge thread about what car members owned. I was only 13 at the time and I remember posting a picture of a hot wheels car. I also received my first neg that day.

Night Fury: That's funny. The person that negged you must have not seen it that way though.
How did you react to that negative reputation? Did you feel discouraged?
Ninetales.: Actually, I quit HF. I think I ended up leaving for about 2 months before joining under a new alias. Ultimately, it ended up merging with my original account, cleaning my slate. I ended up growing an interest in the marketplace and dipping my hands in cryptocurrency, which kept me in close ties with the site pretty much since.

Night Fury: How long have you been involved in cryptocurrency?
Ninetales.: I was exchanging on HackForums for the old 10% rate when Bitcoin was hovering around $100 in August-October of 2013. I think I got involved through like PrimeDice or something, a lot of my middle school memories were of gambling in a Minecraft Bitcoin Casino playing with like 1.5 BTC at the time. If only I knew what it would had been worth today.

Night Fury: Wow, you got into Bitcoin really early into its existence. I bet it hurts to think about your past gambling with something that is worth so much more today.
Where has this passion in cryptocurrency taken you? Are you just trading coins these days, or are you mining for cryptocurrency as well?
Ninetales.: You win some, you lose some. I have had some amazing gains in gambling and I have also suffered from all-in retaliation bets, but that's the value of gambling. I held Bitcoin occasionally but truly became invested earlier this year before the boom of 'altcoins'. I started day-trading during during my Computer Science class in high school and was turning gains that almost made seem gambling like a joke. I pumped the train for a few months until summer rolled around. I invested most of my earnings from day-trading during that time into Ethereum mining, just around the pump of GPU prices. It's been a fun ride thus far.

Night Fury: That's great to hear about all you success in cryptocurrency. If you're even mining Ethereum, you've shown that you're really dedicated to the idea of them.
Do you see cryptocurrencies being around for a long time? Also, is HF one of your primary sources for learning about the happenings of cryptocurrencies?
Ninetales.: I see the technology being used to enhance our current systems, but I don't ever think we will see Bitcoin or certain coins to grow to the levels some speculate. Ultimately, most of the world has market-based economies and with time and precendence we will adapt rather than change. I don't see a future where traditional currency is private, or solely-owned in a private wallet. Acceptance is a step in the right direction, though. Today I read very little on crypto, mainly getting my news from HF and reputable sources like Coindesk. I specifically do not follow any trading groups, telegrams, etcetera, either.

Night Fury: That is some very interesting speculation. You do seem to be very knowledgeable in the happenings of cryprocurrency.
At this moment, is it cryptocurrency that keeps you visiting the site day after day?
Ninetales.: Thanks. To answer your question, not really. I mainly use HF today to keep up with friends I've met during my time here and to use the marketplace. I spend a lot of time lurking and usually only comment on threads that tick me to a certain point. I definitely at one time was both a post and award whore.

Night Fury: You've made a great presence in the community. You have more awards and rep than most people could ever dream to have.
Do you think HF will be a part of your life in the future?
Ninetales.: Past school, unlikely. I think HackForums offers a wonderful selection of knowledge and skills that I won't ever personally pick up on, but my transition from being a student to a habitant of society will probably distance me further and further from the site. Either that, or I'll get bored of the content and just choose to opt-out.

Night Fury: That's surely the transition that most people end up taking in life. Other things may become more important, so it makes sense that you will dedicate more of your time toward those life goals.
In your time on HF, you've achieved a lot and become a pillar of the community; you were even the owner of the group Dawn at one point. What advice do you have to HF members and to group owners? Where do you think members and groups can do better?
Ninetales.: My word of advice to the general HF member would be to know your limits. This site retroactively offers a lot of power, and as of more recently the reality of internet crime has become much more of a reality. Be adventureous, but don't be stupid. I feel like groups have taken a sour turn as of the past couple years, but if I could offer owners advice I would tell them to be more open with the community. Today, I feel like groups are misrepresented for their previous intended use and I think part of the reason is the shift of the site's focus since 2014. Omniscient's addition to the pool of groups over the past few years has also deprecated the value significantly, and I feel like nobody really is to blame for the slow death of quality among groups. Your focus can't be entrepreneurship, you really gotta love the site.

Night Fury: Those are some great words of wisdom, and I believe that is a great way to end the interview.
Before we conclude this interview, is there anything you'd like to say to the community? Feel free to offer any shout-outs as well.
Ninetales.: Keep up the hustle, folks. Shoutouts to Infamy, Water Aura, Night Fury, William, and everyone in between. Thank you.

Night Fury: It was a pleasure to have you on for an interview. Thank you for joining me for this week's edition of HF News.