We have a trolling problem in /r/Bitcoin. As the moderators it is our fault and our responsibility to clean it up. Bitcoiners deserve better and we are going to try our best to give you better.

There are concerns, primarily from the trolls, that /r/bitcoin is already an echo chamber. We are not going to be able to satisfy those criticisms no matter what we do, but we would like to point out that disagreeing with someone is not trolling provided you do it in a civilised manner and provided that it is not all you come to /r/Bitcoin to do.

Bitcoiners are more than capable of telling each other they are wrong, we do not need to outsource condemnation from other subreddits. If you are coming from another subreddit just to disagree you will eventually find your posting privileges to /r/Bitcoin removed altogether.

Post history will be taken into account, even posts that you make to other subreddits. For most /r/Bitcoin users this will work in their favor. For some of you, this is the final notice, if you don't change your ways, /r/Bitcoin does not need you.

At present the new trolling rules look like this:

No Trolling - this may include and not be limited to;-
* Stonewalling
* Strawman
* Ad hominem
* Lewd behavior
* Sidetracking
Discussion not conducive to civil discourse will not be tolerated here. Go elsewhere.

We will be updating the sidebar to reflect these rules.

Application of these rules are at the discretion of the moderators. Depending on severity you may just have your post removed and/or a polite messages from the moderators, a temporary ban, or for the worst offenders, a permanent ban. Additionally, we won't hesitate contacting the administrators of reddit to help deal with more troublesome offenders.

It is important to note, these trolling rules do not modify any pre existing guidelines. You cannot comply with these rules and expect your spam and/or begging to go unnoticed.

Instead of using the report feature, users are encouraged to report genuine trolls directly to mod mail, along with a suitable justification for the report. Moderators may not take action right away, and it’s possible that they will conclude a ban is not necessary. Don’t assume we know exactly what you are thinking when you hit the report button and write ‘Troll’.

Our goal is to make /r/Bitcoin a safe and pleasant place for bitcoiners to come and share ideas, ask questions and collaborate. If that is your goal as well we are going to get on famously. If not, move on before we are forced to take action against you.

If you feel you have been banned unfairly under these new troll rules feel free appeal to the moderators using mod mail. We don’t want to remove people who feel like they are willing to contribute in a civilised way. Your post history will be taken into account.

DISCUSSION: Feel free to comment, make suggestions and ask questions in this thread (or send the mods a message). We don't want to be dictators, we just don't want trolling to be a hallmark of /r/Bitcoin.