Herman Merman posted:

no, it's not fine
it produces socially crippled people, illiterates, libertarians and bitcoiners

...! posted:

i'm getting warmer:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=75673.0;all




April 24, 2012, 07:08:24 PM

Suggestion for the app store version - leave the functionality in, but disabled through a hidden setting, via a configuration file on the sd card or something so its easy to hack. I have friends who refuse to jailbreak their devices and want to get them to install this... I'll never understand why people would use a product where the manufacturer actively tries to control what you can do with it. Whats the incentive for apple to limit apps anyway?...

--

May 09, 2012, 09:49:10 AM

Apple removed the app from the iTunes store last night, no explanation given:

Quote
Dear Qkos Services Ltd,
The status for the following app has changed to Removed From Sale.

App Name: Blockchain
App Version Number: 1.9.2
App SKU: v1
App Apple ID:493253309
To make changes to this app, sign in to iTunes Connect and open the Manage Your Applications module.

If you have any questions regarding your app, click Contact Us in iTunes Connect.

Regards,

The iTunes Store Team

--

May 09, 2012, 06:24:29 PM

I called apple and they said it was removed due to violating App Store View Guideline 22.1, which is:

Quote
Apps must comply with all legal requirements in any location where they are made available to users. It is the developer's obligation to understand and conform to all local laws

Initially the guy thought the app was for gambling, not sure why. But anyway he just told me i need to contact the legal department for an exact explanation of what laws it violates.

--

May 27, 2012, 01:31:57 AM

Any information on what it will take to get this app back in the official app store?

--

May 27, 2012, 02:19:56 AM

A "fixed" version that gives Apple 20% in fees.

--

May 27, 2012, 09:36:57 AM

Paypal has an Iphone app, and they don't pay Apple a royalty.
I don't see why Bitcoin apps wouldn't be allowed when Paypal is.

--

May 27, 2012, 09:45:39 AM

I'ld like to see some bitcoin app become so popular where hundreds of thousands of iPhone users go to jailbreak because the app isn't allowed on the App Store. Apple might rethink their strategy then. Maybe SatoshiDICE or something like that ends up being the driver to cause that to happen.

There's always the FTC AntiTrust laws -- maybe Apple is doing this to keep competition for their payments system at bay.

--

May 30, 2012, 05:38:14 AM

Looks like Apple is getting a little heat for their policy:

Flattr: we’re victims of an ‘app dictatorship’

Quote
It’s like a jury that judges you but doesn’t explain why,” he said. “It’s an app dictatorship, or a monopoly. The problem is that we’re centralizing all of our communications… big corporates say they want a free market, but they really want to lock people up. It’s not just Apple: Google is going this way, Facebook is definitely going this way.”

- http://gigaom.com/europe/flattr-apple-app-dictatorship/

Duh: Apple doesn’t want Flattr money flowing through its apps if it can’t take a cut

Quote
This has to do with the fact that using the very disruptive service Flattr, apps can process micro-payments without Apple’s involvement. Basically, Apple isn’t getting a cut of the action.
- http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/05/28/duh-apple-doesnt-want-flattr-money-flowing-through-its-apps-if-it-cant-take-a-cut

Quote
The following point in their App Store Review Guidelines:

There was one clue given, that might be useful as a workaround for this app.

21.2 The collection of donations must be done via a web site in Safari or an SMS

- http://blog.flattr.net/2012/05/apple-rejected-flattr-and-its-not-the-end

So ya, why not. Have the app create the script and route that out through using SMS. (i.e., the app can function with network connectivity turned off, so you prove the app isn't performing the transaction). Unless that violates the spirit of their policy and they would reject it on that grounds, who knows.

I wonder what the difference is though between an app that uses Flattr and an app that uses PayPal, as far as being used to transfer funds from one person to another.

--

August 14, 2012, 07:59:47 AM

v1.9.8 is back to being accessible from App Store

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/blockchain/id493253309?mt=8&ls=1

--

August 14, 2012, 12:47:58 PM

Did Apple reverse it's decision, or did this just slip through the cracks?

--

August 14, 2012, 01:49:07 PM

I installed the app but it appears to be "watch only". Any ideas on how to add regular functionality?

--

October 02, 2013, 11:06:24 PM

Last app update is over one year ago. Why isn't there anything updated. There are so many iOS users out there.

--

October 03, 2013, 12:19:12 AM

Because we are afraid that apple might pull the current version of the app as well.

...! posted:

Bitcoins. World Involvement. And it's legality. Everyone should read this. (self.Bitcoin)

submitted 3 hours ago * by 9to5everything

Bitcoin is not a currency and technically is 100% legal everywhere in the world. There is no reason it can be banned and Im surprised how many people don't realize this. Even in china, unless they start beating their citizens as to why they are not allowed to use it, theres no reason for it to be banned.

If John buys a pair of sneakers on the internet for $400 then decides he wants to trade it for other sneakers or use it to barter, noone can tell John anything. Correct? Right because there's nothing wrong with it. He's allowed to do this.

Lets say the sneaker he buys turns out to be something everyone wants and the demand goes skyhigh and the value turns into $1000. He now owns a pair of shoes that is worth $1000. It is his money and he's allowed to do whatever he wishes with them.

Bitcoin is basically taking the American dollar or world dollar and shifting it to a new "economy" or a virtual world as we call it. Liberals love this because this is allowed and by law they can't be bothered.

Once again. Legally this is allowed. 100 percent no doubt about it.

One problem now. There are flaws in Bitcoins because the internet is not the safest place to keep your "goods". This is true but people that have decided to use bitcoins know that there are risks. Just like the stock market. Or a shoe market where people barter sneakers in return for other items. Theres a risk with everything you do in life.

At this point, bartering shoes or buying and trading coins should be beyond the governments control. Technically if John wants to barter sneakers with his own money he is allowed to. Wether the shoe gets lost somewhere or stolen, thats the risk John takes and eventually the money will find its way back into the world market.

I understand this can have a 100% negative effect on the everyday world because one person in the end could have stolen billions of dollars.

Or maybe it's a good thing if you actually think about it.

On one side The U.S. government keeps raising taxes on everything from your weekly salary to your every last purchase. The money keeps going in but the economy isn't getting any better. They have enough money to buy a whole new country but they can't figure out the right way to spread the funds. Maybe shifting money to Bitcoins is a good thing. Maybe a stop to their weekly allowance (as funny as it sounds) will show them the value of money or the value of each person using their currency because if you think about it, we are using their service and they are in the ones in control. Maybe the use of Bitcoins and shifting a good amount of U.S. dollar to a new economy where we barter our hard earned money before it goes back into the world economy is a great idea.

No doubt about it were lab rats playing the game of the home team which is the gov't and thats fine. But are we not able to experiment and think outside the box for something this technologically brilliant? Nothing about this idea should be regulated by the government. WE DONT HAVE TO USE THE AMERICAN DOLLAR IN OUR EVERYDAY PURCHASE. I SURE DONT. I can technically move my money to pesos and make my everyday purchases in pesos if everyone else did it. Or back to the shoes, I could spend the rest of my life making payments and purchases in shoes. THAT'S MY CHOICE.

CHINA NEEDS TO WAKE UP. We get it your copy cats (no pun intended) and waiting for us to make the move first.

And do we even need China??? At least for now. Think about it. I get it, they are a big part of the world economy but why can't BItcoins move forward without every single countries involvement? If they see the new markets like Bitcoin's growing they will eventually have no choice but to join. For example, just like Overstocks involvement in Bitcoin, if Bitcoin was still at value of $1000 right now, or just growing in general Amazon would have no choice but to accept Bitcoin because they would lose a HUGE amount of business to Overstock. AMAZON WOULD HAVE NO CHOICE ADDING ANOTHER HUGE VENDOR TO THE LIST.

IF HUGE COMPANIES CONTINUE ACCEPTING BITCOINS CHINA WONT HAVE A CHOICE BUT TO ACCEPT IT. THEY DONT REALIZE BITCOINS IS NOT ONE FORM OF PAYMENT. ITS A FORM OF PAYMENT IN ADDITION TO THE AMERICAN DOLLAR OR YEN. IF SOMEONE PAYS ME IN PENNIES OPPOSED TO BILLS AT THE END OF THE DAY IT IS STILL MONEY. OF COURSE I ACCEPT IT. PAY ME IN A PAIR OF SHOES THAT IS EQUIVALENT TO MY ITEM FOR SALE AND IF I AGREE TO ACCEPT IT THEN THAT IS MY OWN BUSINESS DECISION. IF I PUT A "SNEAKER ACCEPTED" LOGO IN MY CHECKOUT THAT IS MY BUSINESS. When I barter my sneakers for limited edition U.S. coins NOONE says anything. But when it has the word coin next to it, it becomes a problem. Maybe thats what needs to change. It should be called something else like an item we use everyday or maybe even a new word.

China - It's time to let your people spend their money the way they want to. Eventually if this works you won't have control because they will purchase. Look how big China is, when a good amount of people there start buying Bitcoins you wont have any choice but to let them do it. It's just a matter of time before they realize this.

The money will find its way back into the economy. There are risks involved, just like when you jampack 10,000 workers into a factory that only holds 8,000. You take a risk, just like John when he decided to use his money to buy shoes and barter it because in the end its his pair of shoes.

Bitcoins is not equation for fixing the world but there should be no rules when it comes to this and there is no need for Bitcoins to be banned by anyone or any government. Day by day we realize our potential when we come out with a technological idea that makes this world that much better. What if we said printing your teddy bear is a stupid idea. We wouldn't know the potential of what it can do. The U.S. gov't is hoping the next "Economist" will come up with a solution but I highly doubt it will magically just happen or one person waking up one day and saying "Hey! I figured it out!".

Regulate your government. Noone cares. It's yours. If we want to use our money for our own services its our choice. Nothing about it is illegal nor against the norm. I'm not some guy on a forum saying "hey I want my voice to be heard". Im some guy on a forum saying I realize whats going on and it will eventually work. This is technology at its finest and it will work because in the end genius finds its way around. You have CEO's of Virgin (Keep in mind, a guy who is sending people to SPACE!) and CEO's of multi billion dollar companies who have taken the risk of accepting Bitcoins and have studies it and understood the risks and you as a Politician who masters the political field tell business magnates they have no idea whats going on? Thats sort of an insult. These are the guys sending your children to space and the ones who deliver your Christmas gifts on time when that time of the year comes around.

Im telling you if Bitcoin fails, an alternative will be formed eventually and possibly perfected because when the idea of an airplane came out, everyone thought it was stupid... and look now.

-Elham

Robawesome posted:

[–]blorg 2 points 21 minutes ago

The whole "plan" is handwaving. It's 22 pages of pumping up how marvellous these characters are, and then their plan to get the lost coins back on page 27 is:

Restoration of the secret key and bitcoins
<1> Digital investigation of lost coins.
<2> Restoration of bitcoins

That's it. That's the plan. For which they want $10m up front out of creditors' money.

Also, interesting to see on page 14 that under "Associations and Industry Groups in Which Group Members Participate (Serve as Officers)" the first of three listed is "Bitcoin Association", which was founded by Bruce Fenton, who is on here talking this rescue plan up constantly.

[–]MrDiddyK 3 points 12 minutes ago*

Well, now I understand what Bruce Fenton's angle on promoting this plan is. /u/bruce_fenton has paraded around this sub for weeks spreading lies and misinformation about the nature of this plan in an effort to promote it, all the while claiming to have no actual connection to it and no interest in it beyond a"very small amount of Bitcoin which was at Gox"

Well, right here in the plan it specifies this investment group includes serving officers of the Bitcoin Association, which Fenton has indicated in the past he is President of.

Who wants to bet that Bruce has been promoting this scam because he has been expecting to be brought into the fold by his buddies in the Bitcoin Association and been offered a BS position in the "New Gox" as they collect salaries from what's left of the assets and bleed it even more dry?

...! posted:

uh-oh. a few bitcoiners are trying to start a backlash against kashmir hill. what unforgivable crime did she commit, you ask? what could be so bad that people who cheered her yesterday are jeering her today?

she dared to point out that bitcoiners are primarily male and white


Kashmir HillVerified account ‏@kashhill

There are lots of admirable, hard-working guys in that photo, but I just keep laughing when I look at it. BITCOIN = bunch of white dudes.

QueerVancouver ‏@QueerVancouver 5h

@kashhill hopefully BitCoin will help those other than white or male.

Adrian Bye ‏@adrianbye 5h

@kashhill @Bitcoin exactly. the guys who if they didn't exist, neither would bitcoin

Trading Zen ‏@crypto_zen 5h

@QueerVancouver @kashhill decentralization allows those that are willing to help themselves to succeed. Sorry if it exposes those unwilling

Trading Zen ‏@crypto_zen 5h

@AmmythUK @kashhill she just needs an excuse to do the classic "white and male" jokes, however inappropriate or irrelevant.

Gavin Andresen ‏@gavinandresen 4h

@kashhill know any great non-white-guy coders interested in bitcoin? I'm looking for someone to work with me in western ma.....

Trading Zen ‏@crypto_zen 4h

@kashhill unless you're implying they were handed the awards because white/male boys club, but don't deserve. Who does? Who is the victim?


Kashmir Hill ratchets up the racism again (self.Bitcoin)

submitted 2 hours ago by pdtmeiwn

https://twitter.com/kashhill/status/467423697423200256

Instead of praising the Blockchain award winners for their contributions to the ecosystem, she chides them for their whiteness and maleness. Instead of appreciating them as individuals who have accomplished great things, all she can see is the color of their skin. Her first instinct is not to praise, nor to explore further, but rather, to categorize and lump.

It's a subtle form of dehumanization.

We need fewer people like that in the Bitcoin world. Heck, we need fewer bigots anywhere in the world.

[–]RuecanOnRails 4 points an hour ago

She lost my respect when she applauded the Dorian doxing as great journalism. She still hasn't retracted her support for newsweek and believes it was well done with nothing wrong.

[–]AstarJoe 2 points 17 minutes ago

It is sad that in today's uber-aware society we have sacrificed our humanity for some form of warped political correctness. The subtle notion that the race of the participants was somehow indicative of exclusion.

Kash is just a child of her times. Emphasis on child. Kash. as a thought experiment, I assign you to comment on several photos of awards ceremonies the winners of which are entirely not white male. Then substitute, "I just keep laughing when I look at it. "x" = bunch of "y" "z's"."

How would that work out for you and your little cupcake of a career, Kash? Or do you have that brand of journalistic "courage"?

[–]Penischopper78 4 points 2 hours ago

Sad to see people falling for this white guilt thing. Who cares if they are qualified or not. As long as we have some darker skinned less male people working on Bitcoin, so Kashmir can feel good about herself everything will be great!

[–]bitalias 1 point 2 hours ago

I am a large cracker. This tweet did not reduce me to tears of indignation.

[–]pdtmeiwn[S] 2 points 2 hours ago

Well there you go. Because you weren't offended, there's nothing to worry about.

[–]bankerfrombtc -2 points 2 hours ago

Saw racism in the title, knew instantly it was going to be someone crying about racism against whites.

[–]pdtmeiwn[S] 5 points 2 hours ago

ah, so it's okay to be racist against whites. cool.

[–]shwag -2 points 2 hours ago

The picture is all white dudes. That's just a fact. Only person spewing hate us you. Need less of that on r/bitcoin

[–]pdtmeiwn[S] 4 points 2 hours ago

No doubt the picture is all white dudes. But if you see that picture and that's the first thing that comes to mind, you're a racist.

...! posted:

Another "Why Bitcoin will succeed" post (self.Bitcoin)

submitted an hour ago by viper2097

I was booking a flight to Bali to attend a friends wedding, I spent a good hour making sure everything was right, Making sure I got direct flights and at the most convenient times, Making sure my flights were the best price, choosing the best seats and so on.

When I got to the end I was glad it was all over and excited to just enter my credit card in and be done with all the logistical stuff, I noticed the site had a "Verified by Visa" logo sitting above the place where you enter in your credit card.

I entered in all my details and after I pressed "go" I was told that my payment was denied and I would have to activate internet banking to enable Verified by Visa but the worst part is that after I clicked "ok" I was taken right back to the airlines home page and all of my flight booking details that took so much time to fill in were gone!

I already have internet banking so I immediately contacted my bank and after about an hour of sitting on hold, I finally got through to a lady who told me I would just have to log into my internet banking to activate verified by visa, Since I use internet banking all the time, I knew that if that were the case then Verified by Visa should already be working with my account and after arguing with her for a while, I gave up and did what she asked and then said good bye.

I went back to the airline's website and spent even more time entering all my information back into the site and as I had suspected, I got the same error message and my payment was declined... AGAIN!

Getting more and more frustrated I called the Bank back and started my wait on hold and after a while I finally get through to some lady who seems like she knows her stuff, She makes a call to her back end support team and they find the problem and tell me its fixed.

I go back to the airline's site to book my flight one last time and notice that my flight has been sold out and the only other flight I can get will cost 3 times the amount.

Awesome! Now because the bank wouldn't let me spend MY OWN MONEY from my own Visa debt card, I now have to spend $600 on my flights instead of $200. God I hate the banks!

[–]1000_kisses_deep 2 points an hour ago

It's so much better to use a currency that takes 10 days to acquire.

[–]coare 1 point 18 minutes ago

Yeah I hate those holds the banks put on large deposits. oh wait unless you are talking about the FIRST TIME you buy btc that can take a few days... but that's only one time.. not like banks

...! posted:

Will there be a bank that makes use of the blockchain? (self.Bitcoin)

submitted 41 minutes ago by TreeWithInfiniteCats

This isn't directly related to btc, but I think most of us would agree the blockchain is really the key part of btc.

What's holding them back? Using the blockchain, or a variant, would mean a massive ease on supervision. You could trade 24/7, but also be insured against fraud. It's a win-win for bank and customer. If a blockchain-bank would rise up and ask - say - 25 dollars a year in exchange for which I get a debit card and insurance, I'd be a happy camper. This would aggrevate the libertarians here, but isn't it possible, hell, even likely, that banks will adopt the blockchain in 10-25 years, even if trading in dollars continues?

...! posted:

Verge of a big run? (self.Bitcoin)

submitted 2 hours ago by wbredin

I have some vested interest, yes, but, i'm wondering if you all feel like we are on the cusp of having the price increase dramatically.

I don't want this to be a circle jerk. I'm saying this mostly as a way to harvest concrete facts as to why it may go up. Here are mine, they are very limited, I would love you all to add your own points.

I see GOX as an early adoption pitfall that happens with any new system. I'm not phased.

Paypal and BTC seem to be talking. That's a good thing

Everyone knows what Bitcoin is (media, word of mouth, ect, it's gone cray in the last 6 months)

Multiple signature tech (allows for the possibility of a 3rd party becoming involved, insurance anyone?)

3rd world countries are taking notice...(the ability to bypass the moneygram charges seems too appealing)

and on and on..

GO!

[–]twentyseventy 4 points an hour ago

While I feel like we've hit bottom myself, all this speculation about a run up very well may cause a big run up. At some point, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy (in the short term).

I expect June / July to be very profitable in terms of USD

...! posted:

What was the overall feel/emotion like just before the november bubble? (self.Bitcoin)

submitted 3 hours ago by kfull

Was it like it is now with people making their predictions and wondering as to when the next bubble will occur? Was it more neutral emotion where nobody saw the bubble coming? Or was it bearish emotion thinking that the markets could take a dive?

[–]EnglishBulldog 8 points 3 hours ago

Chaos, pure chaos. We had every dynamic going on at that time. Some of us were flying high after the April bubble, some had just taken notice and were scrambling to sign up with an exchange to start accumulating and some were cautious and waiting to see what happened. We had our usual trolling too.

Like I said, it was all over the place. During the run up, you literally went to bed and woke up richer. Every day I woke up and looked at the charts and just grinned ear-to-ear.

[–]bitpotluck 2 points an hour ago

Me too. Cant wait for history to repeat.

[–]midoridrops 3 points 3 hours ago

It was pretty neutral, but going from $100 to $200.. that's when poo poo started hitting the fan. Let's just say.. I had few charts up, both hands held up high saying "ohhhhhmyyygoooooood" to my parents, right up until $1200.

[–]wtfbitcoinwtf 3 points 2 hours ago

I remember sitting at work on a computer and watching clarkmoody, telling my client I was watching a historical event in the making. I remember zooming out of that buy / sell depth graph, and seeing what resembled a 1000 foot tsunami buy wave ready to crash down into the sell ocean floor. It was amazing and it was history in the making. Yeah

[–]homad 1 point an hour ago

hehe. while delivering pizza. a customer asked, "how's it going?" I replied with something like, "you know bitcoin?...it's hitting historic highs right now! Fascinating stuff!"

This contrasted by another customer saying, such and such was just found guilty and i was just like huh, who the gently caress is that...who cares lol

[–]melacs 1 point an hour ago

I got the impression that before the bubble, the price was going up slowly and people got excited by just that. The price hike fed on this initial excitement and people lost their minds. The bubble was actually annoying as well as exciting for me. I had preferred a steady rise over time. I remember people arguing whether it was a bubble or just 'to the moon'. Obviously it was a bubble, but since people didn't know when it would burst it still didn't mean that they shouldn't step in.

...! posted:

kashmir hill:



[–]pdtmeiwn[S] 2 points an hour ago

Yeah, she's not a journalist. She's a blogger who has strange ideas about journalism.

I wonder how she'd react to this image:

http://imgur.com/AbVLvvZ

...! posted:

Is Mark Karpelès a member of the Terrorist organization Illuminati?
Today at 02:45:28 AM

#1
Is Mark Karpelès a member of the Terrorist organization Illuminati?

Do you think the Illuminati stole money from MtGox?

...! posted:

$100,000 bounty for software platform that can replace the Bitcoin Foundation (self.Bitcoin)

submitted 8 hours ago * by anarchystar

Hi Everyone,

My name is Olivier Janssens, early adopter and Bitcoin millionaire. The Bitcoin foundation has had its role in the last 2 years. Unfortunately, it is internally recreating the same archaic political system that fails to work for society. Bitcoin is the currency of the internet generation. It puts the power back into the hands of the people. You cannot expect its main representative organisation to be exactly the opposite: A non-transparent, political and secretive elite. We have been trying to push the BF for transparency and clear communication for years, without result. Meanwhile they started creating even more political structures inside, such as committees, which can only be accessed by knowing the right people. At the bitcoin 2014 conference, organised by this same organisation, I expected to see full internet participation + live streaming of their events. Especially of the BF member meeting, where they are supposed to get input from their members and disclose what they have been up to. Instead, the board decided that the event is not to be recorded or broadcasted. We have also no idea or say on how our money is spent. Half of their board gets elected by industry members (a group of about 100 companies), and recently lead to another extremely controversial election of Brock Pierce, which has a history of being connected to cases involving fraud and pedophilia. This needs to stop.

We as an internet community, don’t need public figures to decide what’s good for us. We need to stop politicking and start focussing on the projects directly. For example, we need a project to fund the core development of bitcoin, and put our money straight to that. We need a project to have lobbyists in Washington, to fight the anti-bitcoin lobbyists from Mastercard, and to prevent the government from destroying the currency. Basically, we don’t need another intermediary. We can do this ourselves. Therefor, I want to announce today that I am organising a contest and giving $100k USD in BTC, to the group that can come up with the best platform to make this happen. I am thinking of a system where prominent people can voice their opinion, where people can propose projects, and where the core devs can actively show their roadmap with detailed features + costs, and where we can vote on the features being implemented by sending bitcoins towards the feature of our choice. This will allow the core dev team to expand by being able to add/pay more devs for feature requests which are fully funded. Maybe we can even evolve to a system later where anyone can work on a feature, which, when programmed properly (approved by the core team), will receive the bounty. The same applies to lobbyists, we just send bitcoins towards the one that we consider the most competent for the job. This will allow Bitcoin to grow and expand at a rate it deserves, a rate that a political organisation such as the foundation can never accomplish.

Let’s liberate bitcoin.

Olivier

Rules of the contest:

Anyone can participate
Software will be open sourced
I will cover the initial hosting costs, until it can be self funded and created as a DAO
Reddit community can help by voting on the platform submissions they like the most
Ultimately I will decide who wins, but I will take all votes and feedback into account
Deadline for submissions is 1 month from now: 17 june 2014 at 12:00 UTC

[–]EnglishBulldog 18 points 7 hours ago*

A DAO that runs on the btc blockchain is worth more than 100k, immensely more. If this comes to fruition, then thank you, from the bottom of my heart. If you truly make this open source, then you are not only buying a new DAO that can represent a bitcoin majority, you've also created a very valuable framework that can be applied to many different areas of life.

[–]Beetle559 12 points 7 hours ago

Say what you want about Bitcoin, you can't say it's boring.

...! posted:

[–]obvious__throwaway_ 9 points 6 hours ago

sigh. Please don't get me started on the Bitcoin Foundation. The amount of bullshit and arrogance expressed this Thursday (at the non-recorded part of Bitcoin2014) was unbelievable.

You know what we did as a 'exercise' to start the day? Encircle sequential numbers on a piece of paper filled with random numbers. And yes, that's as bad and pointless it sounds. Was it used to explain proof-of-work? No. What was it for then? I STILL DON'T loving KNOW. And of course (!) more pointless games including "opportunities vs threats", "write down your favourite organisation you've been part of", etc.

And good gracious, the terminology used. My Bullshit Bingo card was full after one hour, I think. "Leadership", "maximizing profits", "turn-key membership platform (to streamline management??)", "disrupting market forces", "high technology penetration". What the hell, really.

I did like the organisation of the public event at Friday and Saturday, although I found it really wasteful. Is it really necessary to distribute plastic bottles with maybe 50 mL of juice in them? Or to distribute bottled water, instead of encouraging reuse of a cup or glass? Or to package two types of food thus encouraging trash? (Maybe I'm just being an rear end in a top hat about it.)

tl;dr: lovely event, would go again. B+.

...! posted:

The Secret To Bitcoin's Success Might Be Not Telling People They're Using Bitcoin

[...]

“We’re really trying to make using digital money accessible to mainstream users,” said Circle’s Jeremy Allaire in a video of how his service works.

Circle — which will let users buy Bitcoin with a credit card (!), debit card or bank account — is going head to head with Coinbase, while Bitreserve — which will only store Bitcoin obtained elsewhere — is competing with Blockchain.info. What they hope will set them apart is their focus on “normal money.” New Circle users instantly get $10 in their account; its .022 BTC-equivalent is grayed-out and de-emphasized below that. By pushing the weird virtual money created by an unknown dude into the background, these companies hope to appeal to mainstream users, truly threatening banks, money transfer services, and financial technology giants like Paypal that charge sometimes exorbitant fees to send money around the world.

Of course, to start an account with Circle, you still need a bank account of some type to buy bitcoin unless you already own them. And with Bitreserve, you do need to have Bitcoin to begin with. Bitreserve claims it will actually convert people’s Bitcoin into U.S. dollars, British pounds, euros, renminbi, or yen while it holds them, backed by a real-world currency reserve, protecting them from Bitcoin’s infamous volatility. But Circle does not have a system like that, and I do wonder what its users are going to think when their “$10″ is worth $12 or $8 the following day, depending on how the Bitcoin market is swinging. For Circle’s service to work, the price of Bitcoin is going to need to stabilize in a big way.

“Circle doesn’t shield users from bitcoin’s price volatility, meaning that account balances will change if the value of bitcoin changes relative to the dollar,” says a Circle spokesperson.

[–]Poryhack 19 points 7 hours ago

I think this right here effectively negates the whole article:

'and I do wonder what its users are going to think when their “$10″ is worth $12 or $8 the following day, depending on how the Bitcoin market is swinging.'

People are going to be painfully aware that they're using bitcoin for that reason alone.

[–]Throwahoymatie 1 point an hour ago

Painfully aware? You mean happily aware.

How dare the Bitcoin price appreciate! How dare people have extra buying power! Cease these impure thoughts immediately!

[–]_nightengale_ 12 points 6 hours ago

Not if fiat is held, and you quickly trade into and out of Bitcoin for money transfers. I believe this is going to be Bitreserve.org's model -- it makes a lot of sense. And once enough volume is using Bitcoin for moving money, it will become a more acceptable store of value and prices will increase and stabilize.

[–]ba4s 1 point 3 hours ago

Your final paragraph is correct as of today, but eventually Bitcoin is likely to become stable, and not experience the volatility of today, then it can be a way to send payment without fearing volatility.

[–]unk1911 -1 points 2 hours ago

rules if bitcoin club

1st rule: you do not talk about bitcoin 2nd rule: you DO NOT talk about bitcoin

...! posted:

TIL Satoshi's disappearance immediately followed Gavin's correspondence where he mentioned 'going to talk at the CIA' (bitcointalk.org)

submitted 6 hours ago by hmsimha

[–]samsonx 20 points 5 hours ago

This is well known. As soon as Gavin said he was going to the CIA Satoshi disappeared. I don't blame him, who'd want to be mixed up with that bunch of crooks.

Is Gavin now a CIA stooge ?

[–]dfgs352342342 41 points 6 hours ago

More like the CIA talk was Gavin's "job interview".. after he was accepted they nolonger needed to maintain the 'satoshi' persona anymore.

[–]corebtc 7 points 4 hours ago*

If it is the NSA (plus CIA no doubt), that to me is a buy signal. It means they have won and General Alexander or a rival is ready to assume the Imperial Throne, dissociating themselves from dependence on Congress as a means of funding their operations. There is no point in resisting an omniscient, omnipotent sovereign. http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1u89qv/why_the_nsa_revelations_make_me_worried_about_the/cefifmz

[–]ElHombreDelQueso 4 points 4 hours ago

That's a scary thought. A global secret police with it's own independent funding piggybacking on the value of a globally used depreciating asset...

...! posted:

Why PayPal Should Integrate a Wallet Service For Bitcoin
2 Replies


At face value, PayPal and Bitcoin are direct competitors. PayPal charges a 1.9-3.4% fee for sellers, which is based on the amount of money that’s sent. Bitcoin clearly has an advantage when it comes to fees, as Bitcoin has a very small transaction fee that’s significantly lower than PayPal’s. (Also known as the miner fee, which gives incentive to miners to continue mining. Expected to slowly rise as mining increases in difficulty)

John Donahoe, ebay CEO, has stated that the company is very interested in the technology of Bitcoin. When asked about Bitcoin, John Donahoe spoke with cautious optimism over Bitcoin’s future and potential.

“I’ve been spending a lot of time looking at it and it’s truly fascinating. The way that the currency has been designed and the way inflation is built in to pay for miners and all of that is truly fascinating.

I think for us at PayPal, it’s just a question of whether bitcoin will make its way as a funding instrument or not. We’re kind of thinking about it.”

While John Donahoe shows optimism, it seems like eBay is still undecided when it comes to how to approach the integration of a digital currency like Bitcoin.

Instead of allowing for Bitcoin to be swapped in a PayPal wallet, the company should opt to create an entirely new wallet that’s specifically designed for digital currencies.

In a way, PayPal should consider to integrate a business model similar to that of Coinbase and Circle. Instead of charging fees on transactions, which seems counter-intuitive, PayPal should take and give Bitcoin at 1-2% of the current exchange rate. This takes advantage of PayPal’s sheer size, which boasts 110 million active accounts. One of the reasons why Bitcoin is used by many is its advantageous transaction model, which offers a clear incentive to use over credit cards and services like PayPal.

The process would be fairly simple, with a competitively priced exchange rate withholding fee. PayPal could create its own exchange, which it could then monetize. If one Bitcoin goes for $500, PayPal could give the Bitcoin to a person for $505. If someone is exchanging their Bitcoin for fiat, PayPal could give them $495. This would allow for PayPal to get rid of any fees, which could potentially turn away users. (The exchange rates are for explanatory reasons, as they would likely be much lower as competition sets in.)

This could be akin to a type of brokerage account, with some differences. Whenever you exchange a security, you’re subject to $7-$10 in commission fees. PayPal would make transactions to others via Bitcoin and fiat free, as PayPal would only make money from exchanges in Bitcoin to fiat or fiat to Bitcoin. In a way, this would allow for PayPal to operate as a brokerage, exchange, and bank. (Think of a combination of Bank of America, ETrade, and the NYSE)

Unlike fiat currencies, Bitcoin acts like a hybrid between a piece of property and a currency. PayPal would be much better off by taking advantage of volatile exchange rates to profit as opposed to charging outright fees. This would not only help PayPal with an extra avenue of revenue, but it will also provide Bitcoin with a greater sense of legitimacy.

While it may be true that the widespread adoption of Bitcoin directly competes with services like PayPal, it would be better for PayPal to be the first to establish leadership in the digital currency space. If PayPal doesn’t act now, it could stand to suffer as other businesses, large and small, come in to provide these crucial financial services.

With a pragmatic approach, PayPal could provide incentives like insurance for Bitcoin, which is something that the digital currency lacks. Companies like Coinbase just aren’t large enough to provide insurance, and no government will take the role for now. If PayPal provides a comprehensive insurance policy, it could easily attract existing users that currently use services like Coinbase and Circle.

[–]themattt 1 point 40 minutes ago

Paypal will integrate within 1 month of Circles launch or they stand to potentially lose a huge amount of market share (and they all know it). It would be an epic beuracratic failure if that somehow didnt happen.

...! posted:

...! posted:

http://www.bitcoinfaithful.com/

Bitcoin Faithful helps you connect with other Bitcoin enthusiasts around the world.

Bitcoin Faithful is the social network for Bitcoin enthusiasts around the world to do business and talk about anything related to Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Faithful includes forums, blogs, pages, photos, videos and even an online market place and auction section where you can list Bitcoins or Bitcoin related products or services for sale.

Bitcoin Faithful even includes it's own App Api and we welcome Bitcoin Exchanges, Bitcoin Mining Pools and any other Bitcoin service to create an App and get it listed in our App Market Place.

...! posted:

InterNational Wallet Backup Day (self.Bitcoin)

submitted 4 hours ago by MHolinde

I hereby decree, on behalf of my scrypt/n-scrypt cryptocurrency Mining farm "Frygar" that today be InterNational Wallet Backup Day.

Remember: Old backups don't have all your addresses!

...! posted:

Apple allows apps like venmo, square cash, xoom, etc. (self.Bitcoin)

submitted 7 hours ago by bubbasparse

What is it in the TOS that allows apps like that and not bitcoin wallets?

[–]cqm 3 points 6 hours ago

because bitcoin is not a company or individual, it cannot sue apple for antitrust violations or damages.

so apple operates without consequence

[–]omen2k 2 points 2 hours ago

I've used only apple products for 10 years and if they don't accept Bitcoin wallets in the next year it's going to be a deal breaker for me.

...! posted:

Andreas Antonopoulos & the Bitcoin Foundation (self.Bitcoin)

submitted 9 hours ago by flesh_coating

hey /u/andreasma...

Are you attending Bitcoin 2014?
If they asked you, why didn't you choose to be a speaker?
Why didn't you accept the Blockchain award?

I would also like to hear your opinion on the foundation in general.

[–]jratcliff63367 2 points 8 hours ago

I would guess that since Andreas works for blockchain he thought it was the right thing to do to pass it on. This is just my guess but it shows both humility and integrity.

kiwid posted:

This guy made it: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3549812