Bitcoin Forum

As some of you know, Charlie and I were in Rio this week for NACHA's Global Payments Forum. NACHA is the organization that sets rules for the US ACH system. Our presentation went very well, and we made some great connections with those in the "traditional banking" world.

I prepared a (fairly long) blog post about the trip, enjoy!

http://blog.bitinstant.com/blog/2012/9/15/brazil-and-the-global-payments-forum.html (http://blog.bitinstant.com/blog/2012/9/15/brazil-and-the-global-payments-forum.html)

If anyone would like a copy of our powerpoint presentation (feel free to use it in your own endeavors - please credit us if appropriate): https://www.dropbox.com/s/lm3oojd7aalbnvl/BitInstant_NACHA_Presentation.ppt (https://www.dropbox.com/s/lm3oojd7aalbnvl/BitInstant_NACHA_Presentation.ppt)

https://i.imgur.com/trJHF.png

Wow very interesting story, you guys are doing a great job!

Brain exploded.

Great story! I have a bad feeling that once these bankers and regulators find out more about Bitcoin, they may become a lot less friendly. Keep up the good work!  ;D

This was really cool, thanks for sharing.  If you don't mind I may use some of this information for my presentation for class (see here .. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=109315.0)

If you have anything that you think may be interesting to add, please let me know.

Thanks-

It will take a long time before they ever take Bitcoin seriously. During that time, we need to work, build, and develop.

Use whatever you'd like!

This is why bitcoin will crush them. They don't even understand what they're up against. They won't understand it until it's running over them. I'm envious as hell that you two got to do that. Is there video?

Can you elaborate more on what you did to transfer those coins to people that sent you an E-Mail?

I wanted to do something like that for the class, but was going to pass out USB sticks with individual wallets on each.  Then send them coins in real time after the presentation is finishing up.

Thanks

To every attendee who sent us an email, we emailed back 0.1 BTC via Coinapult.com (http://Coinapult.com)

OK.  I checked out that website - when you performed this action, I am assuming you had to fill out this form individually every time?  Or a unique one for each E-Mail address given?  Is there a way that you know of to put let's say 20 unique addresses, separated by commas or something, and then instantly send them out that way?

This coinapult is pretty nice though, I must say.  I'll have to play around with it a little more.

You can set something up with Coinapult's API:  http://coinapult.com/api (http://coinapult.com/api)

This was a super fun trip.

"The absurd puritan tyranny of America is made all too clear when travelling abroad."

Having been in Thailand for more than a decade now I can't help roll my eyes when I hear an American acting like they invented freedom.

Very interesting writeup on your trip. Thx.

Astoundingly, only 25% of Americans even have a passport, meaning the majority have never left the country... not once. Yet, without observing for themselves, they assume they live in a bastion of freedom when a trip in almost any direction would show them the absurdity of that notion.

You're brave, good at writing and just awesome. I'm now officially a fan of yours!

This was refreshing.

Thanks, I write good whenever I can ;)

Fixed. ;)

That whoosh you hear is the sound of something going over your head  ;D

Now you've kicked the hornets nest. Awakened the sleeping giant. Yanked the tail of the tiger.

Keep up the good work!

My favorite part is the bit about the Federal Reserve employees taking the bitcoins you sent them back to their lab to try to print more of them.

+1

I dont know that it was wise for Erik to argue with the Dodd-Frank guy. That guy is going to go back to his organisation and spread the message that bitcoin is a tool for circumventing the law. That might just bring on the government attacks sooner.

Id prefer if bitcoin were off their radar for as long as possible. We need time to integrate bitcoin with the real economy so deeply that it will be impossible to marginalise and criminalise, when the authorities decide to attack.

Bitcoin is now so international in scope that there's not a lot that can be done. Sure, they could pass laws in different countries, but they move so slowly that by then, it will be too late. It would just drive the value of the currency up even more if and when they tried to regulate its use.

I'm glad they poked them. Hell, I'm amazed they got the opportunity. That alone shows where this protocol stands at the moment.

CIA != Fed

I know a lot of people see "the government" and instantly assume that a presentation at government office A will instantly result in the entire federal workforce becoming aware of said presentation's contents, but that's not how real life works :)

In 2010, the federal government workforce numbered at 4.4 million people.  And most of those are hunkered down in their little slice of government, not talking to other branches.

And on top of that, there's this:


Governments are slow, lumbering beasts. Bitcoin is a mammal to the dinosaur of centralized control.

For the record, I was sincerely applauding the poking of said beehive. It needs poking, badly. It should be poked and often, and by someone who knows how.

Well done Charlie and Eric.

Just a minor comment from a notorious nitpicker. Bitcoin is not the first scarce digital commodity. I found at least one precedent: IP addresses. They are scarce, digital, and have a market price.

Cheers from the Bitcoin conference.

Fair point :)

Let's not use the word "argue."  The whole event was for networking and education, and this is what happened. The Dodd-Frank guy works for the Fed, yes, but was presenting on a piece of legislation written by congress. Further, from his tone, he was none-too-thrilled with the legislation either, so me describing to him how Bitcoin might cause problems for it did not antagonize him personally in any significant way.

I don't want to hide in the dark with what we're doing. I want to speak with those who are part of the status quo, and demonstrate to them how amazing this technology is. Yes, some will fight us, but my confidence in Bitcoin is such that I believe it can stand up on its own, and will prove itself to the world. I've taken it upon myself to simply inform, educate, and discuss along the way.

me, me, please can I do some poking :) - your quite right, I think they need poking - the world needs to wake up, and if that means poking a beehive, then poke away I say.

Good write up by the way evoorhess - jammy sod tho, your life seems so cool!