Bitcoin Forum

EDIT:  THIS AUCTION IS OVER.  See end of thread.



I launch an auction for a 5g pure gold mini bar (see attached photo).

You can post your bid on this thread.  Don't PM me :  others must be able to see what has been proposed.
This is an experiment, but it is for real :

DON'T PUT A BID IF YOU DON'T REALLY INTEND TO BUY THE BAR !

The bitcoin paiement will be required before I send the bar.  Therefore there
is no point for you to post a fake bid here.  You would just destroy your
reputation.

The auction will end when the 90,000th block will be published (it's funnier
than just using conventionnal time).

Postal fees will be included in the price.

When the block chain length reaches 90,000,  I will lock this topic and therefore will not accept any more bid.

Ok, fair enough.  I guess there will be at least one person who will put 50 bc.

500BTC

I am holding my real bid ;-)

I never understood the online auction thing, especially when people bid early and often... I thing advertising way in advance is a great thing, very much needed, but shouldn't the auction be more of "between blocks 89990 and 90000 (about one hour)"?

Of course timezone differences may become a problem for some so a 12 hour period is probably a good idea...

Why is timezone timezone difference a problem ?  The length of the block chain is geographically invariant.

I actually chose 90,000 only because it was the closest round number I could see.

FreeMoney leads at 500 BTC.

I meant if you were only taking the bids during the 10 blocks that precede the 90k. It might end up at unusable hours for some, like 9am :)

Well, that's part of the fun of it ;)

Maybe I will have to wake up at 4am.  I don't know.  I don't even know if it's possible to know.

Maybe you don't have to wake up if you trust the forum timestamps.

Finishing the auction at a random time defined by a block number is a clever way of stopping people from all submitting their bids at the last second.

Indeed !  (I confess I hadn't even thought of it in this way ;) )

I actually came up with this idea of using block numbers because I had heard about an old tradition of auction using burning candles.  This kind of auction is still in practice in some european countries.  I guess you pointed out the exact reason.  There is a element of randomness involved.

It's only up to you to find the answers of these questions.


Edit.

ribuck leads at 600 BTC

800 BTC

1000 BTC

jorgen leads with 1,000 BTC.

Please let me remind you not to bid if don't really intend to buy the bar.  The bitcoin paiement will be required first before the actual sending of the bar.  Therefore there is no point anyway in putting fake bids.  You will just destroy your reputation.

Current highest bid is 1,000 bc.

Anyone for 1,100 ?

Gold is about to turn down for at least 10% if not 30% in nominal dollars, so one can wait to buy gold...

Yeah, sure.  I have been hearing this one for quite some time, now.

I don't know what will be the price of gold in a few years, but I'm pretty sure I would not feel confident if I had a lot of dollars in cash right now.  Those people are flowding the banking industry with trillions of worthless dollar.  Not only this will eventually lead to massive inflation, but above all, it's unfair enough for me not to want to participate to this by hoarding dollars.

1,100 BTC :)

I don't feel comfortable accepting a bid if there is a smiley aside to it.

Please confirm.

Edit.  Ahh it's ok.  I don't know why I wrote that.  Your bid is accepted.

Loki leads at 1,100 BTC

I'm considering organizing an IRC meeting just before we reach 90,000.

Indeed if many people try to put a bid here just before the end, it could be messy and unfair, since some orders will be delayed.  And a forum is not designed to do real time conversations, anyway.

So what I am planning to do is to lock this thread at about block 89,900, and then open an IRC channel on #freenode.

My IRC login name is password protected, so it should be alright.

If, for some reason, I can't be online at the 90,000th block,  if I'm not on IRC either and if this thread is still open, then you will be able to post some bids until I wake up or get connected.  It should not be long.  I will then immediately lock the thread and the highest bid will be the winner, even if it was actually posted after 90,000.

Is that Ok with everyone ?

Sounds good to me.

So far, Loki leads with 1,100 BTC.

Don't wait the last minute to make your bid !

1120BTC

1150

jorgen leads at 1,150 BTC.

Anyone for 1,200 ?

Gold is almost at 1,400$/once right now.   You still have a few blocks left to have a chance to get 5g of gold for 1,200 BTC only !


Don't delay too much before you send me your bid.


Edit.
Also, let me remind you that according to bitcoinwatch.com, one gram of gold worth 478$.  That means that 1,200$ for one gram is about 50% below the official price !  Go for it !

Yes but bitcoin is at an all time high too!

Ahh,  please don't try to ruin my business ;)

Still, 1,500 BTC or even 2,000 BTC wouldn't be outrageous.

1200

FreeMoney leads at 1,200 BTC

you should charge 1 btc per bid, whether it wins or not ;)

And force people to bid in increments of 0.2 ;-)

I doubt it would change anything.  It would not discourage dishonnest bidders, while annoying the honnest ones.  Imo.

Less than 200 blocks left, which should be less than 24 hours.

I will probably start the IRC bidding around block number 89,950

Again, so far FreeMoney leads at 1,200 BTC.  Anyone for 1,300 BTC ?

where will irc bidding take place?

On freenode.  I'll create a channel.

There is a site(s) that charge per bid and force you to only bid in tiny increments. TVs and stuff go for 1/2 price or less sometimes, but the site makes 10x on each item because of all the tiny fees. It's kind scammy, but pretty clever.

You still have some time to put your bid on the forum.

So far FreeMoney leads at 1,200 BTC.

Well, although very few people seem intersted, I've started the IRC auction.

It's on freenode, channel #btc-gold-auction.

FreeMoney won at 1,200 BTC.

I'll soon make an other auction for a 10g mini gold bar.

Who knows, someday I might sell a 1kg gold bar for bitcoins ;)