Bitcoin Forum

I am planning to put a UK specific group together with the aim of  helping each other. I am planning to setup a UK based alternative energy mining farm and think it would be a great help for people in the UK to together. UK specific issues can be discussed, mining alternatives and group meetups can be arranged both on and offline.

If you are interested in being part of it please hit me up on here, via email or on skype

Cheers all

Mark

seeing as the american bitcoin foundation own the main coding of the QT Client. They are looking (mentioned in the bitcoin conference 2013) for 'chapters' of the bitcoin foundation for each country.

Where by each chapter hosts the idea's and projects for that country. EG UK mining, UK main-streaming, publicising, media relations, legal framework, etc, etc.

maybe becoming a central UK point such as a UK chapter of bitcoin foundation, but with actual projects happening beyond just funding QT client programmers. With actual help and support that media, merchants and miners can come to.

As well as the business subsidiaries offering these services/products to make main-streaming and consumer absorption easier.

I am interested and can offer a meeting / centre / office venue just within the M25, near Rickmansworth tube station.

see http://loudwaterestate.com

im using solar

Interested  :)

Sounds like something interesting keep me posted on updates. ATM I run a small website, but me and some partners are starting to get involved properly, i think it would be awesome to have something akin to the bitcoin foundation for the uk maybe even for the whole of europe and base it here in the uk. Anwyays keep me posted on this!

Give me a shout. I'm in London: amir@unsystem.net

If I can offer any help I'd also like to be a part of this initiative. Cheers!

thanks for the interest guys, keep it coming I am working on initial plans to get us organised together will get post and get in touch about them soon

Mark

I like it. Count me in!

This would be great, I would be willing to travel as I doubt it will be near me, but I'm looking forward to hearing off you.


Please keep us informed.

I'm in too.

Hi Mark,

I'm London based and have just been at be BTC conference in the US - at SFO waiting for my flight back.

I'm not in the slightest bit interested in alternative energy but am keen to find other UK people who are interested in Bitcoin. So please do keep me posted (twitter.com/gendal).

As an aside, are you aware of the frequent Bitcoin 'meetups' in Paddington? I've only been to one but found it valuable.

Count me in and I would also like to attend one of the London meet ups, though I'd have to travel down from Sheffield. I'd like to meet enthusiasts/work with Bitcoin startup ideas and Sheffield isn't going to be so hot for that!

Added this to my watchlist, hope I'll be able to get involved.

me too - interested

Roy Walker - "say what you see"

ME - "A bunch of English poofters slurping on each others dick and speaking about bitcoins in between sooks"

Roy Walker - "That's good but it's not right"

ME - "I know it is not right, but they are English and can't fucking help themselves"

I'm definitely interested I this.

Put me down. I would be interested in contributing towards this.

The Uk for a very long time has been a global hub of the worlds banking industry. We need to represent.

There are about twenty or so of us in Brighton; I'll see what the interest of the others is like as most of them are not on this forum.

Brighton seems to me like the sort of place where bitcoin could really catch on. I know a few people down there, some of them are programmers and were mining litecoin a little while ago. Are you guys at uni by any chance?

I am very proud to have Brighton on my passport, moving back there in a few weeks can't wait!

And you're right, Brighton is very much the kind of place that would appreciate Bitcoin ;)

edit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQzOkcELa5A

It's already caught on in Leeds. People are ordering 1000's of bitcoins worth of non-descript packages through the post everyday! They just like to keep a low profile though, because, you know...

sounds great. i'm also in london.

ok we have newyork, sanfransisco as the main bitcoin hubs of USA, i think amsterdam is the bitcoin capital of europe. and looks like brighton will be the bitcoin capital of UK

Try #bitcoin-otc-uk in freenode.

Maybe you can put me down in that list, depending on what comes out of it :-)

the otc-uk meant to be used for trading coins not general UK chitchat but theres nothing stopping us UK lot starting a UK chat hash on IRC,

me and mark lyford have already had some skype chit chat with a couple other like minded UK lot. so skype is another option for those wanting to get businesses set up where anonymity is not going to be an issue to argue about

It's meant for trading but people also chat. After all, it's a chat channel and not always there's trading going on (and even when there is, people chat).

we just set one up Frnaky on irc.mibbit.net #bitchat see you in there maybe ?

Mark

Interested, keep us updated.

Hi having spoken with mark with skype for a short while, us owning a UK based company offering the services for Avalon Asic chip purchase, with the option of having Avalon Asics embedded onto PCB's we will be also offering services for hosting people's Asic Systems so they do not need to monitor it themselves.

We will be working in conjunction with Mark & his website & also with our website known as www.asicgigahash.com

at this time we are in early days But we have secured our order for 10,000 Avalon Asics with many more options to be brought to the website.

Kind Regards

Philr13.
www.asicgigahash.com

Sorry mate, London is calling.

Even the tramps squatting in abandoned buildings in London are using bitcoin. Seriously, I saw it in the Telegraph(I think it was the Telegraph anyway, anyone else remember this story?).

Me and a few of my BTC buddy's are near Manchester :) We would be interested!

Andy B

yea that is amir taaki, the guy behind intersango before it went all wrong. and another guy that just writes a few editorials now and again for the bitcoin magazine.
amir seems to be more of the "occupy wallstreet/anonymous" clan of bitcoin users, as oppose to the mainstream regular folk

they try to act like they are to the same standard as gavin andressen. which i just facepalm at every quote of their expertise.

i think they are trying to live their whole life on bitcoin.. to me i just think they dont know how to budget and plan things to cover all the costs to live and function in a normal life. which explains why his exchange failed, due to lack of understanding of basic requirements to function in the world lol

atleast i personally can function in a fully rented and council taxed home, paying all the bills and what not via bitcoin. hopefully one day we all will be able to do this without resorting to squatting in vacant office buildings.

so the learning experience of this is. don't do a "amir" or ull end up not only having ur bank account closed for simply not having FSA licences. but also squatting.. learn the law, follow it. and realise bitcoin is only freedom when not used in combination with the pound coin.
if you handle the pound coin then expect the laws of the pound coin to handle you

Haha, spot on!

I was, I did :) Went quiet, but you've moved things on. Good for you ;) ps. I'm in Brighton too.....

+1. Would be good to chat to a few Brighton heads....

Lots of Brighton heads about!

I'll be back for summer in a couple of weeks can't wait ;)

Perhaps we should organise a Brighton together in a friendly local ale house?

If there's a meetup in Brighton I might make a trip down. I'm in London which isn't far, and I've got a few mates down in Brighton who I can visit.

I'm in Sussex 10 miles from Brighton. Would be interested in any meet-ups. I'm also a programmer, but a bit old-skool.

Right then, Brighton heads (and those in surrounding areas and a mere train ride away). Who's up for a shandy and an evening of all things Bitcoin in a local ale house?


Sounds like you and me may have something in common then :) I'm actually about 5 miles from Brighton, out towards Shoreham way. Heading toward you?

So my angle on this is that I have a small rig running and a slightly bigger one arriving imminently (via a friend and an acquaintances who are willing to invest). What's more, it seems I've also acquired the use of a friend's services at a data centre, and all for a few alt coins too ;) So where to go from there? Basically, I'm all for sharing experiences and ideas because I think the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.....

I'm also from Sheffield, so you're not alone :)

Interested in the development going on here, but why go to the furthest part of the UK to do business?  ;)

I am in the North West, close to the physical centre of the UK off the M6 - would it be useful to consider a Northern branch?

Im near Manchester :)

Andy B

Derby is the true center of the UK - you can all come here :)

PM me let me know what I can do to help

Sheffield on Saturday is good by me.

Perhaps some Mancs would travel over?

If I can hitch a lift or get the train I would be up for it :)

Andy B

I work in sheff :D

keeping an eye on this thread

Exactly! Oi!

One minute everyone lives in Brighton, the next they've all moved to Sheffield! I feel as though l've been left in some kind of void....

....hope the meet goes well. I'd come but a) no I wouldn't, b) I'm helping to build a Hexayurt (google it) in Dorset.

Er, if anyone IS left in Brighton, can we arrange some'ing too?

Web Developer in Manchester City Centre here. Definitely interested!

I live in Reading.  Is a London meet-up totally out of the question?

I'm in Brighton and up for a meet... happy to propose one when I get back in-country end of week.

s

Might have already been mentioned, but there is already a London meet up community with over 200 members.

I've not been but the next event is Jun 5 I believe.

Check it here: http://www.meetup.com/London-bitcoin-meetup/?oc=gvam

Cheers

I have setup a new UK exchange over the last few days, I am still ironing out some issues though. I know the op is more centered around mining but perhaps my service will be of interest. I was actually wondering If I could add a mining section on the exchange. I am SE London based.

Interested in a UK based exchange.

Perhaps setup a different thread though?

I think some of us are meeting without mining in mind, just to meet others in the Bitcoin world. At least I am :)

Anyone in the Oxford area?

We had a London meet-up last night (may 28th)

About 40-50 of us turned up and there were presentations/pitches about different Bitcoin projects and ideas.

It was really interesting to meet loads of other Bitcoiners all from different backgrounds.
(hello to any of them reading this)

I ended up going back to Bit Towers with Amir and his gang and had a great night.
(thanks for the hospitality guys)



Looking forward to the next.

Add me to the Brighton bitcoin voices.  :)

Good idea, I dont think theres any good UK groups out there.

You must be joking.

The London meet-up last night was great. At least 40 people and including presentations of new ideas and the filming of a documentary.

And attended by some of the UK most prominent Bitcoiners.

What more could you ask for?

less southeners :D

Ha Ha very good

But seriously, I personally met and chatted with people from Canada, France, Spain, Holland, Lithuania, Poland and Egypt as well as people from the local area.

I travelled from wales after being invited to do a presentation and it was well worth the trouble.

Keep an eye on this if you fancy coming next month...  http://www.meetup.com/London-bitcoin-meetup/events/119687892/

Suggesting a 11th June Brighton meetup. Somewhere. here's the thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=219326.msg2308458#msg2308458

Need a more northern group! Manchester anyone?

Anyone else in the wilds of the West Country ? I'm in Somerset.

Note to the London guys: if you need a professional to help with your documentary let me know. I've worked in mainstream broadcast TV as a director for over 30 years. I have a DSLR video kit and Avid for editing. Sounds interesting

How north are you? :)

Documentary?

In short: Brighton meetup, June 11th, 7.30, upstairs at The Victory on Duke Street...

See this thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=219326.0

<-- look under my avatar.....

I am in London, keep me in the loop

Interested in keeping tabs on this one.

I'm in the Northwest near to Manchester, I wont be able to get to Sheffield for tomorrows meetup, however I think having a few across the country is a good thing.

How about an overarching "group" for UK wide bitcoiners, with a sub group for the north and south, the more places people can meet the better :)

I sadly cant make a sat meetup in sheff....gl though guys

Next London meet-up is on Sunday 23rd June at The Penbury Tavern, Hackney.

This venue was chosen mainly because they accept Bitcoin.

http://www.meetup.com/London-bitcoin-meetup/events/122553592/

 :o

I was just going to suggest that there is more interest than those willing to attend meetings - me being one.. but The Penbury Tavern is tempting! Not sure if I'll be around 23rd but if so, might drop by.

If it's half as good as last week's meeting it will be well worth a visit.


Especially with the novelty of being able to spend Bitcoin on beer.  :)

nice! :)

Great first meeting in Brighton last night!

Same time, same place, next month: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=219326.0

I like the idea of a UK group. I just recently read the story about 4 pubs in London accepting Bitcoins now.

Very good news.

It's a small start but it's a start.

Somebody was asking how to get people interested in the concept of Bitcoin.

I'd say you don't have to sell it as an ideological idea at all. Just as a promising new technology they could benefit from. The sooner they learn about it, the better. And then you can build on top of that.

It's easy to be left out nowadays if you don't get yourself acquainted with a new breakthrough.

Anyways

:)

What that guy said!


Public perception of Bitcoin in the UK is not ideal. Until recently, most coverage has been of Amir selling Bitcoin as an anarchists wet dream. I think 75% of the population of the UK don't really care about that. In America, where they have a constitution to protect them from the government - I think selling on those ideals works a bit better.

Over here, a better approach for Bitcoin adoption I believe would be pointing out how you can save time and money by using Bitcoin and highlighting the benefits compared to existing systems such as PayPal.

The single most convincing argument for small retailers and pub owners should be that there is no change. If you've ever been in retail you know organizing the change is the biggest pain in the ass.

half agree. using paypal as the comparison i agree with but the UK banking system with is free 'faster payments' bank wire transfer is a hard sell.

and also to add a comparison to paypal requires a popular and robust bitcoin equivelent. more infrustructure, security and promotion needs to be put into the legitimate bitcoin versions of ebay. just to make the point of taking on bitcoin and selling household goods on bitmit and other sites even worthy of mentioning.

what is truly needed is a fast repayment system for merchants to receive 100% of the purchase price by using bitcoins so that they are atleast tempted to take on bitcoins along with plastic.

then with the influx of more merchants, the consumers (everyday joe bloggs) will move across..

theres no point telling 1000 people to buy bitcoins if there is nothing much in the UK to buy with them. merchant adoption should be more important then convincing friends to buy in.

we are already seeing the ramifications of the weight of joe blogs overpowering that of merchants.. the height of £175 bitcoin was due to every day people. now those with bitcoin are starting to see that there is not much that can be bought with it. which is leading to a sub £70 price

Nobody buys into a new currency when they don't know what's available for it unless in the case you mentioned they speculated on good investment or a particular product or service of interest.

Hi,

What structure did you have in mind for this group?

I am trying to start a charity (Bitcoin association of Great Britain) which would have it's leading object as the advancement of education for organisations who wish to incorporate bitcoin.

There is another thread started concerning this with a video of me talking about it.

I have attended all the most recent London bitcoin meetups (highly recommended) and have had a lot of enthusiasm for this but limited support. Let me know if you are interested in sharing ideas?

My ideas are all on github, search for BitcoinAssociationofGreatBritain or bagb org uk

Lee.

yuck.. no offence but i hate those kind of things....forgive me for having a high moral standard but i think charity status should be for those that have needs such as disaster relief (needing food and water and homes). not for tax evasion so you can go around meet ups at pubs and all of your wages are paid for by other peoples donations.

i prefer to work hard for my bitcoins and then use them to benefit bitcoin adoption/mainstreaming.

i have donated money directly to gavin andressen (bitcoin-qt programmer) directly but would never donate to the foundation to pay for the other foundation owners wages so they can promote.

promoting bitcoins should be the hobby of EVERYONE. it shouldnt be a charity status

Don't feel guilt tripped about it franky1 :D for those who don't know charity groups are a common and hated thing in the UK and it's because they use harassment and aggressive tactics to get your money and happily invade your personal space to yell out whatever cause they're collecting for and of course only a small percentage of the money actually goes to that cause.

lol i know what you mean. especially when it take 5 people to make a charity(board members). so thats 5 peoples wages. lets say they take £250 a week wage thats £1250 or in friendlier terms 18 bitcoins a week..

and that is 18 bitcoins just to ensure the charity is legal. let alone costs of delivering a service to *cough* educate the country.*cough*

now here is a great idea.. dont be a charity.. instead promote bitcoin for free.. how you may ask?

easy. talk just-eat.co.uk into accepting bitcoin.. you will instantly have 2000 businesses accepting bitcoin in one swoop.

i last year started doing this but other investment projects got in the way.

and how do i know it can be done for free.. well the simple answer is foodler.com.. getting them to take it on didnt cost a penny.

Also in London -- will be happy to follow this development. Please keep me posted.

So there are no plans to earn a wage from this. It would be done with people's spare time. Eventually members could vote a proposal through to employ someone, but unlike existing organisational structures the democracy would be rapid.

Hi guys

I'm back in London for a bit & interested in attending any future meetups (I believe there's one this weeekend). I went to one a few months ago, it was pretty good. If anyone's going this weekend, see u there!

Btw - I notice blockchain.info is UK-based, would be good to have them attend at some point?

Cheers!

PS- Like seeing the UK represented on these forums. Let's organize more things for Bitcoin in the UK and London. We need to make the UK the #1 centre in Europe for this.

i too would like this. but it would require some structured business networking meetups as oppose to just bitcoin consumer meet ups.

so seek out businesses which would like to know about bitcoin and would bring actual benefits to the community as well as bitcoin bringing benefits to the business. and have some presentations going.

do any of these pubs have a function room or somewhere that aswell as enjoying the ales paid for in bitcoin that the group can spend a bit of private time talking business as oppose to * football and eastenders. i have seen some success in one place where a 50 minute video made up of 10 short 5 minute videos was on a loop from 6pm till 11pm at a social gathering allowing the newbies take in the information at their own pace while getting to know each other. and it not seem like a lecture hall.

basically like having TV adverts/ mtv music channel running in the background

* as oppose to just football and eastenders.. i have nothing against these topics and these can be talked about but a bit of emphasis on bitcoin business too..

Talk to Iain who runs the bitcoin London meetup. He is trying to organise something like this at the moment.

That's a consultancy, not a charity.

You're joking aren't you? It's a mirage:  http://www.ted.com/talks/lawrence_lessig_we_the_people_and_the_republic_we_must_reclaim.html

...which is where Bitcoin comes in...

1) The plan is to let the charities commission handle that.
2) If an organisation has wholly charitable objects, then it is a charity. If it has a turnover of less than £5000 a year, then it can be an unincorporated charity.

 bagb uses objects similar to, say, the royal society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, then it becomes a subjective opinionof which is more worthy. If what bitcoiners do now shapes the society of the future then an argument can be made that this is more important.

Anyone here in London for the conference tomorrow?

I was at the conference yesterday -- really interesting.

Did any of you go?

Was gutted never got along to it, is there any place where peeps like yourself are reviewing it or continuing on with the conversations had at the conference...

Eager to hear more  :o

Perhaps if we discussed what the UK group would do and how it would achieve those goals there might be more of an uptake?

Micro-hydro is the answer you are looking for.