Bitcoin Forum

2nd edit: http://techland.time.com/2011/04/16/online-cash-bitcoin-could-challenge-governments/?xid=tweetbut

Edit: Um, so apparently others know something I don't.  This is what I'm going off of: http://twitter.com/jerrybrito/status/59011894236819456 .  I never said it was a front page article nonetheless it is big, and I don't back down from what I said below.

If I have posted misinformation, let me know. I don't know why some community members seem repelled by the idea. Big press is what we want, right?
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Not that this is a secret (http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1958.140 (http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1958.140)), but TIME is doing a featured tech article tomorrow on Bitcoin.  Follow @jerrybrito for up to date tweets on the matter.

Guys, this is a huge boon for Bitcoin exposure.  

A good overview from CNN/TIME could really drum up interest... here's to crossing my fingers!

Can I call it: that this is the tipping point?

Exciting times! I hope Bitcoin keeps on growing.

I am sure that there will be a surge of traffic at the bitcoin site but I am not sure how many will adopt it.

Spenvo, if you know what's good for you, I suggest you edit the thread to blank and get this thing deleted.

Why?

You don't need many to get a big surge.  There aren't that many using it now.

I just put 1,000 BTC up for sell on my website at $1 USD each and I won't be changing that price. If the spot price goes up on BTC because of the increased exposure, somebody better take advantage!

Yeah, what's the problem Atlas?

Wait, it doesn't make sense, it is already 5 cents over that at MtGox with Bids at 1.045. D:

NOO!! Bitcoin is NOT going to be on the cover of time magazine! READ PLEASE READ CAREFULLY! :)

Someone just please close this thread or delete it.

Why?  It is the readers' job to vett the accuracy of the posts.

Because people are lazy and might be confused, remember thinking for oneself is a bad thing.

Well, no matter how allinvain may feel about it, it's not part of my job here to pass judgement on the accuracy of forum members' statements.  I guess we are going to just have to trust that most forum members will muddle through somehow.

Seriously, has this been redacted somewhere?  I'm not at my computer anymore.  Feel free to delete the post if it's not true. Idk, I thought it looked legit and was/is a big deal. I can't be sorry for feeling excited. I didn't "scoop" this, @bitcoinmedia did and I'm glad he did.

Twitter is good for finding stories before they break but it means the stories might not be sourced.

ie I'll believe it if and when it does happen but the thought is exciting indeed.  :)

Nice, I guess it will be US only? Could you provide a scan for us non-USies

I like to think of twitter as my personal information network.

I've tried to delete the post but I can't. I get an error message saying I can't delete my own discussion. So fuck it. I'm operating from my smartphone in a bar. This will be my last poorly sourced post here.

What’s the problem? I like being informed of current events and prefer to judge given information by myself. This thread is fine.

Bitcoin IS ACTUALLY discussed in The Atlantic Monthly Magazine:

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/04/how-to-start-your-own-private-currency/73327/

I'd like to emphasize a bit about how wrong it is to call bitcoin a private currency.

Bitcoin is certainly not private.  Sure, it is not organised by the government, nor it is protected by the use of so-called public force.  But it is not private either.

Bitcoin is much more public than any national currency.  I don't even have to explain why.  It is obvious enough.

Yes, I wholeheartedly agree in the public nature of an open-source cryptocurrency (it is a good point).  The Atlantic piece wasn't the best article and a lot of my better points weren't even used.  I had no idea of the article's title while being interviewed.  Actually, I was addressing his question about Facebook Credits (which are a private currency). He seemed to confuse private currencies with digital cash and cryptocurrencies, not to mention the differences between an e-gold ledger-based system and the decentralised nature of signed RPOWs to prevent double spending. Still better to participate in the article then turn it down, which is what I did for the Colby Adams request.

Here is the Time.com article:

http://techland.time.com/2011/04/16/online-cash-bitcoin-could-challenge-governments/

Sweet!! first online...next in the printed version! let's hope!

Thats a pretty good article, doesn't go too much into detail on the technical side (thus not getting bogged down).

I'm a little afraid now, this is the first step to bitcoin going mainstream. I feel like I'm in the first car in a rollercoaster, right at the top of the highest drop, looking down. I know it's going to be ok, and we've worked to get to this point, but it's still scary.

Hold on for a wild ride.

I am very excited actually. Let's remain positive, do our best to educate the new members of the bitcoin economy, and stick together!

I picked a hell of a weekend to go on a road trip.

 *shakes his head in frustration*

At least I'm on a road trip. 

Very nice article.

Totally agree, heres to hoping we don't get a ton of media attention and everyone decides we don't have the infrastructure yet so we get left.

Hi folks,

My name is Jerry Brito and I'm the author of the TIME piece. I'm glad you guys seem to like it. I'd appreciate any other feedback you may have. I've also blogged about Bitcoin in relation to yesterday's poker domain seizures here:

http://techliberation.com/2011/04/16/bitcoin-imagine-a-net-without-intermediaries/

Let me know what you think. Also, I host a podcast called Surprisingly Free (http://surprisinglyfree.com) and on next week's show Gavin Andresen will be my guest.

Anyhow, I just wanted to introduce myself and tell you that since I heard about Bitcoin a couple of months ago, I've been very excited about it. I'm an academic researcher focusing on tech policy and I teach at GMU Law. I'm hoping to begin to dedicate some of my research time to the legal issues around bitcoin, so you'll hopefully see me around these parts more often.

Cheers,
Jerry

Welcome, and thanks for the great article!

Agree, it’s well written. Welcome, good to have you on board.

Dude...

http://www.hulu.com/watch/12169/dude-wheres-my-car-dude-sweet (http://www.hulu.com/watch/12169/dude-wheres-my-car-dude-sweet)

The article has been linked on reddit, if you want to comment:

http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/grj0s/online_cash_bitcoin_could_challenge_governments/
http://www.reddit.com/r/Economics/comments/grhba/online_cash_bitcoin_could_challenge_governments/

@ Brito -  It was a very well written article that focused on the useful qualities of bitcoin as a medium of exchange. Because of its properties as a store of value, discussions in a public forum all too often devolve into politicized shouting matches.  Thank you.

Personnaly, I just whish I had bought more bitcoins.

First: great article! thanks.

There are two common inaccuracies, though:

• "all transactions are completely free"
• "transactions are instantaneous"

I would love if someone came up with something sounding just as positive while being true.

"transactions _can_ be free, but if the amount is small and the transaction's inputs are not old, you might have to pay a small fee to get it through fast enough" just doesn't cut it marketing-wise :(

If someone could come up with a nice way to put it without being inaccurate I would be happy.

Major props for a very good article. I really liked the fact that you didn't focus too deeply on the technicalities and instead went for explaining the principles which IMO are way more important. n1

Good article, looking forward to more of them.

Now this is the kind of interesting, ahead-of-the-crowd, investigative journalism Time has been sorely lacking.

Well done, good instincts.

Thank you for your service to the community mr. jerryb. I'm sure there are a few people here that would be eager to tip you if you posted a bitcoin address.

Hi there- I'm not sure I said either of those things in the article. Do you think you may be looking at another article? I can't find those phrases using Google, though. -JB

"Transactions can be free, but you can also pay a small Priority fee."

Better now?

I would rather to say that transactions fees are determined in a free market way or something.

There is no rule regarding transactions fees, except for offer and demand.

I would swear I saw rules regarding tx fee's someplace, possibly even talking about values, kinda BTC 0,01 per KB(or Kb, not sure) of tx size if i'm not mistaken.

But don't go by my word, just a newbie here.  ;)

There is indeed a 'getMinFee' function in the source code but it's easy to modify.   I'm not an expert of this subject either but I'm pretty sure everyone is free to accept or decline any fee anyway.

There is a default rule set and since most people are using it that's what you need to pay to get in reliably. It is not a hard 'rule' though.

argh, you're totally right and I am sorry.

I was looking at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSLByqTusaQ before (or after?) I read your article and must've gotten confused.

To the author of the Time magazine article:

Well written, and very informative.

Thanks @jerryb for the articcle. What do you say about your colleagues such as @tylercowen who says that bitcoin wont work because he can move his wealth to the cayman islands right now ?

He only seems to talk about the use of bitcoin to sell drugs and that it wont succeed because "the cayman islands has more money right now".


Here is my view for his criticism of bitcoin -Economists tied to the current system criticizing bitcoin is like DuPont family and William Randolph Hearst criticizing hemp http://bit.ly/fhNtGb (http://bit.ly/fhNtGb)

Does anyone really want the government to take their store of value as easily as they seize domain names ? Is this really preferential than a system that puts me in control of my own destiny ? Bitcoin didnt cause the recent global economic crash either.

Criticizes their ideas, not their characters.

Where did I mention their character ?

Its about economic  incentives to not accept something that threatens your livelihood.

i find it hard to see how economists have their livelihoods threatened by an increase in the popularity of bitcoin.

Their tenure contracts are denominated in fiat.

edit: easy enough to hedge I suppose.