Bitcoin Forum

How about a cultural consensus on a basic rule of dignity - do not broadcast your donate address.

I do not know... I felt this way every time a stranger enables me to pay him. Somehow it makes me feel that he need money and is poor. And by putting even a little effort to enable me to pay=help him is nudging me. I guess this is primordial and we should consciously honor it and not overuse it.

What do you think?

What would you like me to think? Register your vote by sending 0 for no, or a positive number for yes, to 1NZJmhfN3nGGGBbb8Lgi9t3L9puEZsX8Um

:)

-MarkM-

Shut up and send me some bitcoins...      :P




 ;D

I don't think we need a rule per se. But it might be good for people to mention how they perceive it in a place like this thread. Whenever people start using new technology it takes time for norms to develop.

When someone post an addy it makes me think that they either rate themselves very highly or are new and bitcoin broke and possibly regular broke too. The exception is when someone or something they've built is actually awesome and Armory/etotheipi comes to mind. I think that's the only sig addy I've given to in the last year.

Oh good, because if we are going to have an actual rule it might as well be a doozy, with built in funding for enforcement, like maybe require all donation addresses to be special script-addresses from which funds can only be released by outputting a certain percentage to the forum police fund or something. :) :D

-MarkM-

Yeah yeah, I know a hard rule wasn't even suggested, just echoing that.

I agree. Very tacky to have a BTC address in your sig.  If someone was so damn impressed with your post that they just had to send you money, they'd let you know :D

Plus, I've been curious if anyone ever HAS gotten a "tip" via an addy in their sig.

No  >:( and I don't understand why   ;D

As a matter of fact I have received tips and I still don't have a clue who sent them.

But you are right, the ones who gave me significant amounts all asked for an address to send it to and I pointed them to the address on my sig ;)

Now that I talk about this I remember there is still some guy who promised $20 in BTC for something, which I did and he used and still haven't sent the money. Time for a reminder ;) And I'm already losing. $20 in BTC was more BTC last week that it is now lol

Dont you think you looked alittle 'cheap' after that? I mean it is one thing to give your bitcoin address on a good quality paper and clear print card like people did in good'ol days and another thing to just put it after your every thought.

P.S. No offence please, I know I am touching feelings part of human being, but we cant talk about it without getting it involved.

No. I don't feel cheap.
And if you look at the address on blockchain.info you'll see I've received some significant amounts in there.
Mostly because I really helped someone out, not because they liked my posts for their literary value.

Okay then. Cultural differences are allowed and accepted after all.

In my case, the address in my siggy also reinforces my identity through here and bitcoin-otc as I've registered it as my address there too. On the situation that someone is not sure I am who I claim during a bitcoin trade, I can tell the person to just send the coins to my siggy address.
Not to mention the tips I get anonymously sometimes.  ;)

If you're into Bitcoin, you need to have a Bitcoin address publicly associated with you.

Why?

"Honor follows no rules."

Or: If you make it a rule then it becomes social convention to do one thing or the other, not a choice of self imposed dignity.

It's not dignified for a cobbler to walk around barefoot.

You don't have to agree of course, but I just dislike these threads popping up putting to ridicule this important piece of Bitcoin culture.

I'm genuinely curious about your reasoning and not set against anything. It just looks like solicitation to me, especially in a place where it can't be construed as spreading bitcoin exposure.

I don't think 'ridicule' really captures what is going on here. But even if it was there is a huge gulf of positions between ridicule and "everyone needs a public address" and while I currently hold a middling position I'm curious about that view.

A sig address no doubt means different things for different people. One aspect is what I tried to convey, that it is a kind of "ID tag" that people carry around. I also have an address on my business card, along with my name, phone, URL and email. I don't expect to ever actually receive bitcoins to that address.

In addition to this, it is indeed a solicitation of sorts, but I don't see it as desperately begging. I see it as an invitation to a new world, where people express their recognition of someone's contributions in the sincerest form possible, by spending their hard-earned money, rather than empty +1's and likes. Where there's no stigma or psychological barrier to showing someone you care. And where in so doing they demonstrate the power of Bitcoin to send money to anyone in the world easily and cheaply. At least, that's what we once believed, it never really caught on.

With the success of flattr, we have started to culturally accept that actually intellectual input and help are worth a tip. I don't see anything wrong with offering people a way to 'thank' you for a post. A lot of people give up a lot of their valuable time helping people out on the forum.

I've tipped people via forum signatures, and been tipped via my own. I think, if anything, we're heading to a better place when people don't have a cultural issue with saying 'thanks' with a tip.

That is simply your fault, thus no general rule needed.

I'd like to think of a bitcoin address as just another item in the 'personal information' list, like a regular address, phone number or email address. I think it should be an entry in a users profile. Then, when I feel the need to send somebody some money, I can just look it up and send some. Of course, people may also choose to not put it in public display, just as with phone numbers or email addresses. It depends on the situation, for instance one might not list it on a public forum like this. When it's listed in a profile, I definitely don't see it as solliciting for change.

I'd really like to have a bitcoin address for all my friends in my address book, then when I borrow something or have to make a quick transaction, I can just browse my smartphone for the right person and send some coins!

Having an address in your sig is handy. If I want to donate a little to someone (reasonably) anonymously, I don't want to have to message them about it.

Most of the donations I've received are completely anonymous. I've only had two PMs informing me of an intention to donate; only one of those went ahead.

The address isn't the issue. As Meni suggests, it is the public identifier for a coiner. Perhaps it's the context that annoys the OP. If you don't provide a good or a service but still have "Please donate to me, I need the coin" prefixed to your address, well, I can see that as tacky.

Tacky:
1. "Please donate for the time and effort I put into this post"

Not tacky:
1. A simple address without prefix
2. A prefix identifying a good or service that another forum member could purchase or donate. See my sig for a good example, and feel free to use the address in the usual way.

A big +1!

I just opened tip jars for Meni Rosenfeld (https://propster.me/tipjar/0c9wkmz), Mike Hearn (https://propster.me/tipjar/0c9wkq2) and Gavin Andresen (https://propster.me/tipjar/0c9wksg). Feel free to donate to them.

(I made a spelling mistake on Gavin's last name ... sorry about that, it should be edited).

Cool, thanks! :) You forgot the .co in bitcoil.co.il.

Most people have it in their sigs so they don't have to send payment addresses to people when doing services/selling things to them. _{at least I do}

Oops :)

Claim your page, and then hopefully you should be able to edit it ... otherwise open a support ticket.

I've never considered putting an address in my signature, and long time ago I changed my settings so other user's signatures are not displayed. Having said that, I'm sure many users include their addresses without giving it much thought, simply because they can, and because they are excited by the novelty of it. Novelty wears off, I hope. I also hope they will start thinking a bit deeper about what good or bad things might be brought into their lives by Bitcoin.

Other reasons might include wishing to build a reputation based on openness (forum identities linked to their wallets), or simply begging for money.