You got comment karma for posting other people's comments? I assume you mean in comments as replies to people. In that case it's still adding some value or it wouldn't be upvoted. Maybe easy for you, but not everyone can get easy karma that way, so it's of value as a trust metric.

And why unlikely to be implemented? Theymos administers that subreddit, too. No need for cooperation from Reddit itself, since subreddits are quite customizable. Even if it isn't incorporated into /r/Bitcoin itself, the linkage across the platforms could provide useful trust data. For instance, I'd certainly trust hardleft132's Bitcointalk identity, if he has one.

That's why I said *comment* karma, not post karma. Much harder to game. (However, even posting a bunch of reposts patiently over time is something that takes work and dedication, which is negatively correlated with scamming, so even link karma could be useful.)

Good point on tipping a sockpuppet, though if tipping other trusted people it still seems this would provide useful trust data.

Could this be incorporated into or paired with Reddit? For example, date of first comment on /r/Bitcoin, total amount tipped, number of posts to /r/Bitcoin, comment karma from /r/Bitcoin, etc. You could add an option for people to link their Reddit account with their Bitcointalk account, verified here and there by PM. Also, what about real-life address, etc.? I know I'm a lot more likely to trust blockchain.info because the owner is known IRL.

The big things reddit helps with that Bitcointalk doesn't have are karma and tipping history.

• Sockpuppets and high post counts are easy to generate, but karma is much harder - you have to actually post some well-thought-out content
• Generous tippers are vastly less likely to be interested in scamming, and it costs money to game this one

At first I was like, "Why is theymos automatically in my trusted list?" then I realized, "Duh, the adminstrator of the system is already implicitly trusted whenever trust is granted to anyone."

Still I think people may balk because they don't think of this.

Now I'm wondering if OpenCoin will try to buy out Monetas.

A replacement for MtGox would be the holy grail, but that doesn't mean alleviating some of the centralization for certain types of trades isn't a big deal.

I thought that with certified mail you could certify the contents ("$500 cash," etc.). I'm not sure how certified mail actually works, though. [EDIT: Yahoo Answers disagrees: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080901020635AADNJ4Q]

In any case, supposing some service of this nature exists anywhere (or is ever offered in the future), this would enable trustless P2P buying and selling, though not instantaneous. No need for reputation systems, since the banks or post office are the trusted parties, unwittingly.

How about certified mail? If the post office website shows the package was delivered and signed for, the oracle releases the BTC from escrow to the buyer. If the package is recalled or something else goes wrong, the oracles returns the BTC to the seller.

This would also work with bank wires, assuming they give the right kind of records and post them online.

If the wire transfer info is already known, and supposing the bank can release online proof of the transaction being sent, why couldn't an oracle handle the escrow? In other words, the oracle is told where to look for the online proof (bank website, etc.), and it releases the BTC to Alice if the proof is posted in a certain time frame, or back to Bob if not. That way there is absolutely no way to screw anyone - unless the bank messes up. The bank is the trusted party, though it has no idea it's being used for that.

I feel like you're wanting the total solution to just pop into place. Doing a meeting-less, trustless localbitcoins.com-type of thing would be a giant step, nothing to sneeze at. Progress is not always all-or-nothing.

I can see why moving fiat P2P is hard, but why impossible?

It seems you could at least have meeting-less localbitcoins.com as long as

• you can set up a fiat money transfer with unique ID that states where the money is to go
• you can publicly prove you initiated the ID'd transfer (fiat money on its way, shown on bank website, etc.)
• failure to initiate the transfer within a certain number of minutes/hours would also be public

If Alice wishes to purchase BTC from Bob, the process for a trustless, meeting-less trade would be:

1) Alice draws up a money transfer ID at bank, etc., and informs Bob of the details but does not actually send it yet
2) Bob puts the BTC into escrow with the P2P software, which uses an oracle to monitor the bank website for posting/cancellation of the transaction
3) If the transaction is posted (because Alice actually initiated the transfer), the oracle releases the BTC from escrow to Alice
4) If the transaction ID times out, the oracle releases the BTC back to Bob

Alice can't cheat, Bob can't cheat, Alice can't lose, Bob can't lose. The coins only move if the fiat moves. Note how the bank is unwittingly the trusted party, though it has no knowledge that it's being used as such. It depends on the bank generally disclosing the right information in a reliable manner.

If this can't work, how about cash via certified mail? Any financial service that offers public tracking records that can be checked by the recipient. If there is just one service that offers such a thing, this seems possible.

We'd switch to CAPTCHA-based mining that only humans are good at

Inflation would be priced in, since the Nikkei is denominated in yen. It would just make the index go higher. Also, a 7% drop in the entire index is huge. That means many stocks fell much further.

Always ignore and move on, there are many low-hanging fruit. No reason to waste time with people who are hard sells when there are so many easy sells. Plus you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Same principle applies with finding mates.

Once people understand Bitcoin they will want to own some for its teleportable&hide-able store-of-value functionality, especially wealthy people. Medium of exchange is just icing on the top. So, ultimately, are gains. Hiding and teleporting and securing your assets against inflation is very valuable for ultra-rich people, and at least marginally valuable for nearly everyone.

That website's name has an interesting ring to it


My thoughts exactly. I'm just not sure how long the market will remain flat. Days, weeks, or maybe even months? My best guess is 1-3 weeks.

Wow that dampened spring pattern is uncannily similar to the recent price action, except on like a 10x slower timescale.

I love these necros. Great for perspective.

September.

This sounds very promising, but we need this like yesterday. How can this be fast-tracked?

Also, can this be used for insurance policies and futures exchange?

Finally, is it just me or do we go back and forth between price surges and innovation? Just a few weeks of price stability and discussion on building stuff seems to have become fascinating again. We humans have a one-track mind, I guess.

The alleged email: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5254737

Related: https://ripple.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2023