what are you talking about?

hmmm.  if the phone carriers allow you to buy btc's via text, the logical next step for them to make even more profit would be to allow payment via SMS.  this will happen.

i suppose also that if you're a Kenyan on one side of the country, i could pay the carrier to text btc to my wife on the other side of Kenya.

this is great.  in Kenya, there was a huge legal fight btwn the phone carriers and the banks b/c the banks didn't want to lose control of the usurious system they were controlling.  finally the gov't sided with the phone carriers b/c the adoption rate was so quick and the people demanded a better system which SMS is. 

if you go ahead with your service you will be able to piggyback onto the phone carriers to make money.  there's plenty of profits to be made when you get rid of the banks.

if you just break even, do it!  the phone companies may eat you alive now but as you grow in subscribers you will gain leverage over them and be able to squeeze huge profits over the long term.

who uses Cash Exchangers here in the US?  mostly low income folk.  the % charges are outrageous but that doesn't stop them out of pure need or they just are too ignorant to care.

this will be how it is with texting btc's; the need and convenience will just be too great.

i propose that we keep the USD but have Bitcoins replace Gold in a Bitcoin Standard system. 

why so pessimistic?  give him time.  the price WILL come down.

ME TOO!  AND GOLD ONES!!

edit:  can you provide a milled edge?

i apologize to Matthew Dyson of http://textcoin.co.uk/ for hijacking his thread over here but this development is of utmost importance to the community and i felt compelled to bring it over here to the most popular Board just to alert everyone.

see his thread over in Marketplace:  http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=29992.0;all

you can now transact Bitcoin via SMS text which now brings Bitcoin to the average cellphone user that doesn't have an internet connection.  currently this is only available in the UK but Matthew plans to take it internationally.

this is the M Pesa model in Kenya which has exhibited huge growth in a poor 3rd world country and has been growing by leaps and bounds throughout Africa.  this working model has been the basis behind my investment research that has driven me to invest in Bitcoin.

the implications of this development cannot be underestimated.

Congratulations to Textcoin!!!

hmmm.  so he's doing so well he doesn't bother to respond to a potential advertiser?

or is he and his staff too lazy to review their emails?

what do you think Roger?

have you tried it out?  is it purely SMS text based?  or do you need to sign up with Textcoin on the internet and establish an acct with btc's?

if this is for real BITCOIN IS GOLDEN!

if this SMS service is for real BITCOIN HAS MADE IT!

this is the system used by M Pesa in Kenya and has been tremendously successful in this poor 3rd world country.  read up on it.

its been thought that the phone carriers would resist Bitcoin b/c of the lack of profit.  how do you think this is being addressed?

this also allows Bitcoin to be used w/o an internet connection which will bring it to the masses.

also doesn't a bank have to stand behind the carrier in some way?

not at all.  do you think those same Hoosiers give a darn about how Bitcoin functions in the end?  No way.  They'll just want to "bump" their phones and see the payment go thru and they'll be happy.

do you think the Kenyans know or care about how M Pesa works?  No way.  They're just happy that their wives got the money on the other side of the country to feed their kids and that they didn't have to ride a donkey to give it to them.

this is why when we explain Bitcoin's concepts to less informed people just talk about the basics and forget about all the nuances and exceptions.  this is why Amir Taaki has such a hard time.  for every positive he mentions about Bitcoin he can't help but throw in a negative that he's aware of as a developer.  this is b/c he's so immersed in it he can't help but talk about them.  and i don't blame him; after all its his responsibility to find the problems and get them fixed so thats all he can think about.  he's lost in the trees so to speak and can't step back and view the forest let alone articulate about it.

see my modifications:

Don't mention:
- mining
- blockchain
- crypto (unless it goes into technical details and you are asked how it is implemented)
- satoshi
- forum
- specific exchanges and businesses (unless you've been paid for that, maybe)

Do say:
- "digital gold"
- there never will be more than 21 million of bitcoin in existance
- bitcoin is secured by "advanced mathematical algorithms"
- "no government can repeal laws of mathematics"
- decentralized with no single entity to be shut-down or pressured, just like bittorrent
- quick and low cost payments over internet,
- can be easily and covertly transported over national borders
- negligible transaction fees
- "Disruptive disintermediation" (if audience seems to have above average IQ)
- pseudonymous (no one knows this word w/o looking it up in dictionary) and potentially anonymous transactions
- accounts cannot be "frozen"
- can make donations to wikileaks etc many ppl view Wikileaks unfavorably
- easier to store and transport than gold
- its is just not like gold which and you can teleport to anyone on the planet
- bitcoin.org
- valued below 1$ in Spring 2011, valued at <whatever> dollars now.
- traded on a number of independent exchanges WORLDWIDE, which set up valuation against fiat currencies.

Scenarios:
1. if cornered into talking about mining or blockchain, just say "its one huge verification network for financial tx's"
2. if they say "isn't that a huge waste of electricity and computer work?"; just say "not compared to the waste of the banksters and financial system in place today which the blockchain replaces".
3. if they ask "can't the gov't shut it down?" just say "they can't".  never mind the 51% attack since thats a theoretical concept that is highly improbable if not impossible.
4. if cornered into talking about Satoshi just say "i've never met him but i know the head dev is from Princeton (i know, i know but the MSM loves this sh*t whether we do or not) and the rest of them are wicked smart." THIS WILL MOST LIKELY BE MY MOST UNPOPULAR RECOMMENDATION.


feel free to add to these lists

@all, do not freaking even think to speak to media before reading this.  Wink

funny, i see only one credit union signed up so far.

its a stretch to say many more will sign on and help Dwolla.

thats why i asked.

can US citizens use it?

thats an excellent strategy.  get what you want out on to the table first and fast before they cut you off.  i know how tough that must be under pressure knowing that they can cut you off at any second. 

study that interview and ask yourself what you could've done better. 

all in all a great effort.

bitrebel:  congrats on your efforts to spread the word.  you know i'm a fan of yours right?  but i have a few suggestions the next time you appear on Alex's show.

1.  don't talk about mining.  its confusing.
2.  don't talk about the blockchain.  its even more confusing.
3.  say that bitcoin is "digital gold".  that'll definitely make them sit up.
4.  say that only a fixed number will be issued and then NO MORE.
5.  say that since its digital it can be instantaneously transported across borders w/o detection.  they'll immediately realize the implications of this.
6.  don't say anything about "cryptocurrency" or "cryptography".  this makes it sound like bitcoin is trying to hide something along the likes of Silk Road and other illegal activities.
7.  say that bitcoins are secured by "advanced mathematical algorithms" that prevent counterfeiting.  sounds impressive.
8.  try to avoid saying anything about Satoshi since an unknown character brings to mind a shady type character or hidden agenda.
9.  do explain that the decentralized or "spread out" nature of bitcoin computers makes it indestructable to gov't or Fed intervention.    they'll like that.
10.  when they ask what its denominated in say that bitcoin is a currency UNTO ITSELF and "floats" in value against other fiat currencies like the USD but bitcoin is in fact NOT a fiat currency.  you might mention that you think that bitcoin will become the gold std against which all other currencies will be measured.
11. i wouldn't recommend newbies go to forum.bitcoin.org especially with all the trolls we've been getting there recently.  the best place for them to go to learn about bitcoin is bitcoin.org which explains all the facts and has references.

love ya man.

i don't quite understand your English but these excess reserves plus required reserves make up the monetary base as defined in the Wiki link you provided.  the Fred graph i provided to you says the excess reserves total 16T which is about the amount the Sanders article was talking about and represents money printed by the Fed and given to the banks in exchange for subrprime loans, CDS, commercial loans, and other assorted toxic crap.

if you look at that Fed balance sheet if these were "loans" as you claim they would be categorized as "Repurchase Agreements".  note that they aren't and the balance is zero.  i believe this toxic crap in buried in the "Securities Held Outright" and in categories like Maiden Lane, TALF, Aurora, ALICO holdings.