There is indeed "inheritance problem" and there are many solutions. You can mix and match solutions to best suit your needs. Now let's see what lego pieces we have here:

1. wallet.dat + the the rest of software i.e. bitcoin client, OS, encryption/description software plus expalnation notes/documentation + storage
2. "dead man" switch


1. wallet.dat + the the rest of software i.e. bitcoin client, OS, encryption/description software plus expalnation notes/documentation


Do not just pass wallet.dat, make sure that there is a complete suite of software and documentation is passed along it, preferably including bitcoin software and OS in a self contained and self sufficient package. Bootable USB stick sounds as a good idea. Note that lifetime of such sticks is limited 5-10 years maybe. Burn also image of such USB to a CD-R and/or DVD-R. On a plus side this allows one to use a linux distro which includes encrypted partitions. This gives a decently secure and reliable way to pass wallet.dat. Ultimately, one can get low cost netbook,  put everything there and store it securely. Than all you have to do is to pass access to such netbook along with the password and instructions/docs. There are many ways to do this step, chose what you think is the best for your circumstances.

See how we have simplified the problem now. Many copies of such netbook/USB/DVD-R encrypted are distributed using variety of methods the only problem left is to give your heirs a password message securely after the event. Here comes "dead man" switch

2. "dead man" switch

There are a few options. Check out https://www.deathswitch.com/ . Wills, lawyers, separate safe deposit boxes etc... You even could tell your child "I love you my sunny pumpkin" every evening when they go to bed and than say in "will" remember 6 words I told you every time you go to bed... this plus '34534dfgdskjhagdsgvsdfk3p98ulkjKhsdkfvskdfhblsdhbf' is the pass phrase, no spaces. Mix and match

Conclusion

Once we have separated the problem into 2 parts "encrypted data" and password, things get easier. Mix and match as you see fit. Keep things encrypted and documented. Keep password separate. Make sure your heirs get access to all pieces of the puzzle after you dead. Make sure nobody gets access to all pieces before the event.

Also consider inheritance taxes and how you want to get around those if at all. There are plenty if instruments like trusts etc... and if it done right it's a good thing. Considering that a few bitcoins might buy a mansion some day it probably worth taking professional advise on this matter.

~ 5% of worlds money supply

For educational purposes maybe, but surely not for resale or commercial gain.

We are talking about mainstream press here m8, not about a granny buying milk for nanobitcoins.

Explanation: Yahoo front page as opposed to slashdot or hacker news front page.

Yep this is as mainstream as it gets, except maybe first page of Forbes or Time or Financial Times.



The currency that's up 200,000 percent
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/112854/currency-up-200000-percent-smartmoney;_ylt=AuzqrH9ybd3nM5iP2IQbNya7YWsA;_ylu=X3oDMTE1YzVrbHVjBHBvcwM4BHNlYwN0b3BTdG9yaWVzBHNsawN0aGVjdXJyZW5jeXQ-?mod=bb-budgeting&sec=topStories&pos=5&asset=&ccode=

In practice banks apply reserve requirement recursively. Actually, the arrangement fees you pay for getting a mortgage are usually more than enough to cover the reserve requirement.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5352106773770802849

Theft is bad. Ask your mom, she'll concur.

F.A.Q Updated

Q4. Do you hand out guarantees/contracts/SLAs that include also commitments/penalty payments from your side if a rig goes down?
A4. Indeed I do offer a SLA in form of zero-variance computational results delivery. When a customer elects zero-variance option he will receive on daily basis as many bitcoins as statistically expected for given Ghps hashing capacity. For comparison, some pools charge as much as 10% for "reduced variance" which is even not as good as my zero-variance delivery.

No need to link bitcoin with any economic or social group or ideology.

Bitcoin is just money and store of value. It is extremely good at doing these two things. No need for anything else.

You want to educate people, make a website or write a book or teach a course at a uni.

theft is theft

yep, deflation is not a bug, it's a feature.

What,  no usury? We are doomed!!!


P.S. I am no that sure that there can be no credit in bitcoin economy though... lots of things can be built on top of bitcoin.

"If you cannot win them, join them" - this often was applied by many people to banksters. Now it seems banksters will have to apply this to bitcoin. Ohhh irony...

Insanely slow progress and growth for decades and decades (though still exponential) it is than. Works for me.

"UK Serious Fraud office is looking into Bitcoin" is this based on statement by some idiot sysadmin at a hosting provider who said so while banning a user who used lots of CPU on a "trial account"?

Do you really think 50% of miners would vote for this?

Given 6 Thps it can be estimated that there are around 20 000 chips doing mining right. It can easily be 10 times that by the end of the year, not to mention all the spooky things which are being calculated by FPGA's these days and which can be calculated by GPU's.

Moreover, they even do not need another chip, they just need a different board with better cooling solution, different configuration, BIOS, and less memory.

Niche market? I bet 50% of 5970 and 6990 and even 5870 and 5850's will end up in mining rigs. The only reason why AMD does not make cards specifically for bitcoin (and crypto in general) yet is because they are slow.

It once block is solved the block reward is give to a new bitcoin address and there is no history for this particular coin and therefore no amount of datamining will reveal your identity. Tor here helps to hide your IP and as such this is as anonymous as it gets.

CoinSpeculator, Bravo!!!

Damn close to calcs I've made privately half a year ago.