just make a wiki edit or contact mark ... his address is on the website  |
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Bitcoin isn't broken, so which is it?
1. the cap is at 21 millions and there are 7 billions people on Earth, so everybody will have to work with decimals, and this will not work for multiple reasons. You can rebase to work in mbtc and add more decimal points if neceessary. This was all envisaged by Satoshi. But you can also create btc certificates, in fact you SHOULD do this. Let's say a govt was to start paying workers in bitcoin certificates. They would make them redeemable by their own mined coins, or exchanged for currency, tax credits or court fines. Very soon the bitcoin certificates would be as valuable as money. More importantly, as the economy is stimulated, so go up revenues, yielding lower deficits (and hence borrowing costs) and ultimately surpluses. The bitcoin certificates can be bought back easily and more money gets invested into goods and services. |
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Wait. All of you posters who seem to be supporting government regulation being built into Bitcoin itself should clarify what you are supporting here. Which of these things, exactly, are you posting in support of? For instance we can ensure that it remains possible to track the flow of money through Bitcoin.
We can also ensure that there are options if certain funds need to be frozen and blacklisted, due to fraud, theft, or because they encode illegal data.
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We can work with them to find ways to apply AML rules to Bitcoin transactions
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There are ways to put taxation into Bitcoin itself, so that taxes are automatically applied when a transaction is made.
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Maybe even one day we'll be required to prevent dangerous levels of deflation.
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developing P2P blacklist technologies
I dont think it makes too much sense to build govt regulation into bitcoin 0.8+ ... that would be a hard fork or a new coin (maybe the same thing). Because each regulation would be different in each country. I do think that having a conversation with regulators to explain the system is healthy and looking at the recommendations. Arbitrary freezing of funds would make bitcoin sterile. I would LOVE to see cypto currency used for public good (my idea was to give 10% of mining rewards to charity) but again this should be a new coin. Deflation / Inflation cannot be controlled centrally. It's trivial to print new bitcoins and settle in fractions or cash, as gold does. The illegal link in the BC argument is pretty absurd ... you can encode information by using any image gallery, or by timestamps on facebook and twitter ... to prevent the sharing of links you have to shut down the internet, and maybe even paper! Anyone can fork btc and introduce arbitrary measures, whether anyone will use that fork is a different question. Each country will be different. |
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- Jeff GarzikWe can work with regulators to make sure Bitcoin is acceptable to them [...] There are ways to put taxation into Bitcoin itself, so that taxes are automatically applied when a transaction is made.Obviously work WITH, depending on the geographical region that is interested. Please tell me you are joking. Of course not. Have you ever met a regulator? Most are good folks just trying to do their job against people that earn 100 or even 1000 times as much as them. Regulators are employed by us, we can do more working together. Namely showing the competitive advantages that bitcoin gives that country, and allowing them to have input into good ways to leverage that. |
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Android only. Blahhhh! Does Apple hate Bitcoin? Wish you could use the gyft.com site.
Yes apple block some bitcoin apps |
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There was an interesting post on the Bitcoin Foundation's private forum today: Hi! I would like the board to discuss opening up lines of communication with money regulators - particularly FinCEN and AUSTRAC (I'm from Australia). FinCEN and other government money regulators need to write new rules as they obviously don't understand Bitcoin's inherent structure.
I think it would be better if some organisation like the Bitcoin Foundation could offer guidance draft rules and work with the regulators.
Otherwise we'll have a situation pretty soon where they try to implement something unworkable, the criminals flood into the Bitcoin system then the argument for 'shutting down bitcoin' grows in popularity.
- Bitcoin Foundation board meeting agenda requests (only viewable by foundation members) You know, Bitcoin is at an interesting stage of it's development. We've got a lot of money flowing in to the ecosystem and for the first time we're seeing interest from big businesses - even PayPal and Western Union are looking into accepting Bitcoin. We're also under a lot of attack; big heavily protected exchanges and other websites like Mt. Gox, blockchain.info, and The Silk Road are getting DDoSed; services like Instawallet and mining pools are having funds stolen; exchanges getting shutdown by regulators; (including Mt. Gox suddenly shutting down their off-chain payment service) even child porn related data being uploaded to the blockchain: It is widely speculated, based on common forum comments in the crypto-anarchist community, that this current round of data spam is intended to force bitcoin users, developers and governments of the world to take action to censor -- or not -- certain bitcoin transactions. Trying to force the issue, to establish a precedent one way or the other. Or, more pessimistically, a party could be simply trying to shut down bitcoin.
- Jeff GarzikThe Bitcoin Foundation itself is in a difficult position: we all know who it's funded by, and everyone involved is publicly known. This can be a problem: in the last round of grant proposals at one point Gavin suggested someone submit a grant for a trust-free mixer service to help people make the coins in their wallet more anonymous by mixing them with a large pool of other users. I asked Gavin about that later, and he said the foundation lawyers nixed the idea because efforts to make Bitcoin users more anonymous could be seen to be aiding money laundering, especially if the foundation itself was paying for development and to run the servers. We can work with regulators to make sure Bitcoin is acceptable to them. For instance we can ensure that it remains possible to track the flow of money through Bitcoin. We can also ensure that there are options if certain funds need to be frozen and blacklisted, due to fraud, theft, or because they encode illegal data. We can work with them to find ways to apply AML rules to Bitcoin transactions and to the exchanges. There are ways to put taxation into Bitcoin itself, so that taxes are automatically applied when a transaction is made. Maybe even one day we'll be required to prevent dangerous levels of deflation. A lot of these changes are technical, such as improving scalability so transactions can remain on the blockchain, developing P2P blacklist technologies, and preventing deflation. We can also go the other route, and give Bitcoin users even more tools to remain anonymous and transact on their own terms. Technologies like mixing and off-chain transactions to let you make transactions without revealing where the coins came from, technologies like P2Pool to ensure mining stays decentralized, and colored coins to let us trade our assets without involving third party exchanges. I think this discussion needs to happen out in the open, and we need to have it now. I'm sure you have a pretty good idea what I think, but what does the rest of the community think? Obviously work WITH, depending on the geographical region that is interested. First step needed is education and there is no better explanation than: [[ Commerce on the Internet has come to rely almost exclusively on financial institutions serving as trusted third parties to process electronic payments. While the system works well enough for most transactions, it still suffers from the inherent weaknesses of the trust based model. Completely non-reversible transactions are not really possible, since financial institutions cannot avoid mediating disputes. The cost of mediation increases transaction costs, limiting the minimum practical transaction size and cutting off the possibility for small casual transactions, and there is a broader cost in the loss of ability to make non-reversible payments for non- reversible services. With the possibility of reversal, the need for trust spreads. Merchants must be wary of their customers, hassling them for more information than they would otherwise need. A certain percentage of fraud is accepted as unavoidable. These costs and payment uncertainties can be avoided in person by using physical currency, but no mechanism exists to make payments over a communications channel without a trusted party. What is needed is an electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any two willing parties to transact directly with each other without the need for a trusted third party. Transactions that are computationally impractical to reverse would protect sellers from fraud, and routine escrow mechanisms could easily be implemented to protect buyers. In this paper, we propose a solution to the double-spending problem using a peer-to-peer distributed timestamp server to generate computational proof of the chronological order of transactions. The system is secure as long as honest nodes collectively control more CPU power than any cooperating group of attacker nodes. ]] The benefits of bitcoin to society should be explained and also it is in the self interest of the given region given that bitcoin can create a competitive advantage to that region. It goes without saying that the foundation does not speak for Satoshi, but anyone, be it an individual or group, explaining things in helpful way is always beneficial. |
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Im thinking about a premine strategy where 10% of all new coins (and tx fees) go to charity.
The list of acceptable charities is agreed by consensus (but they MUST accept bitcoin) and the miners are able to influence where the funds go.
Additionally these coins should be tracked, so that you find out exactly what happened to them and who got the benefit. Perhaps there will be some blogging/microblogging for success stories.
This is equivalent of the historical "tithe" system.
There was Devcoin with pretty much this idea. Thanks for the pointer. The problem with all premining is that it can be gamed. Even if it is hard or impossible to game, you will give a potentially bad impression. I'm very interested to look at mining strategies. Firstly, devcoin only gave 10% to miners. That's not enough of an incentive. I propose to give 90% to miners. Secondly, I strongly feel that all this electricity should be at least in part used for some kind of common good, we should optimize the good, not the devs pockets Thirdly, the big problem in the world today is distribution of money. This is *always* gamed ... you need a water tight system (think Satoshi strength) to reduce or eliminate gaming. Even charities themselves spend too much on admin costs. We need accountability, not random awards and bounties. We need league tables with transparency. Tracking in realtime. Amiller used the term 'competative giving' -- this is what I think would be an effective mining strategy .. Just my 2 satoshis |
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Im thinking about a premine strategy where 10% of all new coins (and tx fees) go to charity.
The list of acceptable charities is agreed by consensus (but they MUST accept bitcoin) and the miners are able to influence where the funds go.
Additionally these coins should be tracked, so that you find out exactly what happened to them and who got the benefit. Perhaps there will be some blogging/microblogging for success stories.
This is equivalent of the historical "tithe" system.
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The way I see it, *any* kind of premine will give you a bad PR hurdle.
At present it seems an all or nothing thing. Either dont premine, or premine everything. Ripple premined all and had a bigger market cap than btc now.
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Sure accepting zero-conf has a few problems. But its a LOT safer then using a string of letters and numbers that any other individual can also use (credit card).
Large merchants could accept cheap zero conf if they have a relationship with a significant amount of the mining resources:
Don't replace TXes coming from me. Forward but flag as illegal double spend attempts (and notify me). This makes it likely you can refuse service instantly or if it becomes a problem arrest the guy right there.
Given mining pools this relationship would not be hard. Or the merchant makes his own pool.
If the double-spender was in collusion with a significant fraction (say X%) of the hashing power, and those miners were configured to NOT forward his TX then the double-spender would have X% likelihood of a successful double spend.
That's a lot of work for a 1% (say) chance for a free $5 coffee and BTW never show your face at that store again :-).
So in practice we are fine for small brick and mortar payments. But it may be a problem for $100+ brick and mortar txns.
+1 Cash is not safe. I read that about 1% of all cash is counterfeit. But we dont spend ten minutes checking cash for forgery in all instances. |
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The force behind this patch is that zero-conf transactions have never, ever, ever, ever, ever been safe in any way, shape or form. Now everyone has to accept reality.
Despite some delusions to the contrary, bitcoin can not be made suitable for instant transactions. Other services are necessary to handle the risks that are inherent in such transactions.
zero conf is a perfectly legitimate use case so long as the two parites have a degree of trust in fact the MAJORITY of bitcoin transactions either already are or should be zero conf consider mount gox or seals with clubs, not every transactions goes through the block chain, the server in the middle is trusted not to double spend until a withdrawl is made |
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I wanted to gauge interest in a new project I am putting together. I am setting up a new service where by you can have encrypted bitcoin private keys laser engraved in Diamond for safekeeping and as an ultra-luxury product.
We will be launching a website soon but we will also have a brick-and-mortar store location as well so you can bring in your loose diamonds for engraving, or you can purchase certified loose diamonds through us. Alternatively, we will have expert jewelers on site that can remove and replace diamonds from existing settings (rings for example) if you wanted to engrave on a diamond that is already set in jewelry.
The engraving does not affect any of the diamonds physical characteristics (nor changes its value) and will be microscopic. It will be done directly through our partners in Belgium. For non-local customers, shipping will be done via insured carrier and is safe.
I am interested in what questions the community might have about such a service so that I can have them answered already when we launch the website. It's hard to get any sort of market data on a product so novel such as this. What would you want to know before buying an engraved diamond? I'm all ears and very curious to hear peoples opinions!
So I think you should allow the person to split the entropy. Example Bob buys Alice an engagment ring, but he wants it to be more valuable then Brittney's so he puts in 1000 BTC. He also wants it to hold value. A private key with 120 bits of entropy is created. 50 bits of entropy goes into the ring. 25 bits of entropy is a shared secret. Maybe the name of where you met. 25 bits of entropy you keep safe. 20 bits of entropy is destroyed as a proof of work. This way if the ring is stolen there is protection. Also in the unlikely event that alice cheats on bob, the coins can be regained and she only keeps the diamond. (seems a fair deal?) If bob dies he leaves his 25 bits in his will and alice will be able to claim the coins ... |
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You can encode your private key in a vial containing a message printed in DNA using Craig Vener's ASCII->DNA for about 5 hundred bucks. Seems a lot cooler.
But if Bitcoin explodes and is worth nothing, you're left with a chunk of worthless DNA. In this case- you're still left with a perfectly valuable diamond. or if the reverse is true, you might create the most valuable diamond in the world currently the highest is worth about 400mm usd |
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You can only withdraw 300 GBP a day from them.
Do all banks in UK have such ridiculously low ATM limits, or are there some which have higher limits? ATM withdrawal limits in German banks are commonly 1000 EUR or 2000 EUR a day (roughly 850 GBP or 1700 GBP), in Polish banks 5000 PLN a day is most common (around 1000 GBP). Why do UK banks prevent people for using ATM's for larger amounts, while on the continent many banks have no problem with that, which is very useful when for example buying a used car from someone. So when you buy a used car in UK after bank opening hours you can't withdraw the money from an ATM, but have to do it earlier, and then carry the cash around - not very safe. Better keep it on the account until the deal is decided on, which can often happen in evening after-work hours when banks are closed. A thousand or two worth of Euros or pounds is a common amount to pay in cash for a used car, so UK banks force unsafe practice of having to withdraw earlier and carry cash around in such cases? That's because UK banks have recently had bank runs so they dont dare put the limits up. It's something people in the UK have wanted for years. EDIT: Note -- expect this in germany soon! |
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I wanted to gauge interest in a new project I am putting together. I am setting up a new service where by you can have encrypted bitcoin private keys laser engraved in Diamond for safekeeping and as an ultra-luxury product.
We will be launching a website soon but we will also have a brick-and-mortar store location as well so you can bring in your loose diamonds for engraving, or you can purchase certified loose diamonds through us. Alternatively, we will have expert jewelers on site that can remove and replace diamonds from existing settings (rings for example) if you wanted to engrave on a diamond that is already set in jewelry.
The engraving does not affect any of the diamonds physical characteristics (nor changes its value) and will be microscopic. It will be done directly through our partners in Belgium. For non-local customers, shipping will be done via insured carrier and is safe.
I am interested in what questions the community might have about such a service so that I can have them answered already when we launch the website. It's hard to get any sort of market data on a product so novel such as this. What would you want to know before buying an engraved diamond? I'm all ears and very curious to hear peoples opinions!
this http://i.qkme.me/3tryd1.jpgbut seriously, interesting service ... beats a tattoo! Good point. I think this is relevant for everyone with Bitcoin's. It's an interesting idea as well for mult-sig security. You could for example engrave one signature of a 2 of 3 sig transaction in the diamond. Put it in the bank. Then you could give the other two keys to your wife and your child. If you die, either one would be able to retrieve the bitcoin. Additionally to response again to the hiding bitcoins in plain sight- if you were to die, there is a much higher chance of your broken toy being overlooked and simply thrown out. No one throws out diamonds, but very few would think to check it with a microscope (unless they were selling it). Also, people are well trained how to treat things like diamonds seriously so someone might safeguard a diamond without even knowing there are bitcoins stored in them, while the same can't be said of a broken toy or some very ordinary looking object. The idea is to hide it in a "seek and you shall find" kind of way. haha this is sort of genius ... can you imagine a message that was released or decoded 1 year after you die ... 'look inside your diamond there is the key to my btc wallet' |
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I wanted to gauge interest in a new project I am putting together. I am setting up a new service where by you can have encrypted bitcoin private keys laser engraved in Diamond for safekeeping and as an ultra-luxury product.
We will be launching a website soon but we will also have a brick-and-mortar store location as well so you can bring in your loose diamonds for engraving, or you can purchase certified loose diamonds through us. Alternatively, we will have expert jewelers on site that can remove and replace diamonds from existing settings (rings for example) if you wanted to engrave on a diamond that is already set in jewelry.
The engraving does not affect any of the diamonds physical characteristics (nor changes its value) and will be microscopic. It will be done directly through our partners in Belgium. For non-local customers, shipping will be done via insured carrier and is safe.
I am interested in what questions the community might have about such a service so that I can have them answered already when we launch the website. It's hard to get any sort of market data on a product so novel such as this. What would you want to know before buying an engraved diamond? I'm all ears and very curious to hear peoples opinions!
this http://i.qkme.me/3tryd1.jpgbut seriously, interesting service ... beats a tattoo! |
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used to wonder about this too. After all, an infrastructure for MtGox codes and the like would have to be built first.
But then, Ripple came along. Ripple will enable Bitcoin derivatives and Bitcoin fractional reserve banking easily.
Ripple can already do btc derivatives. Consider an IOU at market value. Then trade out the IOU a day later. You have futures, forwards and contract for differences. I welcome regulation, if the goal is fraud prevention. |
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Only in the US, but that would damaging to the US. |
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I'm not going to say anything here, except that the similarity between these charts is eerie, and the second image comes from a real estate article, not Bitcoin.   Only if you think bitcoin is a bubble  |
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I agree. Switching to mɃ from now on. I suggest we just call these "millibits," which is easier to say than "millibitcoin".
(I finally figured out how to type the "B with bar" character in OS X Mountain Lion--need to go to System Preferences/Language & Text/Input Sources. Then scroll down and select "Unicode Hex Input" and select "show input menu in menu bar." Then go to the input menu selector icon in the menu bar, choose Unicode, and hold down the Option/Alt key while typing "0243".)
+1 millibits |
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