It’s been nearly a year since Goldcoin Lead Developer, Amir Eslampanah, first announced his bold plan to rewrite the Bitcoin codebase and create a truly customized and unique java client. Now, finally, after months of laboring over miles of code, an alpha will be born this month and released unto the open-source wild.

For ten months he has labored in his private computer laboratory creating the building blocks that will propel Goldcoin closer to its destination of reaching critical mass. Eslampanah explained over Skype:

"In terms of wallet functionality, modularity, security, and sheer performance, the Goldcoin wallet will be unrivaled. Block download times will also be decreased considerably thanks to on-the-fly compression and multi-threaded download capability."

After finding the standard Bitcoin codebase not suitable as a cryptocurrency foundation, Akumaburn (as he is known on the forums), set out to create something bigger, something better, something he could call his very own.

The new client would make Goldcoin the first mineable cryptocurrency built on Java, the first to rewrite the Bitcoin codebase, and the first to support multiple cryptocurrencies. In an industry that awards innovation, this new application could become a winner. On October 17th, the world will get its first view of the young developer’s latest masterpiece.

Goldcoin (GLD) is a popular digital currency that allows consumers to make online purchases with little to no fee. Goldcoin is currently trading at just under one cent per coin with a market capitalization of $210,212.00 according to Coinmarketcap.com.

Full Story: http://altcoinpress.com/2014/10/goldcoin-scientist-set-to-release-mysterious-java-client/

Bitcoin’s chief scientist, Gavin Andresen (aka Gavin Bell), stated in a blog post yesterday that Bitcoin needs to increase the number of transactions allowed on the network by raising the maximum block size over time. This will require a hard fork, which is a mandatory and somewhat risky update to the client software.

During the early years of Bitcoin, before Satoshi Nakamoto vanished and left Gavin holding the bag, Bitcoin’s infamous founder rolled-out several half-baked solutions to denial-of-service attacks. One of those “fixes” was to reduce the maximum block size from infinite to 1MB. The plan was always to later raise that limit as time allowed and as transaction volume increased.

There is already a general consensus in the community that something needs to change in order to increase the transactions per second limit. Agreeing on exactly how to accomplish this goal is where a consensus has not been reached. There are loads of potential solutions and scenarios.

Here is Gavin’s favorite plan of attack:

"Roll out a hard fork that increases the maximum block size, and implements a rule to increase that size over time, very similar to the rule that decreases the block reward over time."

The bitcoin network is currently processing around 60K transactions per day. So for now, the data requirements of the bitcoin network aren’t huge which means the 1MB block size is currently sufficient.

However, the 1MB block size may lead to issues down the road as Bitcoin reaches mass adoption. Gavin said in his blog post yesterday that he believes the 21 million maximum bitcoin limit should remain unchanged. But who knows what might happen in the future?

Gavin Andresen is the Amherst, Massachusetts based chief scientist at the Bitcoin Foundation. He has access to the alert key that allows him to broadcast messages of his choosing to all clients. Some critics have argued that power makes him the central ruling figure of Bitcoin and a potential single point of failure.

Full Story: http://altcoinpress.com/2014/10/bitcoin-chief-scientist-its-time-to-put-a-fork-in-bitcoin/

We still have two writing positions remaining! 

According to the latest documents filed in US District Court, FTC lawyers allege that not only did Butterfly Labs engage in deceptive business practices and use pre-sold machines to mine bitcoins, employees went so far as to order custom foam pitchforks to mock their frustrated customers. Helen Wong, an FTC attorney wrote to the court:

"Further demonstrating Defendants’ disregard for their customers, they used corporate funds to make and mass order red foam pitchforks mocking their own customers, emblazoned with the words, “BFL is late! Y U NO SHIP!”

Last week, a federal judge shut down Butterfly Labs, a Missouri-based firm that manufactures specialized computers for mining bitcoins, alleging fraud and criminal wrongdoing within the company.

Today, the judge extended the restraining order until Friday to give both sides time to agree on a plan for reopening the notorious bitcoin business. He also appointed U.S. Magistrate John Maughmer to mediate the discussions, which are ongoing.

Bitcoin is a new currency that was released in 2009 by a person (or group) using the alias Satoshi Nakamoto. Transactions are decentralized and require no middle man. More and more merchants are beginning to accept the currency as it gains traction with the mainstream.

Nakamoto vanished into thin air in early 2010 with over 1 million bitcoins he mined while controlling the majority of the bitcoin network's hashpower.

Full Story: http://altcoinpress.com/2014/09/butterfly-labs-ordered-foam-pitchforks-to-mock-customers/

Great question. Once we secure a couple more writers, I will see that a story about EXCL gets written.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeuCHhm1rVg

The local NBC-affiliate, 41 Action News, in Kansas City, Missouri, where the Butterfly Labs headquarters is located aired a story tonight about the embattled Bitcoin mining company.

Last week, the business was shut down by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which accused the company of fraud and public misrepresentation in a complaint filed in United States District Court.

On September 18th, the agency was granted permission by the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri to freeze Butterfly Labs’ assets and shutter the company pending trial, according to documents released by the FTC.

Yesterday, Butterfly Labs issued a response to the allegations promising not to go down without a fight.

"Butterfly Labs intends to defend our business and our nascent and promising industry. The government wants to shut Butterfly Labs down, and we are not going away without a fight to vindicate bitcoin, our company, and our employees."

Mining is an essential part of Bitcoin. It rewards miners who use their computers to maintain the network. Since Bitcoin has no central authority, it relies on the community to process and record transactions which are recorded in a public ledger.

Currently, about 13.30 million bitcoins have been mined; the system is designed to cap production at 21 million coins.

Full Story: http://altcoinpress.com/2014/09/butterfly-labs-story-airs-on-local-nbc-affiliate/

We're looking for 2 writers to represent the Altcoin community who can write an article or two per week.

Each writer will receive 5% of all website ad revenue paid bi-weekly for the duration of his employment. The successful candidates should be creative and have excellent writing skills. He/she should also keep in mind a photo with contact info will be displayed here: http://altcoinpress.com/about-us/

If you are interested in this position, please complete the following application: http://altcoinpress.com/write-for-us/

Thank you.

Thanks for the heads up! I'm investigating now.  

EDIT: I think Hotmail has a problem with email coming from Godaddy mail servers. I have just manually approved the account. Welcome aboard!

Not sure, but I think Ripple might have a non-crypto competitor on its hands if they bring this product back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHcA5dUEJHw

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Earlier this month, BuySellAds, an online advertising network based in Boston, Massachusetts, announced on its blog that it would begin accepting Bitcoin payments from its advertisers.

That news created quite a stir in the Bitcoin community because the integration meant you could also buy ad space on BSA’s advertising partner Reddit, which has more than 135 million monthly unique visitors. Reddit’s bitcoin community alone, r/bitcoin, has more than 130,000 subscribers.

And now the good news continues. On Tuesday, a visitor to the original Bitcoin announcement posted a comment and asked if “publishers” could also receive their payments in Bitcoin. The company’s CEO, Todd Garland, promptly replied with a most welcome affirmative.

"We’re certainly open to it. Right now we’d have to do it manually, which is fine with us. To do this, just ping support@buysellads.com with the min/max you’re willing to have a cashout converted from USD to BTC and we’ll get it processed for you."

BuySellAds is used on 0.4% of all websites. Based on BuiltWith Trends, BuySellAds.com currently ranks as the 16th fastest-growing advertising company. BuySellAds has recently acquired a number of other ad networks in the past, including Carbon Ads, Fusion Ads and Beacon Ads.

Bitcoin is a software-based online payment system described by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 and introduced as open-source software in 2009. Payments are recorded in a public ledger using its own unit of account, which is also called bitcoin. Nakamoto disappeared in late 2009 with over 1 million bitcoins that he had mined while maintaining the lion’s share of the network hashrate.

Full Story: http://altcoinpress.com/2014/09/buysellads-offers-publisher-payments-in-bitcoin/

News publication seeking Dogecoin writer

We're looking for a dogecoin author to donate one article per week to ALTCoinpress.com. This would be a great way to bring the latest dogecoin news to a wider audience. If you would be interested in this assignment, please send an email to writers@altcoinpress.com

Here's the idiotic video version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldv3GFxCMsE

In a recently released meeting summary, of the Federal Advisory Council (FAC), which is composed of twelve representatives of the banking industry, it became clear that their agenda moving forward will include the regulation of cryptocurrencies.

While the bankers do not yet perceive Bitcoin and other digital currencies as viable competitors to their financial monopoly, the bankers did state that Bitcoin “regulation is advisable”, citing various security concerns that could continue to hinder its adoption, like price instability and numerous exchange failures.

The bankers, however, did not rule out embracing the digital currency and did suggest ways in which the banking industry could engage and participate.

"Should adoption accelerate, banking could participate increasingly in Bitcoin fund flows, especially as multicurrency accounts proliferate and reputational concerns subside."

It was recommended that Bitcoin be subject to the same anti-money-laundering laws, including Know-Your-Consumer, that banks are subjected to.  Moreover, the bankers recommended that Bitcoin be subjected to the suspicious activities reports (SARs) in which banks must currently comply.

Bitcoin is a software-based online payment system described by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 and introduced as open-source software in 2009. Payments are recorded in a public ledger using its own unit of account, which is also called bitcoin.

Nakamoto disappeared in early 2010 with over 1 million bitcoins that he had mined while maintaining the lion’s share of the network hashrate.

Full Story: http://altcoinpress.com/2014/09/bankers-ask-fed-to-regulate-cryptocurrencies/

Hello lost souls! lmao

I'm in need of a professional logo for my website http://altcoinpress.com/

Just head over and grab the graphic from the website header and do your thing. The graphic should match the rest of the site and not be a crazy deviation from the current logo. Use your imagination and post it below. Feel free to add an abstract icon or other graphic artwork symbol.

If I pick your logo to use on the site, I will write a feature article on the coin/topic of your choosing and share it across our social network channels.

Virginia bitcoin enthusiast, Jonas Diener, 37, will avoid jail time for cannabis discovered in his home during a police raid. The home invasion occurred after a power company official tipped off police that the bitcoin miner was using an “incredible” amount of electricity in his home.

The employee told law enforcement officials the house was using eight times the amount of power a typical home that size would use. This caused police suspicion of a marijuana growing operation in the home. During the raid, police arrested the man and seized all his Bitcoin mining equipment, a number of physical bitcoins, and a small quantity of marijuana.

Per the terms of the plea agreement, the man received six months in jail, all suspended, for misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, while a more serious charge of marijuana possession was dropped. The man appeared in Rockingham County Circuit Court on Thursday.

Bitcoin is a software-based online payment system described by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 and introduced as open-source software in 2009. Payments are recorded in a public ledger using its own unit of account, which is also called bitcoin.

Full Story: http://altcoinpress.com/2014/09/power-company-tip-leads-to-bitcoin-mining-raid/

The donations are for her travel expenses as stated in her StartJoin description.

https://www.startjoin.com/MarsOneTravel

The largest IRC network on the Internet has been hacked and its users password compromised according to an alert sent out by its network administrators just moment ago. Freenode is extremely popular among cryptocurrency developers and general enthusiasts alike.

"Earlier today the freenode infra team noticed an anomaly on a single IRC server. We have identified that this was indicative of the server being compromised by an unknown third party."

Upon further investigation it was determined that several other machines had also been compromised. For now, they recommend that every user change their NickServ password as a precaution. To do that, they recommend you issue the command /msg NickServ set password YOURNEWPASSWORD (maximum length 79 characters), making sure / is the first character.

Freenode, formerly known as Open Projects Network, is an IRC network used to discuss peer-directed projects. Their servers are all accessible from the domain name chat.freenode.net and irc.freenode.net, which load balances connections by using the actual servers in rotation. In 2010, it became the largest free and open source software-focused IRC network.

We will be updating this story with additional information as it becomes available.

Full Story: http://altcoinpress.com/2014/09/irc-freenode-network-hacked/

There is a theory that people with Aspergers are actually highly evolved crystal children with abilities beyond our understanding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjbXVuH31xY

Mars One candidate, Heidi Hecht, is looking to finance her Mars travel expenses using Bitcoin. Today, on Reddit, she posted a link to her StartJoin fund raising page which features the above video.

According to her StartJoin description, Heidi strives to become the first Mars cosmonaut to fund her trip entirely in Bitcoin. If her name is drawn to be on the first mission, she would depart earth in 2024 and arrive on her new planetary home sometime in 2025.

Mars One is a non-profit organization based in the Netherlands that has put forward conceptual plans to establish a permanent human colony on Mars by 2025. Mars One’s current concept includes launching four carefully selected applicants in a Mars-bound spaceflight in 2024, to become the first residents of Mars, and have every step of the crew’s journey documented for a reality television program.

StartJoin, launched in February 2014, is a crowd funding technology platform that accepts cryptocurrencies like Maxcoin (MAX), and Bitcoin (BTC), in addition to traditional fiat payment methods.

Full Story: http://altcoinpress.com/2014/09/mars-cosmonaut-needs-bitcoin-for-one-way-flight-home/