Backup if you haven't!

Some Android Phones Can Be Remotely Wiped By Hackers:

 - http://thenextweb.com/google/2012/09/26/heres-check-android-device-vulnerable-remotely-wiped-hackers/

Whoah ... hope everyone with Bitcoin Spinner, Bitcoin Wallet for Android, etc.,, have made backups!

Really?   

Here's Square's:

 - https://squareup.com/directory


Dwolla Spots is a mobile app that gives a map showing merchants and individuals who accept Dwolla:

 - https://www.dwolla.com/spots

Related threads:


Chase bank not feeling comfortable
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=99901.0


2012-07-26 Google Ideas INFO Summit - Cyber Money Laundering
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=99648.0

2012-09-26 BitcoinMagazine.com - A Recap of Mega-Corporate and Government Attent

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=113061.0

A Recap of Mega-Corporate and Government Attention on Bitcoin This Past Year







 - http://bitcoinmagazine.net/a-recap-of-mega-corporate-and-government-attention-on-bitcoin-this-past-year/

But I am perplexed.  

One argument is that even when BTC daily production drops [Edit: the block reward], if the exchange rate rises maybe to the $20 range and difficulty doesn't rise much, that come December, mining can still be done profitably --- barely.

So today let's say a 58xx GPU might sell for $150 or whatever.  

But if the exchange rate does rise from today's $12 to $20, isn't that $150 worth of value better invested in BTCs than in GPUs?   Sure, the GPU will still be worth $150 or whatever in December after the drop, so there's not a lot of risk in waiting to see if the exchange rate does rise sufficiently to compensate, but you'll definitely miss the opportunity to capture the increase in the BTC/USD from $12 to $20.  But if it doesn't rise you'll be selling the hardware then.

And regardless, how much longer after the reward drop before ASICs will decimate GPU mining entirely?

Unless you have really cheap (e.g., $0.05 per kWH) electricity (or free if included in rent, lease, botnet, etc.) the likelihood that you'll continue mining on GPUs in 2013 is approaching zero.    

But for now, .... the less risky move is to dance while the music is playing I guess (er ..., to milk that cow while it is still producing.)

When business coaches and potential investors discuss the need for a business plan, one of the reasons for that is they are trying to get the entrepreneur to think through the long term.  Long term isn't six weeks, or six months.   They are trying to get a great answer to "what value does this business have in six years."

Now GPU miners may be doing just fine today, but in about 60 days the floor underneath them is going to collapse.  The block reward subsidy will go from 50 BTC to 25.

So that eliminates about half or more of the miners out there -- the hobbyist types who don't accumulate enough coins such that the cash-out fee is actually a big factor.    The rest are mining large enough amounts and aren't really looking for alternate methods to cash out.  [Update: And there already are mutliple merchants who sell mobile wireless vouchers / refills / bill payments for bitcoins.]

So, sorry to say ...  in my opinion, this idea's life span is measured in weeks, not months, and definitely not years.

Your Intersango account is a hosted (shared) EWallet.  So you can withdraw bitcoins to any bitcoin address, not just your own.

 - https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/EWallet


Some other exchanges have a "redeemable code" / voucher / "coupon" as a method for transferring bitcoins (and sometimes fiat) from one exchange account to another  (known as account-to-account, or A2A, transfers).  Intersango determined that they couldn't offer that feature, being an exchange operating from the UK.

 - http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/A2A_Transfer_Methods
 - http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Redeemable_code


So there are no restrictions on what you wish to do with your bitcoins in your Intersango account.

With Bitcoin being a global digital currency, there's no concept of geography or political boundaries.  There's no way for an exchange to know where the funds for the withdrawal are being sent.

The numbers for your cash-out and bulk-buying services are impressive, but I wasn't expecting to see this:


That is great to see!  That is one of those expenses that nearly everyone has and since these mobile refills / vouchers are sold by CellCoin without any surcharge it is actually cheaper to use than first cashing out to PayPal or something like that and then paying the mobile bill with that.

If we want to see Bitcoin gain further traction as a currency (so that our "investment" in our coins increases) we need to patronize merchants who accept bitcoins for paymnt.  When making that choice is more economical anyway (as paying with CellCoin can be cheaper than paying with fiat), then it just gives even more reason to use this service.

I personally have used Bitcoin to pay every one of my mobile phone bills so far this year.  More recently this has been for refills on my Virgin Wireless account and have purchased from CellCoin.



That's an impressive number as well!

Technological progress waits for no three-letter agency.

Well, Dwolla themselves have their "bank account verification" where after you link your bank account they send a small amount as a direct deposit and you verify by giving verifying to Dwolla the amount that they transferred to you.   That will take from four days to more than six business days, depending on Dwolla's backlog.

Dwolla then also identify verification, which some but not all accountholders are required to comply with to continue using the accountholder's Dwolla account.  That can take a couple days to several days, likely depending on Dwolla's staffing level as well.

So there is verification on Dwolla's side.  

But the question above was referring to the delay on the Mt. Gox side for getting verified (Level 1).

That isn't specific to "Dwolla", but all Mt. Gox customers wishing to use Dwolla for deposit or withdrawal must be verified (Level 1) first.   That process (submitting a photo ID, etc.) can be something that happens fairly quickly -- the same day even in many cases.  Those reporting longer delays with that include those whose documentation had issues, or submitted where processing crossed over a weekend  or included holiday and thus ended up being multiple days.

 - http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/MtGox#AML

How recently?

Yes, agreed.  If they were waiting on information from an external source, they should be telling you that.  If they are waiting for a technical issue to be resolved, they should be telling you that.


Have you tried their IRC?   Make sure to have your support ticket number handy.

 - http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=#mtgox

Are you asking what does Mt. Gox is having trouble with their bank mean for a BTC-only business looking for approval by the UK securities regulator?

That's like asking what an auto manufacturer recall will mean for a restaurant about to undergo a visit from the health inspector.

The client won't even care that the passphrase encryption is enabled until you try to add an address or spend. 

Have you left it to complete loading?   If it has to rescan the index, that will take a few minutes.

What does the debug.log show?

So after the 180 € you sent another OKPay transfer of 200 € and that one when through fine but the previous one still has not cleared?


Are there any other issues?   Did you give your correct account number on the OKPay transfer?   Have you accessed the account using Tor or a public access point?  Are you traveling internationally?   Does your OKPay.com account match the verification info at Mt. Gox?      i.e., is there any reason they might be holding the funds for review?

The laws vary so significantly from one jurisdiction to the next.  Add to that how Bitcoin is unlike other forms of stored value.  Since a person holding a bitcoin doesn't have a claim against some other store of value, it may be something that isn't treated like a voucher, and instead is more like a commodity (e.g. silver bullion rounds, for instance).

See photo above where POTUS signed the JOBS Act with the crowdfunding ammendment. 

Getting the laws changed took about three years since they began (ironically, with a plea to raise $1,000 from the crowd to write a proposal to get a change in the laws to occur).

But there were about half a dozen attempts with the same aim, including the attempt to get the crowd to buy the Pabst brewing company ( BuyABeerCompany.com, which the SEC shut down).

Here's a great article on the history:

 - http://www.crowdsourcing.org/editorial/how-crowdfunding-and-the-jobs-act-got-started-told-by-the-guy-behind-the-big-idea/19288/500

Well, you might want to clarify that you can use a credit card to buy coins for wagering at that MMO casino, but then bitcoins from the winnings can be withdrawn. 

(And actually the coins can be purchased without any wagering, but the fees are several percent of the charges.)