I had also come up with a similar idea - although to make sure the hand device does not get hacked I had envisioned a QR code being scanned back from the device's screen to then complete the login (via web cam) with your authenticator being being a "completely offline" device (i.e. safe from any potential online threats).

Also the Trezor may be able to provide similar sort of OTP authentication down the track.

Unfortunately they are not (which makes people suspect them even more).

You don't make *real* BTC purchases from Mt. Gox with *real* USD you make purchases of Mt. Gox BTC with Mt. Gox USD (like all the exchanges) - so as long as you have sufficient Mt. Gox BTC/USD funds you can trade.

In short:

*real* BTC -> Mt. Gox BTC easy (wait for confirmations)
*real* USD -> Mt. Gox USD easy (but slower than above)

Mt. Gox BTC -> Mt. Gox USD easy (and instant)
Mt. Gox USD -> Mt. Gox BTC easy (and instant)

Mt. Gox BTC -> *real* BTC easy (although sometimes delays)
Mt. Gox USD -> *real* USD hard (can expect to wait months)

Their USD value is higher basically because people frustrated with waiting to get USD are buying back BTC in order to cash out from one of the other exchanges (some are even reportedly doing so at a loss because they either need the USD or don't trust keeping Mt. Gox USD).

Basic rule of thumb with investments - "if they look too good to be true then they most likely *are* too good to be true".

You are missing the fact that withdrawing your USD from Mt. Gox is very difficult (people have reporting waiting for months for withdraws).

So if you are going to try and arb by selling on Gox then you are probably only going to be able to do so once every few months unless you are willing to trust Gox with more and more funds (which you may never see if they go under).

Also - there is reportedly millions of USD owed to Gox users that was *frozen* by the US regulators making it very likely that Mt. Gox *cannot* repay all USD it owes to is users.

Oh - I hadn't picked that up (must have missed some posts) - must admit now it is looking a lot better than I had thought being used as a general authentication device.

Aha - so it does use a PIN although I am guessing that the PIN is being typed in on the PC (so is vulnerable to key logging).

I think if the PIN were to be entered into the device directly (i.e. no chance of key logging) then it would be a much better (although requiring at least a numeric keypad - a more expensive) solution.

And that is the problem - there is a reason why hardware devices are the 2nd factor - they can be lost or stolen.

Although I like the idea of a single non-password method of logging in I don't know how you are going to actually stop it from just being used by someone else without resorting back to a PIN or password again (and adding some sort of bio-scanning to the Trezor would probably not be a very financially viable option).

You guys would be welcome to have a project listed on CIYAM Open (http://ciyam.org/open) free of fees for the life of your project if you like.

Rather than having people *compete* for bounties it is a complete workflow system that gives a single chosen dev a chance to work on a task (up until an agreed delivery time) without competition.

Also please note that http://ciyam.org has had a complete design rework.

We are keen to continue working with the Moneychanger project and encourage skilled devs to sign up.

If you take a look here: http://ciyam.org/open/?cmd=list&ident=M100L151&chksum=e635288a

you'll see there are plenty of tasks that decent programmers can earn BTC to work on.

Welcome to join up and earn some BTC!

Updated the title - just an API problem I guess rather than anything more sinister.

(would be handy to be able to sell 1 BTC for billions of AUD though)

So as I predicted - stuff about SL and the FBI.

There has actually already been better coverage on the ABC about Bitcoin.

Also for those outside of Aus it is the kind of "current affairs" program that would be better classified as "light entertainment" which often includes "mostly fictitious" sensationalized stories (that are typically biased).

So I'd expect the major focus to be on SR and the FBI rather than anything of any depth about Bitcoin itself (for decent current affairs in Aus you would be looking for something broadcast on either ABC or SBS).

Of course if I'm proved wrong and they present a clear and balanced piece of journalism about Bitcoin then I would be very pleased.

At the moment I see this on the front page:

▼ btcmarketsAUD    12800000000.0000    14205486630.726    -9.894%    493661800
▲ mtgoxUSD    137.5800    133.952    +2.708%    482473
▲ bitstampUSD    124.1900    120.582    +2.992%    348788
▲ btceUSD    121.7030    117.732    +3.373%    111526
▲ btcnCNY    764.5900    750.387    +1.893%    101482

(I am guessing that the feed for btcmarketsAUD is in satoshis but being assumed to instead be in BTC as there are 8 zeroes after the 128)

I don't think that there has ever been a way to send a message "through the blockchain" through bitcoin-qt or any other standard client although perhaps it is possible to attach some extra data to a tx which then is discarded by the miners?

New design now completed!


Thanks to the vision of Enej Pungerčar and the efforts of the CIYAM Developers we now have a new look which we think everyone will find much easier on the eyes.

It starts from http://ciyam.org and extends from there into CIYAM Open where you'll find a Sign In/Up that supports either OpenID, Standard (SSL) or our own Client Crypto (which requires GPG for signing up).

Wow - seems like someone "got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning" - understand that the logo was created according my specific instructions after going through quite a few other ideas and quite a lot of different iterations.

You also don't understand that in fact the designer who came up with the original idea for this logo was in fact Enej Pungercar (the guy who designed BitStamp).

Also understand I don't do "bounties" as I don't believe in people wasting their time for zero reward in competition against others.

Yes it *looks* like a font - but I can assure you that it isn't and although initially I had thought I wanted something that looked more "logoish" I ended up coming to the conclusion that this was indeed what I preferred.

And finally anyone on this forum that wants to work for Bitcoins is more than welcome to sign up.

Okay - thanks - got it now.

Maybe I've missed something but if you are holding a valid refund tx. then how is that *disabled* to ensure the funds can no longer be restored (or is that the escrow part)?