Worst case scenario ... buy bitcoins at Mt. Gox using the coupon.  Then withdraw from there to your address.

You might find support on IRC:

 - http://widget.mibbit.com/?settings=1a896ad1ad523c3653962a7d8a03d17c&server=irc.bitinstant.com&channel=%23bitinstant

I see people there regularly.  But not continuously, so don't leave if you don't get a response within a few seconds or minutes,

Related:
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=29729.0
 - http://www.bitcoinminer.com/post/23625498251

Ya, it looks like he didn't structure that so that he holds majority or any equity.  There were a few red flags for me with this one (e.g., no ID / verification) but I think it is a fantastic example of how this person was able to get funding for the inventory to make a living selling on eBay.

There's no way a bank would have loaned the money, nor any chance of angel funding, etc,

And who knows maybe he charges selling costs to the project so that his time is compensated for, instead of a share of profit.


Like you mentioned, projects which expand the adoption of bitcoin (such as FeedZeBirds) are valued by GLBSE investors.

Now I've been completely drunk on the bitcoin Kool-aid coming up on two years now and everywhere I look I see a market ripe for disruption due to bitcoin.

Within ten seconds of seeing your app I was thinking ...hmm,   where does bitcoin fit.

And the first thing that came to my mind was how little incentive there is for the typical unmotivated kid to want to go through the flash card deck. Even worse, what little incentive there is for the kid to want to know the right answers.

I can picture parents or teachers laying down a bitcoin bribe by putting funds towards the kid learning through the deck.    I haven't thought through the specifics, but it could be something where the reward to the kid increases with the number of right answers.  The kid withdraws bitcoins earned then goes over to Ogrr.com and buys Diablo gold.   Boom -- you've turned the apathetic gamer kid into a motivated fluxcard deck learner.

It is creating the index, which is just about as slow as downloading the blockchain itself.

I think the ones from Sourceforge include the index, so you only need to download the new blocks since.

 - http://sourceforge.net/projects/bitcoin/files/Bitcoin/blockchain/bitcoin_blockchain_170000.zip

Just to clarify ... SMS isn't a requirement though.  There is a button to release the funds from the website as well.  The SMS is an alternate method to release the funds.

Related:

 - http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Tax_compliance

There are just 110 days before the block reward drop occurs.  

After that, It won't matter which GPU is best for mining (for everyone who pays for electricity), sorry.

For my Facebook account passwords are fine. 

When you are dealing with money, or at least any amount more than the cash you carry in your back pocket or purse, two-factor authentication should be mandatory.

Nope.  Even bitcoin.org was essentially DDoS'd multiple times due to those Slashdot stories.  (though sometimes there were real DDoS attacks at the same time).

Possibly because they would then be regulated differently?  Currently, there is the claim that all funds deposited are held in accounts by Mt. Gox.  So every BTC USD, GBP, etc. can be withdawn and Mt. Gox should not have any problem meeting those withdrawals. 

To offer leverage they would need to use a risk algorithm that can limit their exposure to the situation where they have loaned out more bitcoins than they hold, but they cannot guarantee it.    I don't want my exchange to be engaged in speculative activity where my deposits are at risk.

Incidentally, here's a related thread:

Leverage comparison SuperThread
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=101081.0

Well, transactions are only done as signed messages (using GPG).  So it definitely has a learning curve.

But for instance, the CALL option to buy at $13.00 on or before expiration (midnight, August 30th, 2012) is currently priced at 0.13566159 BTC (which is the "premium").

That means I pay about $1.80 USD worth of bitcoins now (0.13566159 today) and can earn multiples of my investment (or lose the entire investment) depending on which way the exchange rate moves.
 - http://polimedia.us/bitcoin/mpex.php?mpsic=O.BTCUSD.C130T

In this instance, my break-even is an exchange rate of about $14.80.  Anything less and I lose a portion of my premium.   If the exchange rate is $13 or below I lose my entire investment as the CALL option expires worthless.

But if the exchange rate hits $16.50, for example, then I can exercise my $13 CALL and basically double my money.  Exercising that $13 CALL if the exchange rate hits $18.25 means I've tripled my speculative investment.

So it is not truly leverage like margin trading offers but it is a way to let a smaller amount of funds earn (or lose) as if it were a larger amount of funds.

 - http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/MPEx

I thought they had already launched, but apparently it was just a trial, using their electronic-only system.

Cashing out to pounds costs 3%, and is only guaranteed as an option when done through the credit union holding the GBPs backing the currency.

Would options be included in this?

 - http://polimedia.us/bitcoin/mpex.php

I couldn't figure out the leverage.  I had 2.0 BTC deposited, and could only buy or sell 2 BTC of contracts.   Since the funds deposited are BTCs, simply buying 1:1 actually gives me 2:1 when long.  (i.e., I benefit from the gain in the exchange rate on the BTCs deposited with ICBit plus on the gain received by each long contact I hold.

So maybe 10 BTC would let me buy 12 contracts (?), that would be (2.1:1) when long.

But that definitely is not 5:1 or anything like I was hoping.

[Update: It appears to be giving 10:1 now.  Not sure if it was a change made, a temporary issue, or me misunderstanding it.]

And I see no way selling contracts (short position) provides any leverage whatsoever.  

[Update: With 10:1 that is no longer a question I have.]

Where do you see this occurring?

I do know that VirWoX accepts it, and from there it purchases SLL (Second Life Lindens), and from there converted to bitcoins.

And cashing out to Neteller from VirWoX and others is possible as well.

Neteller accounts can apparently be loaded with UKash, so that would make it similar to CashU which Bitcoin Nordic accepts, but I'm not aware of any other exchanges that take Neteller other than VirWoX.

Sorry to ask the obvious, but just in case ... no backup?

Do you use an encrypted wallet?

What does debug.log show?

Have you tried to access the keys with a tool, like pywallet?

Ok, so in a test transaction I listed an ad to sell.  My Local Bitcoins wallet shows 1.0 BTC.  I see the "active contact" from the buyer and I click on it.  it shows Transaction Status: Not funded.  Required.   
It then shows:
 To fund the transaction, send exactly 0.nnnn BTC to bitcoin address 1Nab123cd....

Now, if I already have sufficient bitcoins in my wallet, shouldn't I be able to in one click send the funds from my wallet?

Instead, I clicked on the Wallet tab and sent the coins from there.   But instead of it instantly applying the funds, I see it handed it thrugh the blockchain.

Couldn't there have been a single click to apply funds from my wallet on the site and the funds would transfer instantly (without going through the blockchain?)

I'ld agree about it not being the most intuitive site I've ever used.


The yellow light is not much more than the "last call" going out to let people know they can reserve more shares.

Once it is green light, that's when payment for existing shares is done.  I think there's a lot more time after to pay than just 24 hours, it is just that when they've oversold, anyone who doesn't pay right away could lose their shares to someone else. 

I agree though -- if I reserved the shares, and I have that amount in my wallet -- go ahead and automatically make the trade.

The site just went bitcoin-only and PayPal couldn't be used to leave a deposit towards purchase so it makes sense this wallet capability wasn't already baked into the site.

Of all the bitcoin-related things important three years from now, I doubt the bitcoinica mess will even be remembered by most (well, except for the hundreds of people without access to their funds).

Must be a slow news week.

110 days left at 10 minutes per block.  That moves the date to the early hours of December 4th, 2012.