Good to know that the problem is my aging device (HTC Desire HD) 

If you really want it small but powerfull enough, look for a HTC Desire S. It's 3.7", has got a front cam and is the best compromise I ever had in terms of screen size and portability. I'm not sure but I believe it got an official upgrade to Android 4.0.

But you shouldn't overpay compared to the 6577 models that come from China nowadays.

Well, the problem is that I use Windows (XP). Exporting the key to SD Card is no problem. The program also asks for a password to encrypt the private key thus exported. The point is: what should I do when I copy this encrypted private key to my Windows machine? I don't think that a bash with openssl commands will be at my disposal in windows.

Background: as with 2.23, I am having some trouble with 2.3 to get a fully updated blockchain in the Android app. Updating the chain is flacky (also after full reset of blockchain). It took me all day today to get it updated by restarting the app and numerous FC's. Now that it is updated, not all transactions are shown (compared to blockchain.info).

Don't worry, your e-mail inbox is probably full with my crash reports 

Anyway,  I want to know how I can access the funds in the wallet by other means if necessary.

It is still the most gorgeous UI I have seen for an Android app so I hope the wrinkles will be ironed out in the future.

Is there a guide on how to work with imported/exported keys?
For instance, what can I do with an exported key, how does the password relate to that (the private key is encrypted when exporting it from the Bitcoin Wallet app, etc). Will be useful for n00bs like me 

There is one thing that was not clear to me in the video: how long does it take for a Bitpay order to reach the other device (the receiver) as a final payment? The video seemed cut at that moment while the light intensity changed. A keen watcher would ask himself the same thing as I do.

On the website, it is shown that payment takes about 30seconds. You may want to address that in future video's (30s is not bad, but not superquick either). Eventually, tech will advance so speed of payment will also.

Welcome to the 'free' world 

Some info (scroll down): http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/common/travellers/enter_eu/index_en.htm

I pledged, but for now it had to be done through Paypal 

It seems the Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft (BVDW) fears it a lot.


In essence, they think Bitcoin may have the potential to harm society due to tax evasion, money laundering and other criminal activities. It seems very narrow minded to me, but with a slogan "Wir sind das Netz" one could imagine anything 

What did Bank (B) do to create $100 to subsequently loan out to A and receive a handsome $10 profit?

It would be interesting to know:
*how much cash actually is circulating on a frequent basis
*how much money is actually circulating on a frequent basis (money in bank accounts)

Perhaps there is official data available to compare to Bitcoin?

I'm also in 

I would turn it around: with more and more BTC users and increased value, the incentive to break the protocol in one's advantage becomes bigger and bigger. Computer power and knowledge increase over time as well, so security remains an important element. Of course, the protocol itself has been tested the last few years already with the opportunity to mature to a certain extent.

If Money as Debt stroke a chord with you, please have a look at the book: Rothbard - What has government done to our money (also as free PDF download)

Actually, when reading it carefully it is not that bad. They put forward some points that seem to be based on lack of knowledge of the Bitcoin concept and some regular misconceptions.  

*it's infrastructure is designed that those who purchased early will have more value in their investment than those who came later.  (This also makes it questionable the motives of people who want others participating in bitcoin being as they have the potential to personally profit from another person buying into the program, very similar to a pyramid scheme.)  

The former is true, but that applies to stocks in a start up company as well, or any other commodity that gains popularity (gold, silver). The latter is an very limited view on Bitcoin users. While I cannot vouch of everyone's intentions, especially the Thrive Movement should be able to see the stunning potential of Bitcoin for a decentralized open source 'community' currency, gaining users TODAY who see that potential (besides some financial gains as early adopter). I do not advocate Bitcoin actively, but I would not do so based on the prospect of financial gain but the possibility to protect once's capital (and solve some horrible things in our world). From my perspective, this point fails.

*It's also vulnerable to collusion and as well as nefarious participants from creating large scale mining operations of bitcoins making them potentially accessible only to those with a large computer network focused specifically on mining bitcoins.  

Mining is a voluntary business. Don't want to make the investement, don't do it. Bitcoin can also be used without mining on your personal computer at home. Mining is in essence really not interesting for the average user, just like interbank market or TARGET2 workings in regular finance. It only has to work as a means of payment (we'll get to that later). Furthermore, mining is an essential part of Bitcoin's concept, so it is not about obtaining Bitcoins to become rich on the backs of later adopters, but making the concept work. In the end, mining will only be about fees since the new amount of Bitcoins will decrease over time to a certain maximum.

This point fails as well.

*The other element is the security of ones wealth.  There have been a couple large scale robberies of bitcoins with no way to track the thieves and no guarantee that the owners of the bitcoins will ever see their money again.  Security is still a significant issue.

MF Global: unresolved, no one held accountable. I could list countless other examples of 'money gone, no culprits'. Someone stealing BTC or defrauding people from BTC is nothing new. It happens in USD/EUR land as well, massively and daily. Let's not forget the skimming of fiat value by the issuers of fiat curreny

Robbery is always an item of interest and not specifically related to or excessively present with Bitcoin. Having made that point, Bitcoin does require the user to think about safety. The safety of his own digital wallet instead of forgetting all about this when storing digital cash in a regular bank. Well, I would think that the Thrive Movement would not have problems with the notion that people should be aware and act for themselves  

I consider this point a fail as well.

*Also, bitcoins suffer from the same issues as other fia currency.  The big difference is that it is not clear there are any real assets backing them, making their worth even more vulnerable to large value swings.

When thinking this over, gold and silver are not backed as well. It's just gold and silver, no more no less. Of course, gold and silver can be uses for several things, but their value is in essence the same as Bitcoin:  'want' by humans. Backing with an asset is not necessarily a requirement for a currency to work (see USD/EUR).

I consider this a semi-fail.

*Last, a currency only has value if it can be exchanged for something of equal value to the recipient of the bitcoins.  If we are paid in bitcoins, we have to also be able to pay others in bitcoins for them to be of value.  But as it stands, there are limited things we can use the money for and our operations would quickly go under due to lack of useable funds unless we sell them for cash dollars, in which case we're back to the commodity argument.  Donations in the form of bitcoins are of limited value, if any, if they can't pay to keep the lights on and the computers running, etc.  

This point makes sense: if Bitcoins cannot be used to pay regular invoices, its practical use is and will remain limited. I cannot disagree with this notion but we are still in the very early stage of development. There will be a lot of time to sort out these things and all things have to start somewhere. Today is not the end; some 'inventions' never take off while others require up to 20 years to mature and be adopted by the masses. Thrive's remark that the useability of Bitcoin is still limited is true. I think the exchanges are still very important to Bitcoin and its future acceptance. Gradually, their importance should decrease as people will start to exchange in Bitcoin instead of fiat.

Again, I am not very disturbed by Thrive's stand on Bitcoin, but from where they come (with pretty outlandish claims and a very healthy dose of positivism on humanity), they show an awful lot of common thinking when it comes to finance. One would think that the Thrive Movement would have better feelings for the concept of a digital currency 'for the people, by the people'.

Time will tell the real color of the Thrive Movement...

I suggest you keep it simple.

*selling drugs is forbidden is most Western States
*that is a major reason that it is higly profitable business
*a drugs dealer would be able to make a lot of money
*but would get busted soon if all that money would suddenly show up in his bank accounts without 'reasonable' cause

Enter: the business of money laundering. Never mind that the system is broken if the amounts get really large (=own a bank in an offshore region).

Zhou is really artfull (more songs: http://soundcloud.com/zhoutonged/lost-funds)

Would love to hear more of your bitcoin tracks  

Ideas for inspiration:
*real mutta f* G's
*Scorpio's theme
*50 cent 21 questions instrumental
*onyx - scream and shout

If we take a pessimistic approach, Bitcoin could see an acceptance curve of more than 20 years. In respect of inventions throughout the centuries, there seems to be a common wavelike acceptance of new inventions. It is not uncommon that an invention looks promising, is disregarded by the masses or tossed in the wastebin (or dark drawer) by the inventor, only to pop up again after 5-15 years when the time became ripe. Every idea has its own time; every invention needs to ride the right wave.

If Bitcoin is to take this well known ride, we may have to deal with a long period of very low acceptance/usage of Bitcoin, perhaps even for 10 years or so, only to pick up steam when 'the wave' is right. Frankly, I think the 'wave' will be there a lot sooner due to (1) open mismanagement of fiat currency, (2) rising awareness amongst the people and (3) explosion of mobile internet/smartphones in developing countries.

Having said this, it seems prudent to expect a relatively stable or even dormant period for BTC for another 5 years.
For price projection, I tend to compare total global money supply (approx USD60-70 trillion) versus the total amount of BTC (21 mio). A market cap in the long term of 0,1% for BTC seems reasonable, which aligns with other projections of $900-3.000USD/BTC.

The IMF paper clearly is in favour of the Chicago Plan. The end result would be a banking system operating on a full reserve, mitigating the risk of 'bank runs'. Unfortunately, it stops there. Full control of money is still placed in the hands of a few without contraints on printing. Nevertheless, at least the printer would be under 'government control' if you still consider your vote to have an actual influence.

One step in the right direction is better than no step.

What do you envisage when speaking about a government outlawing Bitcoin (be specific)?

When giving this some good thought, government may seem to control fiat currency (issue, taxes etc), but it is not in charge of the most important element: trust. In fact, when approached differently, fiat is controlled by the people and the people alone. If trust ever leaves fiat, it is game over for fiat, regardless of the 'control' of government.

Of course, the same applies to Bitcoin.