Pyrit.

That's what GPUHash.com uses:
 - http://gpuhash.com

Yup, that part occurs instantly.  Once the recipient confirms the receipt, then PopMoney does the ACH push (which takes about 3 days).

The more appropriate question is ... knowing the levels of ACH fraud that occurs can you actually provide that service for 1%?

Incidentally, Bitinstant is saying they will be introducing the ability to do ACH transfers directly:

 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=78795.msg877243#msg877243

The list of banks which work with PopMoney (which is required in order to initiate / send money) is fairly limited.


Yup, three days for the transaction to clear for spending by the recipient.  



But it does not work as an account, like PayPal or Dwolla.  The funds only go to the recipient's bank, not to an account with Popmoney, so if there is a further transfer (e.g., to PayPal or Dwolla, etc.) there are three more days in that process.)  For the sender, the payment is pulled instantly from the sender's bank account.

The same problem with Dwolla, Chase P2P, ING, etc., is that if there is a claim of fraud, the funds will be clawed back.  PopMoney gets a "5" on the hardness scale here:
 - http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Payment_methods

The Securing Your Wallet article is in some dire need of attention.

The article probably needs categories, like "typical use", "enterprise-grade", and something along the lines of "tinfoil hat / paranoid"

It currently is not suitable for a typical user, has not been updated for the current client and reads like it was written by half a dozen different people each with their own ideas on security (well, that's because it was.)

Would anyone care to volunteer to fix this article?

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

So that there is an independent copy of the hash.keys file, I put a copy up on github.
 - https://github.com/sgornick/satoshidice/blob/master/hash.keys
 - https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/satoshidice/hash.keys

I did a sha1 sum on the file as well:
$ sha1sum hash.keys
d5f03cad9c3e0e2fac85fd0ba110d41fb31a20e2  hash.keys

Bitcoin offers so few metrics available for trying to estimate its growth level so it is fantastic of you to share this info.  Transparency FTW!

Incidentally, there were 210,500 BTC issued to miners in April, 2012.  Using the weighted average price for the month (at Mt. Gox) of about $5 that means that there was more money that flowed in through BitInstant ($1.1 million) than all bitcoins mined for the month (210,500 X $5 = $1.05 million) are worth.

It is impossible to know how many users as some have an account at an exchange or EWallet only and never show as their own node nor even have a balance on a bitcoin address that could be considered.

Incidentally, there were 642,432 addresses with non-zero balance, as of a recent block:

 - http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/3524/how-many-unspent-transaction-outputs-are-there

That number alone doesn't say much but its change over time will help to indicate the level of growth occurring.

That number has been increasing at about 3% per month.  If the user population growth is at the same level that's about a 40% annual growth rate.

It's not inconceivable to think that in the year or so that Bitcoin started to be discussed in the tech arena that there have been a million people that signed up, and got a payment from the Faucet, for instance or made a small investment that remains on an exchange, for instance. 

The number of transactions on the blockchain show a much smaller active user base though.  Fortunately, that too is growing (and at a faster rate even)

Oh ye of little faith.

Had the bitcoin ecosystem been a little more mature last June we would have have the ability to sell put options and shorting on Bitcoinica, and that sling shot to $30 would not have occurred.

Hopefully these financial tools are successful and attract even wider use and more competition that will help lessen volatility.

But think about what is happening.   There is all of this innovation occurring but almost none of it is coming from the leaders in the space.  Could a commodities firm add bitcoin as one of its holdings that it trades?  Certainly.  But none do, ... at least not publicly.  Yet we are seeing much of what works in the fiat world replicated, from scratch, from the ground up, so that Bitcoin is afforded the same capabilities.

Put and call options.  MPEx.  Check
Margin trading on a CFD (Contract for Difference) market: Bitcoinica. Check
Fast funds transfer method for fast international exchange of funds:  Redeemable codes from Mt. Gox, CryptoXChange, Bitstamp, and more. Check.
Equities market:  GLBSE and MPEx.  Check
Synthetic instruments: MPEx.
Lending:  ... well,  that's a weak spot yet.

These all fill a need, and will likely be joined with further competition as the market grows.  I don't know at what level all these will cause the exchange rate to rise, but what they will do is to work in concert so that if a rise comes, it won't be just some bubble due to liquidity issues like the last time.

Economists and others stuck on this deflationary spiral never consider transaction costs in their arguments.  

Why not?

When I spend a $100 on something and pay using a payment card, the person I'm making the purchase from gets $97.  So the price of the good is raised 3% more than it needs to be.   When I spend using bitcoin, that transaction cost -- even when exchanging to and from fiat on both ends is a fraction of that level.  

So with USD you have a currency that inflates at 1.5% per year but has transaction costs of 3% for each time the funds are turned over.  With Bitcoin you have a currency that will (eventually) inflate at a much lower level but whose transaction costs are just 1% or less, for example, with each turn of the money.

So at the market, the customer is asked to choose:

Option A.) For about $103 USD using your payment card you get $100 worth of goods.    

Option B.) Optionally, you can pay using bitcoins, first convert $101 of your USDs to get $100 worth of Bitcoins and then with that you are able to purchase $100 worth of goods.

Which option will the consumer choose?

And thus, even with an expected increase in the value of bitcoin, using Bitcoins will continue to be the choice made when making payments.

-----

Faced with competition at the point of sale, an argument would be that the payment card transaction will drop to a more competitive level.  A 2% or so difference is enough of an incentive to switch for many consumers.  1% ... not so much.

What might happen though is normal payment flow will move over to bitcoin to take advantage of the discount, but the payments occurring from fraud can't (or at least if it does those losses won't be borne by the banks or the issuer) and as a result that 3% truly might be the actual floor that payment cards can still function at profitably.

Incidentally, Bitcoin's currency inflation rate just dropped below 30% per annum and slowing each and every day.  When the block reward drops in half around December, its currency inflation rate will drop from about 25% to just 12.5% per annum.  So Bitcoin still is at a rapid inflationary level yet hoarding also is happening at the same time.

Have you tried using Mt. Gox's Add Funds to redeem any of the private keys?  That will sweep any current amount for that address into your account, and any payments that might be received in the future as well.

Then VirWoX is probably your only option:
 - http://www.VirWoX.com

In Canada?  That's simple enough.

Do you have a PayPal debit card?

Withdraw at an ATM,  Use Virtex and register a deposit intent, go to a TD bank or CIBC and deposit cash.   Due to the favorable exchange rate versus the USD, you won't even incur a hit due to the PayPal ATM fee.

Canadian Bitcoins offers a cash-deposit method as well.

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

Of course, I'm being obtuse here.  It would be more convenient to simply enter a credit card number and be done with it.  PayPal doesn't allow it so that's why there are no exchanges offering it.  VirWox is the closest because you are actually buying Linden Dollars and then exchanging those for bitcoins.

There are occasionally individuals on the #bitcoin-otc marketplace who are wanting to sell their BTCs in exchange for PayPal funds.  It would be of use for you then to build a trust history there on the #bitcoin-otc Web of Trust (WoT) if you will need to do this type of trade in the future.

 - http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=#bitcoin-otc-foyer
 - http://wiki.bitcoin-otc.com/wiki/OTC_Rating_System
 - http://bitcoin-otc.com

The requirement that you link up a social media account was a horrible decision that Dwolla made, but it is one they've since reversed themselves on and that is no longer necessary.

Because Dwolla's fees are so low, each instance of fraud costs them more than the revenues they get from dozens or hundreds of legit customers, even just including administration costs.  So these actions are a balancing act to allow them to be able to continue provding a cash-like ACH intermediary service.

There is this concept called The Designers Holy Triangle ("Fast, Cheap,  Good -- Pick Any Two")



We need a modification of that for describing most of The Bitcoin Ecosystem:

  Fast,  Cheap,  Good

Pick Just One!  

To be fair, without Dwolla Bitcoin would not have risen to where it is today.  It would help if Dwolla were to be around tomorrow as well.  If they need to take these precautions against fraud, it's probably because these measures were absolutely necessary for their organization to move forward to be able to compete against PayPal, Square, Google Wallet, ISIS (NFC), etc.

Really?  In the comments, or where does this cause a problem?

Ya, using a PayPal account or credit card for buying bitcoins is pretty much a non-starter no matter which country you are from.

Cashing out (selling bitcoins) to PayPal is easier. 

 - http://www.spendbitcoins.com   (just pay the normal fees that the merchant incurs .. 2.9% + $0.30)
 - http://www.BitcoinNordic.com   (10% fee)

For larger amounts, using an exchange and withdrawing to a bank is probably the least expensive.  For example:
 - http://cryptoxchange.com/blog/7/new-improvements-at-crypto-x-change-deposit-withdraw-any-currency-now-for-5



The cards from OKPay and AurumXChange can be used internationally.

From the article:


I would consider Linden dollars (the currency used in Second Life from Linden Lab) as a virtual currency.  That is not state issued money.  (And incidentally, can be traded to and from Bitcoins on VirWoX and others).


It has to be anonymous?  There goes Bitcoin as being a digital currency.

There's a lot of leeway with the vocabulary. I even see Visa refer to themselves as a digital currency company.

Here's the forum thread where it was announced:
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=78407.0

2012-04-30 Online Advertising Gets Bitcoined [Betabeat]
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=78616.0

2012-04-30 Killing off cash  [Telecoms.com]
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=78618.0