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Two questions.)
1.) Would you consider a private branding issue of these?
e.g., some generic white label or perhaps with custom private branding instead?
2.) When I grab a prepaid card at the grocery store there are no funds on it until the cashier processes it through the point of sale. If these private branded versions were resold, it would be ideal if the cards had no value until sold.
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Nice work! We don't allow users to file chargebacks. Instead we have them file a dispute
So they call it a "dispute" instead of a "chargeback". Big deal. Finally a decision is made by a human and both parties are made aware of the final outcome. Their terms and conditions does mention how using Dwolla means that for disputes with the company you have agreed that it goes to arbitration: In the event a dispute shall arise between the parties to this [contract, lease, etc.], it is hereby agreed that the dispute shall be referred to USAM Minneapolis, Minnesota St. Paul, MN for arbitration in accordance with the applicable United States Arbitration and Mediation Rules of Arbitration. The arbitrator's decision shall be final and legally binding and judgment may be entered thereon.
https://www.dwolla.com/dialogs/terms_and_conditions.aspxWhat I worry about is the potential he-said, she-said situation. For instance, say I accept Dwolla and after receiving payment send the bitcoins to the address I was given. Then afterward, the person claims I was supposed to send to a different address, and that I must have made the mistake of sending to the wrong address. If I were to follow the Best Practices then such a scenarioi would be both a.) unlikely to happen and b.) unlikely that Dwolla would side against me - A gree to the terms of the trade [including instructions for delivering the bitcoins] with signed messages. - Use an escrow http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Secure_Trading#Best_Practices_with_trading[edited] |
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How can I check how many total bitcoin users there are?
It would be interesting to track how quickly the user base is growing.
That's the thing with a pseudonymous digital currency where each user has zero, one or many pseudonyms -- it is darn hard to measure. And even if you knew how many users of the bitcoin software there are, those using an eWallet such as MyBitcoin and those using bitcoin only on the exchanges such as Mt. Gox won't count individually in those numbers either. Here are some metrics however: Map showing IP addresses and locations where bitcoin nodes are running - http://maps.google.com/maps?q=https://smsz.net/btcStats/bitcoin.kml Node counts http://smsz.net/btcStats/accepting I get: {"up":"1317","down":"5611","unknown":"61","total_known":6928,"total":6989,"rate_accepting":0.19009815242494} That snapshot shows: 1,317 have their firewall configured to allow incoming (or now with the latest client have UPnP enabled) and are running bitcoin software (or have run in within the past hours. A total of 6,989 nodes have been announcing themselves and relaying transactions. This 6,989 number is easy to spoof however. There are about a 1,000 downloads of the bitcoin client each day now (average over past 30 days): http://sourceforge.net/projects/bitcoin/files/Bitcoin/stats/timeline?dates=2011-04-10+to+2011-05-09Trends, rather than actual totals are easier to measure:  http://stats.bitcoin.it/rrd/nodes_total-year.png  http://www.google.com/trends?q=bitcoin&date=2011&sort=0Real-time stats as far as transactions, trades, and mining (block generation): http://bitcoinmonitor.comVolume of trading on the leading exchange (this view is of volume in terms of USDs traded, not BTCs): http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/mtgoxUSD#rg90zigDailyzvzcvzm1g10zm2g25Alas, the real metric that matters, in my opinion, is likely going to take some method of analysis to provide a meaningful result -- that being the amount spent / transaction volume. Because most transactions have a change transaction it is difficult to know the actual amount of bitcoins spent. For instance, a transaction where there is a 112 BTC input and two outputs, one at 2 BTC and the other at 110 BTC -- how much was spent? Because we don't know which one was the change, picking the wrong one could result in being off by a factor of 55, in this particular instance. And that number could be spoofed as well. Someone can send their 10K BTC back and forth between two of their wallets all day. The result will be huge volume ... but there was no real spending occuring. One method proposed was to compute each transactions "days destroyed" as the result of the spending, which seems would yield some very good metrics. Though it has not been developed, or at least not shared publicly that I know of: http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=6172.0 |
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The Hindu (Bangalore, India) - New currency on the block by Deepa Kurup - http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Bangalore/article2001732.ece"This open source project was created in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto and was formally announced by Google in March 2010" ha!! But this part was spot on: "BitCoin is yet to make an impact among Indian users. But considering the thousands of PayPal customers who suffered last year when the firm withdrew services from India, this is one idea that is likely to catch on among freelancers and small businesses." |
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Sunday, May 8th, 2011- First monthly BitLotto winner receives winnings
The 1 BTC lotto wager paid out 128 BTC. Lottery winner(s) receives 99% of all wagers placed. The winning entry is picked based on the sender’s address. All wagers and the payout are fully auditable in the block chain. Next draw is June 1st. Wagers should only be placed when using the bitcoin client. Wagers from an eWallet (MyBitcoin, Mt. Gox, etc.) cannot win.
- http://www.bitlotto.com
- http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/BitLotto - DeepBit pool temporarily reaches critical 50% threshold
“This specific situation is why Bitcoin payments are not considered ‘confirmed’ until enough subsequent blocks have been solved such that there is effectively no chance that that a double spend attempt would be successful.”
- http://www.bitcoinminer.com/post/5328668205 - Work begins on BitFN (Bitcoin Freenet) project
BitFn will transport BitCoin (blockchain, TXes and seeds) over Freenet and other like services. The project’s coordinator, da2ce7, has been fundraising since December. The 800 BTC bounty will cover initial development though additional funds will likely be needed.
- http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=7181.0 - New Exchange: MeuBitcoin (Brazil)
Fixed-rate exchange (price related to BTC/USD market rate). Payments are sent and received through, MoIP (Money over IP) which transacts using the bank wire network.
- http://www.meubitcoin.com.br
- http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/MeuBitcoin - Withdrawal limit at Mt. Gox for those in the EU can now be raised
“People who live in europe and have nationality of a country located in europe can have their daily withdrawal limit (both in EUR and BTC) increased up to 50k$ by providing the required proofs.”
- http://www.bitcoinmoney.com/post/5307524313
Have a news tip, suggestion or comment? http://www.bitcoinnews.com/submitCurrent week (updated throughout each day): http://www.bitcoinnews.com ( RSS) ( mobile) ( email) Previous summaries: http://www.bitcoinnews.com/archive Follow on Twitter: @BitcoinNews
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For those who play, I'm curious. Would you be more inclined to play if the September draw changed to 0.5 BTC per play? Or would you prefer it stay at 1 BTC?  I'm surprised that the fee paid for the transaction was 0.23. That's an $0.87 USD fee (at current market exchange rate levels). I wonder if going to 0.5 per ticket might nearly double the amount of fees then. |
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I think the hardest part would be why would people trust you? Especially if you are completely unknown. With the "other guys", at least someone "could" get prosecuted if they run with the money. If you could develop the trust I'm sure some may be interested.
That was one of the concerns expressed by those considering trading with this exchange operating through i2p: http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=6025.0 |
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This means that (given unchanged transaction costs) the percentage of hoarders-cum-miners relative to profit-taking-miners is usually increasing.
There are additional reasons why I agree with that. When the BTC/USD was declining, holding on to your bitcoins meant the buying power (in terms of USD) was becoming less over time. (i.e., we had "price inflation"). So selling bitcoins as soon as they were earned provided the greatest results (again, in terms of USD). Now the opposite is happening, and thus the longer one holds onto bitcoins the greater the spending power from those coins. There is another factor at play as well, though I only have anecdotal evidence of it occuring: New miners appear to generally sell much of their mining output earned until their breakeven point is reached (i.e., until total revenue matches the amount invested.) But after breakeven has been reached the bitcoin proceeds earned are kept for investment. Many of those new miners resulting from the February boost have either recently just reached breakeven or they will be hitting that point very shortly. Thus as the price rise results in breakeven being reached faster for many, the number of bitcoins these miners are supplying to the market decreases faster as the result. Of course both of these contribute to and are vulnerable to cycles where found are peaks needing correction and troughs that offer a buying opportunity. [edited] |
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I got my first bitcoins quite some time ago by converting my Second Life wealth (which I didn't really play anymore) into bitcoins There's been fairly decent trading volume for this. The BTC/SLL market ranks about third place, roughly about even with the GBP/SLL, as far as trading volume. The market seems synthetic though with bids and asks adjusting automatically to changes in the BTC/USD: http://www.virwox.com/market_depth.php?instr=11Maybe VirWoX does trades to clear any limit orders that would tighten the spread? Either way, it is great to see this option made available. |
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I think that Bitcoin is closer related to World of Warcraft gold or Linden Dollars. What are the laws like for people doing business in those digital goods?
A paper on this topic was just published: http://www.jdsupra.com/post/documentViewer.aspx?fid=5ad6627a-30b4-40c7-92c3-3413064f4207 ( pdf) Conclusion: The tax issues that arise as the virtual world continues to expand its offering of goods, services, information, experience, and entertainment are no different than issues that arise in the physical world — but the very nature of the virtual economy and the difficulty of applying antiquated tax statutes to them promises to make tax reporting, collection, and enforcement a challenging proposition. Our prediction: It won’t be long before the Multistate Tax Commission and some of the states open up virtual offices and hire virtual auditors to roam Second Life, Facebook, and other virtual worlds to track down virtual tax scofflaws. |
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It's acutally much easier than described. You don't need a Second Life account and install the software etc. It can all be done just using VirWoX.
That was a little confusing at first, as after registering I see the message: Your avatar connection has not been validated yet.
Please validate your avatar connection at a VirWoX terminal in order to be able to transfer SLL. But then it was clear: " to be able to transfer SLL" means that in order to move L$ from VirWox to Second Life (and vice-versa) the Second Life account (avatar) must first be linked. |
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Saturday, May 7th, 2011- The “What is Bitcoin?” video on YouTube crosses 50,000 views
Most of the bounty awarded to the video’s creator is still held in the Bitcoin Marketing Fund for promotion of bitcoin.
Viewer demographics shows uneven exposure between gender (i.e., mostly male) and between location + language (mostly English-speaking countries).
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um63OQz3bjo
- http://www.weusecoins.com/fund.php - Update on Plato’s #BitcoinRoadTrip: New Orleans
The map shows Plato taking a more southernly route than initially planned, with the latest update came from New Orleans where #bitcoin-otc veteran EvanR resides. Plato is going cross country and spends only bitcoins, even if that means traveling with a full can of gas to be able to make it to the next available merchant or bitcoiner who’ll exchange fuel for bitcoins.
Incidentally, Plato checked in late Saturday to report the discovery that yet another parity milestone has been met — this time the BTC/PBR.
- http://bit.ly/j2YNQn (map w/markers and routes)
- http://twitter.com/therealplato - Service at Mt. Gox exchange is restored following DDoS attack
The week-long distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack has sporadically affected the exchange, including times where the sevice was completely inaccessible. The network defenses to protect against future DDoS attacks are in place though now any future attacks will likely be different and require additional adjustment and fine tuning. - Alert from @BitcoinStatus:
Lots of “low priority” transactions are getting queued up. The latest Bitcoin Client, v0.3.21, has handling to detect transactions that will likely be delayed unless a fee payment is included.
- http://twitter.com/bitcoinstatus - Bitcoin Economy Snapshot:
1 BTC = $3.59 USD, Size: 6.13M BTC, Last 24h: 0.23M BTC in 3.8K trx, Difficulty: 109.7K, Forum posts/day: 1,161, Nodes: 1.4K
- http://twitter.com/bitcoineconomy - Press: Vancouver’s The Georgia Straight weekly
Bitcoin virtual currency challenges world’s centralized monetary systems by
Bitcoin community member Scott Nelson is among those interviewed:
“Nelson’s motivation […] stems from what he said is his ‘deep dissatisfaction with the banking industry and the way it operates’”.
- http://bit.ly/jIB6zB
Friday, May 6th, 2011- Due to time constraints, no entries were made for Friday. Items missed are included in Saturday’s post.
Have a news tip, suggestion or comment? http://www.bitcoinnews.com/submitCurrent week (updated throughout each day): http://www.bitcoinnews.com ( RSS) ( mobile) ( email) Previous summaries: http://www.bitcoinnews.com/archive Follow on Twitter: @BitcoinNews
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It uses random numbers from random.org.
So it definitely is not like this then?  |
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Hey There, a math question. does anyone have any data on the distribution of #? i heard it is a Poisson distribution.. is it a based on a model? where is the randonmess? on what order? what is lamda? thanks  Are you referring to how many are issued each day? The target is roughly 7,200 BTC (50 are issued with each block, and a block is generated roughly every 10 minutes). The time between one block to the next can range far from the (approximate) 10 minute target -- from few seconds (very rare) to over an hour (also very rare). http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/FAQ#How_are_new_Bitcoins_created?There was an excellent site (nullvoid.org) that provided charts based on block generation data, including distribution, however the operator no longer offers the service due to, from my understanding, it requiring dedicated server resources. - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=527.0 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=402.0 |
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...the withdrawal limit of 1000$ per day is a joke for investors...
MagicalTux, the owner of MtGox, has repeatedly made it clear that serious traders can make arrangements with him for a higher limit. From #bitcoin-otc on 2011-05-08: (10:18:45 PM) MagicalTux: btw, people who live in europe and have nationality of a country located in europe can have their daily withdrawal limit (both in EUR and BTC) increased up to 50k$ by providing the required proofs, more infos at info@mtgox.com |
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Crossed 50,000 views.
Do the video's statistics point out a couple of problems though:?
1.) This video is most popular in: (Country)
[Where's the Spanish version, the Japanese version, etc.?]
2.) This video is most popular with: (Gender - Age)
- #1 Male 35-44
- #2 Male 45-54
- #3 Male 25-34
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Perhaps it's the large backlog of transactions waiting to get in blocks... For anyone else wondering, Bitcoin Charts provides a view that will show the low priority transactions that have been announced to the nodes for processing by the miners. The low priority transactions generally have no fee, and/or have a low amount and/or use for inputs new coins that haven't "matured" by having a high number of confirmations). - http://bitcoincharts.com/bitcoinUsing the latest client (v0.3.21) instead of an ewallet service for sending small amounts will help (if the goal is to not encounter delays), as the client will now let you know when you are sending a low priority transaction. Here's a related thread: - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=7346.0 |
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I find there is a big problem with bitcoin as it is not able to be traded in person.
Please tell me that I am wrong and show me the solutions.
Are you asking about it not being a physical item, like paper money or coin? You can't trade money from your credit card in-person (it requires an electronic connection to the payment network), yet that doesn't seem to be a big problem for that payment system. Today you can use the web access on a mobile to send bitcoins (using the web site for an eWallet, for instance). Othre solutions for using Bitcoin on a smartphone are coming as well. Are these the type of solutions you are asking to know more about? |
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