i was looking at shapeshift now that they support no-KYC DEX trading.

if you don't have a hardware wallet, the only option is to use portis, a browser-based wallet owned by shapeshift. it looks kinda like metamask. https://www.portis.io/

has anyone used it? can anyone comment on potential security issues? i don't have a hardware wallet and i'm wondering how secure this would be on an iOS or PC browser.

[Suarez said bitcoin is “a very attractive investment” and that the city of Miami is considering “diversifying our investment portfolio” and holding a percentage of investments in bitcoin.]

i'm not sure how serious he is, but the mayor of miami (12th largest city in the USA) just said in an interview with FOX business that they are considering a direct investment in bitcoins: https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/miami-mayor-bitcoin-invest-cryptocurrency

The mayor of Miami wants to make his city more appealing to the tech industry by embracing bitcoin and even investing some government funds in the cryptocurrency.

“If I would have done it last year, I would have made 200 plus percent,” Mayor Francis Suarez said on FOX Business' “Varney and Co.” “So I would have looked like a genius.”

The mayor told host Stuart Varney that Miami is looking into allowing citizens to pay taxes and fees to the city in bitcoin.

“We want to be one of the most crypto-forward and technological cities in the country,” he said. “So we're looking at … creating a regulatory framework that makes us the easiest place in the United States to do business if you're doing it in cryptocurrencies.”

“I want the creative and the innovative class to come here and create high-paying jobs for my residents,” he said.

Suarez said bitcoin is “a very attractive investment” and that the city of Miami is considering “diversifying our investment portfolio” and holding a percentage of investments in bitcoin.

He believes the price of bitcoin will increase as the currency becomes more mainstream.

“It's only going to go up,” Suarez said.

public officials in control of government treasuries turning into bitcoin bulls? we're obviously entering a new era! is this just the beginning---next stop, central banks?

if they follow through, would this be the first direct investment of government funds into bitcoin?

i'm interested in buying gold coins with bitcoin. i am hoping to avoid KYC.

the most prominent choices are https://www.apmex.com and https://www.jmbullion.com. both process their bitcoin payments through bitpay, who may be in the process of mandating KYC.

apmex says in their terms they will demand KYC "at their discretion". jmbullion requires KYC above $3k. so i'm thinking about buying 1 coin at a time from jmbullion, to keep it under $3k.

does anyone have any reviews for either site, and have they ever demanded KYC from you?

are there other gold dealers who accept bitcoin---preferably not through bitpay?

i've had a transaction stuck for days. after bumping the fee, i get this error whenever i try broadcasting:



it's not a server issue. this is an offline wallet with a lot of history so sadly i can't even locate the sending output in the offline wallet to sweep the private key either. i'm just completely stuck.

do i seriously need to download an electrum update just to be able to broadcast an RBF transaction?

[The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority said consumers who invest in the red-hot cryptocurrency market “should be prepared to lose all their money” because there are so many risks involved.]

sorry if the headline comes off as FUD---i've just been seeing it everywhere today (bloomberg, the post, the guardian, etc) and thought the sentiment was too funny to ignore. what a bunch of wankers.

be prepared to lose all your money, guys!

Britain’s financial watchdog issued a dire warning to cryptocurrency traders Monday as Bitcoin took investors on another wild ride.

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority said consumers who invest in the red-hot cryptocurrency market “should be prepared to lose all their money” because there are so many risks involved.

Firms promoting crypto investments may overstate the returns that traders will reap and understate the risks of the market, and investors who buy in are unlikely to have access to consumer protections if something goes wrong, regulators said.

“Consumers should be aware of the risks and fully consider whether investing in high-return investments based on cryptoassets is appropriate for them,” the agency, known as the FCA, said in the warning. “They should check and carefully consider the cryptoasset business involved.”

Institutional investors have helped drive up Bitcoin’s price in recent weeks amid growing perceptions that it offers protection against inflation and could even become an alternative to gold.

But the FCA cast cryptocurrencies broadly as risky, “speculative” investments that could empty retail traders’ pockets given how loosely regulated they are.

“Investing in cryptoassets, or investments and lending linked to them, generally involves taking very high risks with investors’ money,” the agency warned. “… As with all high-risk, speculative investments, consumers should make sure they understand what they’re investing in, the risks associated with investing, and any regulatory protections that apply.”

https://nypost.com/2021/01/11/uk-watchdog-warns-cryptocurrency-traders-amid-bitcoin-volatility/

[It must occur in a sufficient frequency and volume and you have to accept all comers.]

in the USA, you're allowed to sell bitcoins for cash without worrying about money transmission laws (AML/KYC)---up until the point that you are considered "a business":

"'As a business' is the qualifier that triggers the money transmission laws," Santori said over the phone. "If you come to me and ask to buy $100 worth of bitcoin and I sell that to you, in no state is that sole activity considered to be money transmission. It must occur in a sufficient frequency and volume and you have to accept all comers. It's a fact-based test."
https://www.vice.com/en/article/j5qa7y/people-keep-getting-charged-with-a-crime-for-selling-bitcoin

does anyone know what frequency and volume thresholds might trigger FINCEN registration and reporting requirements? have there been any precedents set in the last few years? FINCEN's guidance is pretty vague.

take this case from 2017: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo/pr/nixa-man-pleads-guilty-illegal-bitcoin-exchange

By pleading guilty today, Klein admitted that he represented himself on the Internet to be a bitcoin exchanger. However, Klein was not a licensed money transmitter with the state of Missouri or with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, as required by federal and state law.

An undercover federal agent responded to an online advertisement posted by Klein. Klein told the undercover agent that his rate included a 10 percent commission “for an in-person $1,000 cash exchange.”

Between Feb. 6, 2015, and July 27, 2016, Klein, acting with another, met with two undercover federal agents on numerous occasions to exchange bitcoin for cash. Today’s plea agreement cites five separate transactions in which money (ranging from $1,000 to $15,000) was exchanged in person for an electronic transfer of bitcoin.

5 transactions over 1.5 years (for amounts as small as $1k) doesn't seem like very much. the press release highlights the fact that he advertised/represented himself as an exchanger---is that the more significant part?

going back to the quote from marco santori above, he says "you have to accept all comers". does that imply that if you are only contacting advertisers and not advertising yourself, and not representing yourself as an exchanger, that you won't be construed as a business?

the top american bank regulator just published new guidance yesterday. it allows banks to use public blockchains to carry out normal banking activities. https://www2.occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2021/nr-occ-2021-2a.pdf

some key excerpts:

A bank may validate, store, and record payments transactions by serving as a node on an INVN and use INVNs and related stablecoins to carry out other bank-permissible payment activities, consistent with applicable law and safe and sound banking practices.  A bank should consult with OCC supervisors, as appropriate, prior to engaging in these payment activities. The OCC will review these activities as part of its ordinary supervisory processes.

Likewise, a bank may use stablecoins to facilitate payment transactions for customers on an INVN, including by issuing a stablecoin, and by exchanging that stablecoin for fiat currency.  In this context, stablecoins function as a mechanism of payment, in the same way that debit cards, checks, and electronically stored value (ESV) systems convey payment instructions.

by "INVN" they mean:

An INVN consists of a shared electronic database where copies of the same information are stored on multiple computers.  One common form of an INVN is a distributed ledger. Cryptocurrency transactions are recorded on these ledgers.

could this be the start of traditional banks entering the crypto space---accepting bitcoin deposits, issuing stablecoins, etc?

more helicopter money on the way?! everybody over age 16 would get $2k/month, no questions asked:

Washington, DC – Today, Representatives Ro Khanna (CA-17) and Tim Ryan (OH-13) introduced the Emergency Money for the People Act to provide additional cash payments for hard-working Americans who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the CARES Act was an important first step, its one-time payment does not provide nearly enough support for American families.

The Emergency Money for the People Act expands relief to more Americans and includes a $2,000 monthly payment to every qualifying American over the age of 16 for up to 12 months. It also fixes a bug in the CARES Act to ensure college students and adults with disabilities can still receive the payments even if claimed as a dependent. The Emergency Money for the People Act additionally recognizes that not everyone has a bank or a home address to receive a check –  so it allows individuals to get this money through direct deposit, check, pre-paid debit card, or mobile money platforms such as Venmo, Zelle, or PayPal.

Under the Emergency Money for the People Act, monthly cash assistance payments would be guaranteed for at least six months and would renew for another six months unless the employment-to-population ratio for people ages 16 and older returns to the pre-covid crisis employment level of 60%. These payments would not count as income in order to protect eligibility for any of the income-based state or federal government assistance programs.

Reps. Khanna and Ryan proposed the first cash infusion plan a month ago, which the Administration and Senate Republicans embraced, and was passed into law with the CARES Act. But as a record-number of Americans have filed for unemployment in the past weeks, it’s clear a one-time payment will not be remotely sufficient. In some places, this doesn’t even cover a month’s rent.

https://khanna.house.gov/media/press-releases/release-representatives-ro-khanna-and-tim-ryan-introduce-legislation-send

could this pass? 17 co-sponsors and counting. i never thought UBI would be on the table so soon, but with the economy on the verge of collapse, unemployment skyrocketing, social unrest around the corner.....it doesn't seem impossible anymore.

thoughts? what are the limits of money printing?

there's a new narrative emerging that life will never return to normal after the coronavirus pandemic:

I don't think people realize that there is no normal to go back to anymore.

At absolute minimum:

1) Supply & demand has been reallocated across the economy, with travel & events zero'd out, remote work & masks to infinity
2) Virus permanently changes public behavior
3) Supply chain disruption just starting

Even if the virus did vanish in a puff of smoke and everyone went "back to work", the behavior of billions of people and every country has been permanently changed.

Demand won't quickly come back, borders won't easily reopen, international relations won't be the same.

https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1246151098986983424

Which industries will die off first because of pandemic?

The obvious one for me is the movie theaters but what else?

https://twitter.com/needacoin/status/1246191483746574337

what do you think---are entire industries about to disappear because of the pandemic? will some aspects of the economy and general life irreversibly change after this?

or are these people just drama queens who are blowing everything out of proportion? maybe people will forget all about the coronavirus in a couple years time and nothing will change. that's what happened after the H1N1 scare.

can anyone confirm what the "max recipients" and "max recipients if whitelisted" limits are? i'm getting at capped at 12.

we've been running a forum poker game. unfortunately sending out PMs is becoming a bigger and bigger hassle since the list has maybe 5 dozen people on it now, and growing. is the whitelisted limit still 30? if so, does anyone know which staff are willing/able to whitelist myself and @efialtis, who organize the games?

thanks.

[date: sunday 3/22/2020time: 4pm GMT/UTCbuy-in: 0.001 BTC (1000 chips)game: NLHEname in tournament lobby: "Bitcointalk Private Tournament"late registration: 1.5 hoursblind levels: 12 minutes]

we're playing poker again this sunday @ SwC Poker! if you're stuck at home because of the coronavirus, come play some cards with us!



date: sunday 3/22/2020
time: 4pm GMT/UTC
buy-in: 0.001 BTC (1000 chips)
game: NLHE
name in tournament lobby: "Bitcointalk Private Tournament"
late registration: 1.5 hours
blind levels: 12 minutes

there is one second chance rebuy allowed if you get knocked out.

the tournament requires a password. if you would like to receive it, please PM me or post in this thread.
the password will also be posted here the day of the tournament.
anyone who posted in our discussion thread will be receiving the password shortly.

yahoo62278 and i are running a 0.001 BTC last longer side bet. if you wanna join us in the action, post in the thread and transfer 1000 chips to FOMA777 on SwC Poker.

rules: must pay before the tournament starts, and be seated when play begins.

current participants:

Code:

yahoo62278 = shipdachips
figmentofmyass = FOMA777
tyKiwanuka = EnterScreenN
SyGambler = SyGambler
Trofo = Trofo

total prize pool = 0.005 BTC

registered players, please post your SwC handle here, so we know who is who!

running list of SwC handles:

Code:

figmentofmyass = FOMA777
rhomelmabini = K1R1T0
Betwrong = Betwrong
Steamtyme = Steamtyme
Iv4n = Iv4n
Improved = Obaming
tyKiwanuka = EnterScreenN
CoinEraser = CoinEraser
yahoo62278 = shipdachips
johhnyUA = HereJohnny
TheMayorPete = TheMayorPete
efialtis = youcantwin
ceehe = ceehe
ty4chips = ty4chips
SyGambler = SyGambler
Trofo = Trofo
Avirunes = Avirunes_1
buwaytress = Sojourner
manchester93 = NEpats93
Murat = hardtime
BTCLiz = GretaThunber
? = ElGambino
? = abcd1234x

[i will be personally adding 0.001 BTC to the prize pool, sent directly to the winner.]

the 3rd bitcointalk poker invitational is open for registration!

join us on SwC Poker: https://play.swcpoker.eu/ > Tournaments

5 players registered so far, with 4 days 17 hours left until game time:



date: sunday 3/15/2020
time: 4pm GMT/UTC
name in tournament lobby: Bitcointalk Private Tournament #3
buy-in: 0.001 BTC
entry fee: NONE
late registration: 1 hour
game type: no limit hold'em
blind levels: 12 minutes

i will be personally adding 0.001 BTC to the prize pool, sent directly to the winner.

the tournament requires a password.
if you would like to recieve it, please PM me or post in this thread.
the password will also be posted here the day of the tournament.
regulars in our discussion thread will receive the password later today.

registered players, please post your SwC handle here, so we know who is who!

running list of SwC handles:

Code:

figmentofmyass = FOMA777
rhomelmabini = K1R1T0
Betwrong = Betwrong
Steamtyme = Steamtyme
Iv4n = Iv4n
Improved = Obaming
tyKiwanuka = EnterScreenN
CoinEraser = CoinEraser
manchester93 = NEpats93
Murat = hardtime
BTCLiz = GretaThunber
yahoo62278 = shipdachips
johhnyUA = HereJohnny
TheMayorPete = TheMayorPete
efialtis = youcantwin
ceehe = ceehe

i had an upsetting experience tonight with bitpay.

i bought an amazon gift card through the bitpay wallet integration, which has worked smoothly the few times i've used it. this time, i got some weird error like "cannot fetch invoice" when i tried to confirm the purchase. so the gift card never arrived........but the bitcoins were sent. and i can see on a block explorer that they're clearly in a bitpay-controlled wallet. so i'm out a few hundred bucks now.

is this the best/only way to contact support? https://bitpay.com/request-help/wizard

it's all i can find. i opened a ticket......most requests are resolved in 3 business days they say. of course this would happen on a friday night!

anyone have experience with this? is this gonna be a nightmare to sort out?

is there a way to troubleshoot syncing problems in the bitpay wallet? it's not like electrum where you can choose which servers to connect to. i sent a payment with 6 confirmations and it's still stuck in the "confirming" state so i can't spend the output.

the headline and "forgery" lede are a bit misleading, as the fraudulent gold bars bleeding into the market are in fact real gold. the purpose of counterfeiting in this case is to launder money by procuring and selling bars that look like they were produced at the world's major legitimate refineries.

the counterfeits are good enough that they've been found in the vaults of jpmorgan chase. i guess gold is pretty good for moving/laundering money after all!

LONDON (Reuters) - A forgery crisis is quietly roiling the world’s gold industry.

Gold bars fraudulently stamped with the logos of major refineries are being inserted into the global market to launder smuggled or illegal gold, refining and banking executives tell Reuters. The fakes are hard to detect, making them an ideal fund-runner for narcotics dealers or warlords.

In the last three years, bars worth at least $50 million stamped with Swiss refinery logos, but not actually produced by those facilities, have been identified by all four of Switzerland’s leading gold refiners and found in the vaults of JPMorgan Chase & Co., one of the major banks at the heart of the market in bullion, said senior executives at gold refineries, banks and other industry sources.

......

Fake gold bars - blocks of cheaper metal plated with gold - are relatively common in the gold industry and often easy to detect.

The counterfeits in these cases are subtler: The gold is real, and very high purity, with only the markings faked. Fake-branded bars are a relatively new way to flout global measures to block conflict minerals and prevent money-laundering. Such forgeries pose a problem for international refiners, financiers and regulators as they attempt to purge the world of illicit trade in bullion.

High gold prices have triggered a boom in informal and illegal mining since the mid-2000s. Without the stamp of a prestigious refinery, such gold would be forced into underground networks, or priced at a discount. By pirating Swiss and other major brands, metal that has been mined or processed in places that would not otherwise be legal or acceptable in the West – for example in parts of Africa, Venezuela or North Korea – can be injected into the market, channeling funds to criminals or regimes that are sanctioned.

It is not clear who is making the bars found so far, but executives and bankers told Reuters they think most originate in China, the world’s largest gold producer and importer, and have entered the market via dealers and trading houses in Hong Kong, Japan and Thailand. Once accepted by a mainstream gold dealer in these places, they can quickly spread into supply chains worldwide.

......

“It’s a wonderful way of laundering conflict gold,” he said. “The gold is genuine, but it’s not ethically sourced ... They look completely genuine, they assay correctly, and they weigh correctly as well.”

The perfect appearance makes the bars highly effective. “Because gold is completely fungible,” Hayes said, “you can bleed it into genuine production. It’s very, very hard to control.”

J.P. Morgan supplies gold from major refiners for many of the world’s biggest banks, jewelers and investors, and the discovery of the forged bars in its vaults triggered a full review of the gold it held, market sources said. One said this sweep unearthed around 50 fraudulently-branded bars. Another said it found several hundred. J.P. Morgan did not comment.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gold-swiss-fakes-exclusive/exclusive-fake-branded-bars-slip-dirty-gold-into-world-markets-idUSKCN1VI0DD

10k+ taxpayers are receiving warning letters from the IRS. there are 3 types of letters---one is just a "soft notice" that is information-only, not alleging any misreporting. the other two are a bit more threatening. this is how one user on reddit described them:

6174: Basically means they know you have crypto
6174-A: Basically means they think you broke the law and haven't paid your taxes, and may or may not start enforcement actions on you soon
6173: Means they are sure you broke the law, and are coming after you now.

here's the article from CNBC. an excerpt:

If you own bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, you might want to check your mailbox.

The Internal Revenue Service is in the process of sending letters to U.S. citizens who own virtual currency and potentially failed to pay the necessary taxes and to those who improperly reported taxes on digital assets last year, the agency announced Friday.

“Taxpayers should take these letters very seriously by reviewing their tax filings and when appropriate, amend past returns and pay back taxes, interest and penalties,” IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said in a news release. “The IRS is expanding our efforts involving virtual currency, including increased use of data analytics.”

The agency said it started sending out letters last week that by the end of August will reach 10,000 taxpayers. The list of names was obtained through “various ongoing IRS compliance efforts.” In some cases, the IRS said taxpayers could be subject to criminal prosecution.

Last year, popular trading platform Coinbase alerted 13,000 customers that it was complying with a court order to provide the IRS with information on accounts worth at least $20,000 from the years 2013 to 2015. The IRS did not say whether its mailing list was a result of the Coinbase disclosures.

and also an insightful article written by a tax attorney on the subject: Crypto Investors Don't Need To Panic About IRS Letter 6174-A, Here's Why

i just noticed that kucoin recently launched a bitmex-like derivatives platform. up to 20x leverage, and it looks like for now there is only one contract available---bitcoin perpetual swap contract. it has a very small contract size (in fact they are calling it a "mini" contract) at 1 USD so it's very accessible. for now, their terms say nothing about prohibiting USA residents, though with bitmex having the CFTC breathing down their neck, that may change.

they said the public beta launch lasts 3 weeks. that was almost 3 weeks ago. so i guess it should be launching for real soon?

another day, another CFTC investigation of a major bitcoin/derivatives exchange. at least the DOJ isn't involved at this point---it's not a criminal probe. and the allegations don't seem nearly as serious as the ones made against bitfinex and tether.

reported by bloomberg:

The months-long CFTC probe is focused on whether BitMEX broke rules by allowing Americans to trade on the platform, which isn’t registered with the agency, said one of the people who asked not to be named discussing the investigation, which hasn’t been made public. The regulator considers virtual currencies like Bitcoin to be commodities, and it has jurisdiction over futures and other derivatives based on them.

BitMEX Chief Executive Officer Arthur Hayes said in an interview in January that BitMEX removes anyone who flouted company rules barring U.S. residents and nationals. However, it is possible clients masked their location by using virtual private networks to assign their computer an Internet protocol address from a BitMEX permitted country, tricking filters put in place, Hayes said.

While BitMEX is registered in the Seychelles, its main office is in Hong Kong, and it also has an office in San Francisco.

bitmex has an office in san francisco? doesn't seem smart if they're arguing they don't operate in the USA.

all eyes were on BAKKT to bring the first physically delivered bitcoin futures to market, but it looks like ledgerX might beat them to the punch. according to the bloomberg article (paywalled) trading is slated to start in july, when BAKKT will still only be in the testing phase. notably, these futures will be available for both retail and institutional traders.

this is a pretty big deal. the regulated cash-settled markets offer no way for buyers to accumulate real bitcoins so they don't represent real supply and demand. with physical delivery, we could see supply and demand on these markets spilling over into the spot markets.

from coindesk:

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has cleared bitcoin derivatives provider LedgerX to offer physically settled bitcoin futures contracts.

The CFTC said Tuesday it had approved LedgerX’s application for a designated contract market (DCM) license, meaning the company can now offer the new futures contracts. LedgerX is the second company to receive approval to offer physically settled bitcoin futures; other firms, such as Intercontinental Exchange’s Bakkt, Seed CX and ErisX plan to enter this market. (While Bakkt’s own futures contracts have been self-certified, the firm is waiting for the New York Department of Financial Services to license its warehouse).

Unlike the cash-settled bitcoin futures listed by the Chicago exchanges Cboe and CME, in physically settled futures the buyer receives the underlying commodity when a contract expires, rather than the fiat equivalent.

Monday’s approval means that New York-based LedgerX can not only list these bitcoin futures contracts but crucially can offer its products to retail clients, not just institutional ones.

No timeline was provided for when LedgerX might start to offer futures. but chief operating and risk officer Juthica Chou told CoinDesk that the company was looking to be the first provider of this product in the U.S.

“There’s no doubt that we’re looking to be first, we’re looking to be the incumbent,” she said. “We think we’re better positioned and we want to be there to serve customers of all sizes.”

anybody else having recurrent problems placing/cancelling orders?

i can't cancel any open orders! every time i do, it shows "cancelling" for a split second and then reverts to "open". switching browsers or signing out and signing back in does nothing. all my funds held in open orders are basically frozen now and i can't use them. i'm being royally fucked at the moment. this has been going on for hours.

anyone having similar problems? it's gonna take coinbase support ~6 years to respond to me, so i figured i should ask here.....