I'd love to see "Registered Date" displayed under each user's name next to their posts, right beneath "Activity." There was an old thread on this from about a year and a half ago, but it didn't seem to get much traction.

I think Registered Date can provide some useful information, and although Activity conveys some of this same information I still think that it paints a more detailed picture to know Registered Date as well and it would be convenient to get this information from a quick glance.

I propose that users be given an option to select "Show registered date by posts" in their Forum Profile Information, the same way we have the "Show post count by posts" option. I'd also hope that this feature or a similar one makes it into the new forum software.

Robert Sarvis, a Libertarian candidate running for US Senate in Virginia, started accepting bitcoin donations today. Sarvis previously ran for Governor in Virginia in 2013 and got over 6% of the vote, quite unprecedented for relative unknown third party candidate with very little campaign funding.

Here's an ad he ran during the Governor election cycle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeOZKzWNgcs

And here's his website with more information about him: http://www.robertsarvis.com/

I've had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Sarvis on several occasions. He may be the most sincere and intelligent person running for national office, and I think supporting candidates like he is critical if we'd like to see change for the better in our political system. There's no better way to financially support him than with bitcoin, and I'm confident his campaign would use these funds very wisely to advance liberty and fight the hegemony of the two major parties and monied interests over our government.

I will be throwing a few satoshis his way and I hope others join in. Go here to donate:

https://robertsarvis.com/help/donate#btc

Thanks!

So I'm in a situation where there's a certain user I don't want to trust - namely I don't want to take into consideration their trust ratings for other users since I believe they abuse the system with frivolous ratings - but he's trusted by someone I trust and therefore counts as trusted for me. I don't want to have untrust anyone and I don't want to have to reduce my trust depth.

Rather, I'd love it if there were a list of users one could specify that would remain untrusted even if they fall somewhere in your trust network. Could such a feature be implemented? Thanks.

If you're like me and have relatives who have heard about bitcoin and are intrigued, but are also skeptical and detached from the concept of decentralized virtual currency, this might be both a nifty gift and a pleasant way to introduce people to bitcoin and start conversations. Here's what I propose:

1) Generate two addresses. Load them with roughly equal amounts of bitcoin to gift a person, the exact amount is up to you.

1a) Optionally, generate vanity addresses for one or both addresses. This could help give a more personalized touch to the gift. You can use vanitygen at https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=25804.0 or other tools to create the addresses. Anything up to 5 characters is fairly easy to find, 6 characters is manageable but 7+ takes quite some time in my experience.

2) Take one of the addresses and use it to create a paper wallet, preferably one that is attractive. Something tangible and that looks valuable may be more appealing to newcomers than a USB stick or a 12 random word seed or whatever. My choice will likely be the tri-fold wallet at https://bitcoinpaperwallet.com/, which is a physical representation of the notion that one's public address is to be shared for receiving payment while the private key must be protected as it allows the corresponding bitcoins to be spent.

3) With the other address, create a blockchain.info wallet and import the private key so that the bitcoins are pre-loaded and ready to spend. For the wallet password, try to use something that's strong but relatively easy to remember. I'm thinking of using a pronounceable password to help with this, which can be generated some places online or with the LastPass browser plugin. Definitely advise people that if they change their password they should use something unique, random, and strong.

4) Put the paper wallet into an envelope. Print out some basic instructions on how to use blockchain.info and how to send/receive bitcoins, as well as how to import their paper wallet into their blockchain.info wallet, and put that into the envelope as well. If people are interested, I can share the instructions I write up in this thread so others can use it. Include a link to their blockchain wallet along with their password and identifier. Lastly, include a list of merchants and websites where they can buy things they might want. This should ideally be personalized for each person, but I think one go-to website would be Gyft, which lets you buy gift cards to a variety of places with bitcoin and receive a 3% discount for doing so.

5) Finally, I plan to keep an encrypted backup of all the private keys I use for gifts that I will only touch if people lose their wallets, just in case. It would certainly be a negative bitcoin experience for people to lose their paper wallet or password. This step might not be necessary with more tech-savvy people, and it shouldn't be a replacement for encouraging good security and backup habits.

6) Put a ribbon on the envelope, write their names on it, and you're good to go. If done right, you can give people personalized and attractive bitcoin gifts for Christmas that makes it easy for them to both buy something they like right now as well as hold on to a little bit for the future.

Thoughts?

Do you have a website or local business and are interested in accepting bitcoins, but you lack the necessary expertise or don't even know where to start? I will help you with every step and answer any question you may have.

Accepting bitcoin is a great way to attract buzz and attention to your business, as well as lower your transaction fees and risks of chargebacks. The number of merchants and businesses accepting bitcoins, as well as the number of consumers with bitcoins to spend, is growing by the day. But bitcoin is still an emerging technology and getting started with it isn't that easy - especially for brick & mortar businesses.

I am a computer engineer and I have extensive knowledge of the bitcoin economy as well as the inner workings and technical aspects of the bitcoin network. I can help you with:

-Accepting bitcoin payments online or in person
-Reducing exposure to bitcoin price fluctuations
-Selling and buying bitcoins for USD
-Protecting your privacy and your customers' privacy
-Storing bitcoins safely
-Transferring bitcoins
-Custom software and website design

I can meet in-person in DC or central/northern VA so this would be perfect if you have a business in that area and are looking to get into bitcoin.

I am providing these services free of charge for a limited time, the only thing I ask for is positive references if you were satisfied with my service. Please post or PM me if you are interested or have any questions. Thanks!

I'd like to buy BTC-E USD coupon codes. I can offer Paypal, Dwolla, or a P2P transfer to a US checking account.

I've made a couple of successful trades on bitcoin talk, one of which was a trade of Dwolla USD for BTC-E USD, and I'm a part owner of www.bitcoingem.com.

Made a successful trade with 420. I sent Dwolla first and he sent me a code back promptly.

Confirmed succesful trade

I can offer a small premium on the exchange, although the exact amount will depend on the amount and current prices. Please post here or PM me if you'd like to make a deal. Thanks!

I wrote a blog post about currency and bitcoin and thought this would be a good place to share and discuss with others.

http://mcnallydp.wordpress.com/2012/12/25/its-all-monopoly-money-now/

It talks about the Diablo II in-game economy, gold/silver and gold/silver backed currencies, the inherent worthlessness of fiat money, and bitcoin's utility as a currency and why it has value despite its own inherent worthlessness.

Please read if you're interested and share your thoughts, thanks a lot!

I'm sorry if this has been discussed already in another thread, I did some quick searching and couldn't find an answer to my question.

Would US courts enforce a contract for payment in bitcoins, given that bitcoins are not legal tender?

For example, lets say I loan you 100 bitcoins and in exchange you sign an agreement to pay me 105 bitcoins one year from now. Next year rolls around, and you won't give me any bitcoins but you do offer me USD, which I refuse. If this went to court, would the court rule in my favor or would they consider the debt extinguished since you offered payment in legal tender? Would the answer depend on the terms of the signed agreement?

Many thanks to anyone who shares their knowledge on this.

I was scammed for $16.50 by a user on Bitcoinary. His information is as follows:

Name: Gavin Eros
Facebook: http://en-gb.facebook.com/gavin.eros
Mobile Number: 818-404-7412 (I called this number and he answered)
E-mail: etiking@tormail.org (although I suspect he uses multiple)
Account Number: 000000476021212
Routing Number: 122100024 (Chase Bank)

In general, I would advise users to stay away from Bitcoinary as their seems to be 0 scam protection. They don't even have a way to report scammers as far as I can tell, and I contacted their support about the scam almost two weeks ago but never heard back.

I've been reading about PPCoins and find them quite interesting and promising. I'm a bit concerned about bitcoins long term because of how expensive it will be to secure the network in the long run. For the network to be completely secure, theoretically, it would need >50% of the world's computing power mining it. Years from now, when the bitcoin network might be larger and a more attractive target, the mining rewards will be decreased therefore disincentivizing security for the network. Best case scenario, the network would stay secure but at a significant cost in power consumption and hardware and it might require transaction fees greater than what we're used to now.

Enter PPCoin, I won't pretend to understand everything about it but it seems like a better long term solution to the crypotocurrency problem. I have one peeve though (well two really, the other being no merged mining which is unusual for a "green" coin) - the name. When written down - PPCoin - it looks ok, and I get that it stands for P2P which makes sense. When spoken out loud - pee pee coin - it sounds ridiculous. I can't imagine it being taken seriously when it sounds like something you might reward a toddler with for making progress with potty training.

It might be too late to change the name, but if not I hope it can be "fixed." Even just PCoin sounds less ridiculous and rolls off the tongue more easily.

Or maybe I should just wait for the next iteration of a POS coin that can fix a few of the concerns PPCoin has raised, enable merged mining, and - most importantly - come out with a better name.