Specialization is probably the biggest necessity. You can't have comprehensive and all encompassing services in the Bitcoin world like you do in the fiat market. Services like eBay and Amazon benefit not only from their early arrival on the internet scene, but also their legal teams who force competing services out of business through lawsuits and the purchasing of patents (just to let them rot on their shelves). This goes for most major corporations nowadays. Buying out patents is one of the most common techniques of crushing competition and consolidating the market into monopolies. While it may be possible to have centralized hubs like Silk Road, keep in mind that although there is a whole host of goods sold on there, it's a pretty specialized market. I think this is one of the main reasons for its success (besides the overwhelming demand for illicit drugs). By specializing services, you both increase the quality and consolidate that good's presence into a neat package (one kickstarter just for newspaper/magazine startups, for example). If there was a kickstarter specializing in only basic science research, then you would both establish a competitive environment for high level scientific research, and centralize this into one organization. If another basic research kickstarter is formed, then It must differentiate itself much more significantly, than if it were just another one with everything and nothing. Competition is the key. By having kickstarters with everything on them, you have electrical engineers on the same page as paperclip sculptors, and the two exist in a quasi-competitive environment of irrelevance. In order to have real competition, you must have real choices, and specialization is one way to gather comparable services/goods under one roof.

This is one of the fundamental qualities of not having a system based on centralization and hierarchies. It's the reason we have so many different exchanges. It's why there's so many Alt-coins now. It's the most distinctive characteristics of a "free market". The key is to first recognize the power of crowdfunding, and then to see how we can help establish it most effectively in this new and decentralized economy. This might mean 100 different sites, if that's what it must take. It could be that the key is to make specialized kickstarters. Instead of having many sites that focus on everything and nothing (effectively rendering them useless), we might need 10 times more of them, except highly specialized ones. Just food for thought....Or has dinner already been eaten?

I'm familiar with existing/previous attempts. I was asking because it seems like none of them are really taking off properly. I feel like this is partly because of how young this economy is. I suppose my main goal in posting the thread would be to encourage this idea. It's one of the only ways we can dissociate from the existing system which I can think of. Perhaps that's just the limit of my imagination.

I'm familiar with existing attempts. I was asking because it seems like none of them are really taking off properly. I feel like this is partly because of how young this economy is. I suppose my main goal in posting the thread would be to encourage this idea. It's one of the only ways we can dissociate from the existing system which I can think of. Perhaps that's just the limits of my imagination.

I was wondering if there's any interest in developing a Kickstarter clone which runs purely on Bitcoin. In the early days this might not have been as viable, since there wasn't as many opportunities to spend them. Now, as more goods and services are being offered in exchange for our beloved cryptocurrency, funding projects with Bitcoin is becoming more and more possible.
      There's a lot of discussion here concerning the acceptance of this currency, specifically by merchants, as a necessity for it to survive and flourish. The fiat system, in addition to constraining merchant/corporate transactions to fiat, inherently establishes a worker class dependent on highly centralized institutions to provide them their living wages. Through the power of the state, this system has evolved into the Orwellian nightmare we all know and hate. Although we can always depend on individuals to collaborate on projects and provide salaries in a small business context, the Bitcoin community can not depend on the state to subsidize things like basic research, heating and energy projects, interest groups, telecommunications, artistic endeavors, or a whole host of services.
      A framework similar to what we know as Kickstarter, could be the key to Bitcoin's evolution to another level of legitimacy. A rich and vibrant economy cannot exist on the backs of merchants alone. You need scientists, artists, inventors, writers, and thinkers of all denominations. These people cannot do what they do, and be businessmen at the same time. They need time to devote to their craft. They need financial wiggle room to think and develop their ideas and projects, without spending their time worrying about how to sell off widgets to pay the bills. In the fiat system, large institutions (universities, the music/movie industry, industrial/technical companies, newspapers/magazine/publishing houses) provide wage jobs for them which distribute paper money in order for them to go pump it back into the same system, creating a vicious cycle of dependence.
      The only way to kill the fiat beast is to divert participation. After all, it is purely voluntary (in theory). We've already planted the seeds of the economy. You can buy things with a Bitcoin. If we can create an environment where individuals have a real choice between participating in the fiat economy and this one, then I think we have a real chance to change our world in a very powerful way.

     
      I was wondering if there's any interest in developing a Kickstarter clone which runs purely on Bitcoin. In the early days this might not have been as viable, since there wasn't as many opportunities to spend them. Now, as more goods and services are being offered in exchange for our beloved cryptocurrency, funding projects with Bitcoin is becoming more and more possible.
      There's a lot of discussion here concerning the acceptance of this currency, specifically by merchants, as a necessity for it to survive and flourish. The fiat system, in addition to constraining merchant/corporate transactions to fiat, inherently establishes a worker class dependent on highly centralized institutions to provide them their living wages. Through the power of the state, this system has evolved into the Orwellian nightmare we all know and hate. Although we can always depend on individuals to collaborate on projects and provide salaries in a small business context, the Bitcoin community can not depend on the state to subsidize things like basic research, heating and energy projects, interest groups, telecommunications, artistic endeavors, or a whole host of services.
      A framework similar to what we know as Kickstarter, could be the key to Bitcoin's evolution to another level of legitimacy. A rich and vibrant economy cannot exist on the backs of merchants alone. You need scientists, artists, inventors, writers, and thinkers of all denominations. These people cannot do what they do, and be businessmen at the same time. They need time to devote to their craft. They need financial wiggle room to think and develop their ideas and projects, without spending their time worrying about how to sell off widgets to pay the bills. In the fiat system, large institutions (universities, the music/movie industry, industrial/technical companies, newspapers/magazine/publishing houses) provide wage jobs for them which distribute paper money in order for them to go pump it back into the same system, creating a vicious cycle of dependence.
      The only way to kill the fiat beast is to divert participation. After all, it is purely voluntary (in theory). We've already planted the seeds of the economy. You can buy things with a Bitcoin. If we can create an environment where individuals have a real choice between participating in the fiat economy and this one, then I think we have a real chance to change our world in a very powerful way.

Getting rid of assholes like OP must be embraced as a central party platform before I'd consider lending my supporting.

Don't forget to make the rounds on other forums, including reddit. You'll get decent exposure there in addition to bitcointalk.

If BFL has access to all these ASICs, does that mean it's more profitable to sell them than mine on their own using them? If their hash stats are accurate, then It would seem that that's not the case. Something just doesn't seem right. Maybe I'm unduly suspicious?

Just because we're on the internet doesn't mean this needs to turn into 4chan. There are checks and balances here for a reason. Bitcoin assets are just as legitimate as fiat assets, and we should consider this before we start turning this into a game.

Whenever I suggest that there should be futures markets, a lot of people start complaining that this will attract attention from the CFTC. Do you guys think this is the case? It doesn't seem like a legitimate concern to me. If nothing else, it could be conducted on a .onion, despite it be horrendously slow. You wouldn't necessarily need futures trading to be done at lightning speeds.

friends are actually a really good source for cash in return for bitcoin. A lot of people want them, but don't want to go through the trouble of getting them through the exchanges

ignorance....the cancer that just keeps on giving....

There's actually a lot of quality discussion going on here. No need to get your panties all in a bunch. I've been involved with Bitcoin for over 2.5 years now, and the Newbie forum still has a lot to teach. You just have to be willing to learn.

It's digging its way back to china. We hardly knew thee....

this just makes me love bitcoin so much more

tis a wild bull, running free

Greetings friends! I'm a long time Bitcoin user, but have only in the last year started developing software for Bitcoin exchange trading. I have a B.S in Computational Neuroscience and I'm currently working on a PhD in the same field. Although this is my first and true love, I've realized that I can apply my knowledge of neural networks and computational modeling to more lucrative ends (academia is the opposite of where the money is). Right now I'm working on a trading/market analysis platform for BTC-e. You might know me as Atlas on there (I'm sorry if you've witnessed my ramblings/newb trolling around 3-4 a.m.). I have one bot that's on there 24/7, and in the last 2 months it's managed to average about 4-8% positive returns per day. This is perhaps not that impressive, but seeing as I'm not an economist or really into finance, I'm relatively pleased with my results. I'm starting to collaborate with a few friends who work in finance, and hopefully they can help me develop smarter algorithms. My ultimate goal is to establish an internet based multi-exchange market analysis/trading platform which users can subscribe for (fees would probably be a small fraction of trade profits). In my journey towards meeting that goal I hope to learn a lot from the gurus here at Bitcointalk, and hopefully I can help in whatever way I can. Because I'm currently working "full time" on my doctorate (when I'm not developing this platform), being active on the forums might be a little challenging for the time being. Despite this, I'll put in the effort to respond to and address all posts/PM's which are directed to me. Looking forward to working with you guys!

Check your local high schools/middle schools for old computers that they're going to throw away. You can harvest chips and set up a basic mining rig. Won't be anything to write home about (or even bitcointalk), but it'll be something. It might even be not so bad with Alt-coins

Regardless of whether they are pump and dumps, if you know how to place orders you can make handsome dividends trading them