I like the idea of tagging. Moderation would have to be in place though otherwise scammers could tag their address "Mt.Gox Deposit Address" and convince newbies to deposit there.

It does not 404 for me, it does for you?

Why is the word "scam" tossed so carelessly around these forums?  Let's not confuse "legitimate operational setbacks" with "scams."

BitInstant's debit card is real. It is in the works. You have no idea how much red tape is involved in the "real world" of money and payment systems. I know that "we're working on it" isn't an ideal answer, but we are, and we will deliver.

BitcoinWireless is also real and I know many are patiently awaiting it (as am I since I have a phone like everyone else =) There is not a good reason for its delay thus far, other than that there are bigger projects in the works (and lots of travelling) which just suck time out of the days and weeks. Nevertheless, it will be up very very soon.

Meanwhile, we are dealing with investor relations, customer service (over 5,000 support tickets from a week ago when the site went down), hiring of new staff (which takes research, interviews, discussion), press and PR, bug fixes, finance and money transfers, conventions and trade shows, lunches with Bitcoiners and finance people, workarounds for the glitches of other peoples' API's, and sometimes we even need to shower. We also have tertiary projects (Coinapult, Paysius, FeedZeBirds, SatoshiDice...). On almost everything we need approvals, the negotiation of careful contracts, review and consultations by lawyers, and multi-timezone collaboration. Plus we just had a hurricane. And there's like... five of us.

Delays always deserve an apology, and as such we apologize for the delays. Rest assured we're moving as fast as we can, trying to attack and build these things from all angles.

If you're getting impatient, I encourage you to start building things as well. Lord knows there are an infinite number of projects awaiting us in this new ecosystem. Please hang in there with us

It's all a mix of achievements, genuine efforts, unforeseen show-stoppers, competence, incompetence, wishful thinking, vaporware, and pump'n'dump campaigns. Even the same person or company may be involved in several, or all, of the above.

I've noticed some generally respected people engage in unfounded "optimism campaigns" which will inevitably end up with disappointments. This can be understood, as many Bitcoin personas are now "all in" - they actually need to make a living off of their businesses. Short-term pressures can lead to less-then-ideal ethical judgements on their part.

I don't have anything to add to the OP, except to say I'm glad to see people keep tabs on various promises.

What's the big deal about the Bitinstant's bitcoin-funded debit card "scam" anyway? Bitcurex's debit cards seem to be working fine, right?

Casascius himself doesn't think at the moment that it's a good idea to send funds to the coins that they have (link) but personally I think it's a very good thing, it's how bitcoins work & they have plenty of silver & gold moneys in that exhibition that go up & down in value with the markets so why should it be a problem, the bitcoin value in fiat is going to change in any case, they also collect anonymous cash from visitors in all sorts of different fiat that ppl choose to drop in to their collection boxes - some quite high denomination notes/bills, I'd thought of dropping a Cas bitcoin in but this is much better. I imagine they will just let the coin increase in value unless some anon eccentric millionaire drops a few 100k coins on it in which case they'll probably cash it out &  replace it with one of their other ones and issue a news release to say thanks very much bitcoins ftw!

So in answer, no we haven't officially persuaded them to accept bitcoin donations, but their exhibit coin address & the others they have they themselves have made public & that allows anyone to send coins to it if they so choose - it's how bitcoin works & as such they should appreciate it's doing exactly what it's meant to & perhaps this will encourage them to actually turn it in to an official funding source. Re security - it's in an exhibition room with really high value PM exhibits & they know how to look after their artifacts so I doubt anyone with access would peel it or switch it for another.

I'd use the one that they have on display showing the FirstBits: 1NyVMo79 for 1NyVMo79Vanhbu92MpPQgCbu9MDV5a4NhW  

Who control the spice, control the universe!

The quotes on his website are hilarious.

"He supports my right to not wear a helmet on my motorcycle."

Does he support the right of the first responders to not have to scrape his brain off the road or the people at the hospital that could use their time better than trying to sew his face and jaw back on? What about the people at the assisted living place that have to wipe his vegetative ass and the people paying more for healthcare if he doesn't have insurance? What about the therapy for the little kid that just saw a guy's head explode all over the intersection? If you don't wear a helmet you're not just endangering your life but you're fucking up other people's lives and that's where liberty stops. Having liberty doesn't mean you get to do whatever you want to and fuck everyone else.

Well, not quite true.  

Let's say an item I need is priced in dollars, and the price is $10.    So if I prefer to pay for that purchase in bitcoins, I then buy $10 worth of bitcoins.  It doesn't matter what the exchange rate is.   If BTC/USD is $10, then I need 1 BTC.   If BTC/USD is $2 then I need 5 BTC.  Either way, I am exchanging $10 of fiat to get $10 worth of bitcoins.  

So in that context, you are correct.  Hoarding does nothing for the bitcoin economy -- it doesn't hurt nor help.  

Now if I am a Bitcoin-related entrepreneur I might hold bitcoins.  And I might be looking to raise funds for my entrepreneurial ambitions.  
If there is hoarding of coins and the exchange rate rises quite a bit, my coins have more buying power as the result of others hoarding.

Thus hoarding helps the undercapitalized risk-taking entrepreneur who bought or mined bitcoins for speculation earlier.

At the same time, an increase in the exchange rate due simply to hoarding increases the risk of a price collapse.  If that demand isn't due to those bitcoins being used in commerce for buying and selling, then many hoarders have greater control over the exchange rate.  There was a nearly 30% drop in the exchange  from the October high to October low.  

There probably wasn't a 30% decrease in the use of bitcoins for commerce transactions so the bulk of that move was speculative buying and selling (mostly selling).     If there wasn't hoarding the price probably would never have reached $13, and thus the drop wouldn't have been as dramatic.

This exchange rate volatility, which can be attributed to speculative activity (hoarding) then actually does do something for the Bitcoin economy -- it hurts it, at least from a merchant's perspective.  A merchant doesn't want to see the profits from a sale vaporize because the currency rate took a turn south.  As a result the merchant will use a payment processor to convert those coins to fiat, which add costs (which  makes Bitcoin less favored for commerce) and also lessens the likelihood that the merchant in turn will use those coins for its purchases.

The thing is, ... there's no "right" way.  Bitcoins function as a store of value, and they will be held for speculative purposes by those willing to take that risk.

No matter what payment method is used, a merchant -- especially one starting with no customer base, has a very tall hill to climb.  That some investors are holding onto bitcoins should really be of little concern to that merchant.

Stacking coins is a once in a lifetime (or much longer?) opportunity. I spend coins because that's nearly all I freaking have. Think about it, hoard them so hard you have to spend them to live.

replying to OP first post.

back in the medieval times people could easily mine gold with just a bucket and filter out all the minerals to keep the shiny stuff.. now'a days you need expensive machinery, experts in mechanics, explosives and geology...

so this is the natural progression of mining a limited resource.

so trade in your bucket (GPU) for a box of TNT and a drill (FPGA) and if you have the money an excavator/ gold wash filtering machine(ASIC).

i understand you want to keep your bucket so u can mine gold, and know it has other uses such as making sand castles or fetching water from a well. but times move on. gold miners wouldn't take their kids to school in a excavator, but they do see the benefits in having one.