...impresses upon or attaches to...

Well, there goes the "clean" QR code stickers.

Oh, you were talking about redeeming coins directly from bills. I thought you were still talking about a tracking game.

Edit: Yea, I think that could def work, and it's probably the simplest possible version of the idea. It's not as inherently viral as it could be, but maybe use as a starting point?

^ But if identifying bill information is entered for the first time how would a site know it is valid?

I like this approach too, but I'd add a site address in addition to QR code. The larger majority of population don't have QR scanning phones. I think this method could work, although the rate of spreading the message would be much slower I'd think than the more interactive game.

I agree with edd about keeping things simple, but actually the game I described is no different in simplicity from a user's perspective. They're still just entering bills into a site. The site does all the rest of the work for calculations.

I also agree a note can't give credit the first time entered, or people will make up serial numbers. I think the key validation is having the second person verify the details of the bill. From the tech standpoint checking the I.P. geo location is the best way to guard against one person pretending to be many others.

As for the illegality of marking bills it's interesting that wheresgeorge.com has set a precedent. The Secret Service themselves commented that as long as the site ceased selling the rubber stamps to mark with they wouldn't look into it too much. If bitcoin created its own game that did nothing different what would justify a new crack down?

It's a gray area, but it's interesting that the current system has no problem using gray area to their own benefit, such as with so-called "voluntary" income taxes and capital gains taxes on legal tender gold/silver coins.

The anonymous features of Bitcoin makes it possible to safely take a political stand. It's just a question of whether the resulting PR would do more harm than any benefits of exposure from actions taken.

Writing a web address is enough to render a bill unfit to be reissued? That's a stretch, IMO.

And it's a game to track bills not a movement. Bitcoin is not a currency.

No, that's not how to win at the game. You have best chances by entering the web address on the max number of bills, because they all add to your total - once upon being entered from another location. There is no limit on how many bills you can enter. A VPS across the country, or a friend for that matter, could be used but only once without going into elaborate spoof tactics. For example, there could be a diversity of location bonus. In other words, the object of the game is to put out a very diverse imprint of bills belonging to you. That can be done by marking bills, or it can be done by spoofing. It's probably far easier to do it by marking bills.

Yes, people continue entering the bills. Any person gets credit once when the next person enters the bill.

Yes, gaming the system by I.P. is possible, but I think it's one of those things where it's easier to play correctly. A time delay would help. For anyone with sufficient skill to do so it wouldn't be worth the elaborate effort needed. As for friends entering each other's bills, remember that credit is only given once, then the bill is expected to be entered from another location and credit is given to the last person. But even the limited cheating of friends is the essence of what going viral is about. There could be a location diversity bonus. I'm thinking the max reward issued wouldn't be more than $500-1K.

This could be big.

I agree the main point should be incentive to have more people mark new bills.

Here is the idea I have for now:

1. Mark on $1 bills (yes, ideally this works anywhere but start with U.S. for simplicity) the following: thebitcoingame.com or unlockmysecret.com

2. A curious person goes to the website and is congratulated on finding a game worth real money. The object of the game is simple: rack up the most miles traveled for their bill as possible. All they need to do is enter info from their bill (e.g. serial number and plate number)

3. The website enters the bill info and geo location of the I.P. address then calculates the distance from last entry if any. This is added to the user's score.

4. On the 1st of every month the top 3 users with the highest mileage score receive Bitcoin prize reward. This can come from donations and site advertising. There is no limit to the number of bills a person can register, but the bill they enter only is worth mileage for them to the next entry, then it transfers to the next user.

5. The site displays a running tally, and possibly other interesting info like where the bill was received etc. to add interest. It could be bigger than wheresgeorge.com. Of course, there is also a simple introduction to what Bitcoin is.

6. There can be a big bonus if a user enters any bill that they entered and later found its way back to them.

To prevent gaming the system: as mentioned earlier each bill has different security features which can be used to verify the user is holding it. The other problem is spoofing I.P. addresses, which is possible, but it's harder to spoof I.P. location over and over. Also, the I.P. might be required to come from Starbucks or McDonalds both of which offer free wi-fi nationwide.

The key difference with Bitcoin, of course, is that no government can shut it down because there is no central authority to target.

The answers you've gotten so far I believe are spot on.

But let me add a perspective concerning wider use. Money is a funny thing. What gives it value is agreement. For example, pretty seashells and feathers have been used as money because enough people agreed to accept them.

If you were going to buy a car and the dealer offered a 50% discount if you paid in bitcoins, I think you'd quickly become interested in acquiring bitcoins too. The items listed will come about naturally. For example, I had sent you a PM about Safeb.it which solves number 1, and Mt.Gox.com, the largest current exchange, essentially answers number 2 already.

Bitcoin has a bit of a chicken and egg problem, but one which will likely work itself out because of its favorable features over current "money".

Bitcoin is growing at a phenomenal rate with no signs of slowing down. Nothing of it existed prior to Jan. 3, 2009, and now a search for "bitcoin" returns 12 million results on Google. Even you noted the global response you've gotten.

Regulations are perhaps a speed bump slowing some parts of development towards much wider spread use, but they certainly won't prevent it.

Yes, by becoming a U.S. corporation and with focus on security FlexCoin provides the two crucial elements of trust and responsibility any bank should have. The only thing more I'd ask is guaranteeing some level of coin loss, but they currently don't and state this clearly which is fine to start.

+1 Yep.

FWIW, I've posted similar thoughts to the OP.

Green addresses can handle the instant transfer issue nicely, but only as a default or minimum part of the infrastructure, sort of like the client.

I don't think most eventual Bitcoin users (over 90%) should ever need to bother with the client. I feel two things should exist above the base infrastructure: 1. banks 2. a person-to-person payment service (Bitcoin PayPal - pay/receive with just an email address). I'm encouraged there seems to be progress in both areas.

FlexCoin (flexcoin.com) - is the first dedicated Bitcoin Bank. It appears they are transitioning the entity to become an independent U.S. corporation. They mention clearly that they are not ultimately responsible for Bitcoin loss, which is fine as a start. Ideally, a later version will provide some minimum level of guarantee (say 500 BTC), even if they need to charge fees.

SafeBit - I think will fulfill the role as a simple Bitcoin PayPal. (http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/24/the-business-of-bitcoin-entrepreneurs-see-opportunities-in-alternative-currencies/)

You're right. The OP has .1$ which is a sort of weird format, which when I glanced at registered as somebody guaranteeing Bitcoins for 1 penny.

I'm not sure why the choice of 10 cents then. As long as Bitcoins can't go to zero that concern is alleviated.

21 million coins at .01 = 210,000 not 2.1M

Yes. I'd say more "consumer-friendly" infrastructure to be precise.

But we also need purchasable items of high value pertaining to Bitcoin users. Books, games, Alpaca socks, etc. as mentioned on the WeUseCoins.com video are all things that can be bought with dollars with less hassle or risk of currency depreciation. Why would people buy them with Bitcoins? Most wouldn't bother, and most don't.

Drugs on the other hand ARE of high value for certain Bitcoin users, because of its anonymity features. And people do spend Bitcoins on them.

Local community food markets along with other goods and services could also be of high value specific to Bitcoin users, especially those of the protester type since they're looking for alternatives to the dollar based economy.


I agree that would be highly useful! Similarly, I plan to have a sort of eBay-like feedback system on the local community site.


This sounds like something that could work in practice as a security measure for mid-level users, people not comfortable being totally on their own, but having some technical ability. I was thinking more in terms of an online-banking experience comparable to dollar based banks. Something even moms and dads could feel comfortable using.

I visited the flexcoin site when they first announced on this forum, but for some reason they didn't stick in my head as a robust bitcoin bank.

Looking at their site now though, it's pretty much exactly what I have in mind.  

They have the 3 most important criteria:

1. Emphasis on properly securing Bitcoins
2. Clearly spelled out terms (they are not responsible for insuring bitcoin loss)
3. Transparency of corporate entity in legally respected country like US or UK (looks like they are in the process of forming to their own entity in the US, and currently affiliated with a US based company)

That will do. Ideally there would be more banks coming into existence too, but one is enough to start.

I saw the other threads related to the Occupy protests. Those are great too in terms of promoting awareness, although it's not enough to just drop bitcoin in the lap of new users. They would have no more reason to spend them than current holders have had for several months.

That's what I hope to change with the actions I'm putting forth.

Thanks for the info!

EDIT: Oh, and I agree the exchanges are somewhat used as banks too, but what's really needed for banks are entities addressing the 3 above criteria. Exchanges are certainly well positioned to beef up and add banking service should they desire that.

Hey everyone, requesting help!

In my last posts on this forum I introduced a thread and eBook called "How to Grow Bitcoin", which outlined thoughts I had for Bitcoin gaining traction. I didn't seem to convince anyone with my point of view. Forum member julz questioned the one area of the plan I felt was tricky. This was members required to use Bitcoin at a low fixed rate of exchange (around $.40 to $1.00) for a time until the exchage rate rose. I still feel this would work in practice, but no one else seemed to agree. The thread died away. Shortly thereafter the price of Bitcoin plummeted from around $14, and I'm wondering if there is any connection.

Regardless, the good news is circumstances have changed.

In the original plan I tried structuring trade such that Bitcoin had an impetus to grow. That's what Bitcoin has been missing. Having functionality as a black market currency is good but not enough, at least in the near term. Shopping with dollars wins out easily, but now there is a factor which can drive adoption: growing worldwide protests including Occupy Wall Street.

These protesters are varied, but a growing theme is dissatisfaction with banks and the dollar based financial system. "End the Fed" and "end banks" can often be seen in their livestream chats. This forum even showed their attempt to make an alternative OWS money system.

This is EXACTLY the intended use of Bitcoin.

What Bitcoin needs to grow is people compelled to use it in spite of early inconveniences. These protesters have that. We just need to make the system and information easily accessible.

So, I've already started in this direction. I'm still using everything outlined in my book, except the part about exchange rates. That no longer matters, because these people have incentive to use it at any rate. There are, however, other pieces of the puzzle missing.

People may be compelled to use Bitcoin, but they still need something to spend it on.

In my last thread someone asked why my book focused so much on food. If you look at the Occupy protests, what they are asking for in donations, and all the unemployed and homeless participants, the reason may now become clearer. Food is a basic need. Many people take it for granted, until no longer having access to it.

I had mentioned setting up local communities where food and other goods and services could be exchanged using Bitcoin as the currency. A big tool needed to do this is a website to connect people. This was in the book under "Bitcoin Markets" and I've started building a website to accomodate this, but now on a global scale. These protests are resonating worldwide, so Bitcoin has added ability to gain traction. The site is GlobalBitcoinEconomy.com and you can get the gist of it here: http://www.globalbitcoineconomy.com/about

The site is an early version, and still needs a lot of work but I've got the basics. I'd love people to sign up, look around and provide feedback. Just use invite code 55JR647.

Another crucial component is a "Person-to-Person Pay Service".

Using Bitcoin in its current form is far too burdensome. Most people should never need to worry about the client. The majority of transactions should be handled by updating rows of a database somewhere. Ideally transactions are all free too. Once I've got the above site finished I plan to start on a Bitcoin version of PayPal.

The last piece needed is a Bitcoin Bank. Securing Bitcoins presents unique challenges. I believe the PayPal-like service should limit the number of Bitcoins held to cut down risk. Instead, there should be proper Bitcoin Banks which are focused on storing large amounts of people's wealth. Naturally, these banks should be as transparent as possible, and incorporated in a legally robust country like the U.S. or UK.

This is where my request for help comes, as I have no desire to create a Bank too. But I'll start that too if I have to. I'm also open to teaming up with others, or possibly just contributing code, etc.

Other than that,  I just need help spreading this growing plan to protesters and others, so we can begin to see local Bitcoin communities worldwide begin to form.

Side Note: I've been busy developing the site, but I've been checking this forum, and think the project Atlas has to take Bitcoin mainstream is also good. I think the impact would likely be limited in the near term, but Alex Jones listeners are similar to the protesters. They should also view Bitcoin favorably.

Nobody thinks this has merit?