Three calendar years.  

One of the highlights last year on this date was that Bitcoin had reached "thousands of nodes".  That same metric ended up at tens of thousands of nodes during the summer (using the same metric: http://stats.bitcoin.it/rrd/nodes_total-year.png ).  Other node count methods calculate differently: http://bitcoinstats.org/count.html for example.

Last's year's birthday post:
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2579.0

Here's one way to build a customer base with nearly no risk:
 - http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/30/paynearme-now-lets-you-pay-your-utility-bill-at-your-local-7-eleven-store

Chart data is stuck?  Flatlined at 0 for current day (on charts where market price is used).  [edited]

Bitcoin doesn't need to have a one-size fits all client / user model.  

Casual users might wish to use a javascript wallet, such as the My Wallet from http://Blockchain.info/wallet and http://StrongCoin.com (though know that both have fees when withdrawing).  Or a paper-based wallet -- http://www.bitaddress.org
Or a wallet on your mobile, like BitcoinSpinner, or BitPay (which is a mobile front-end to an Instawallet)

None of these methods require the Blockchain to be downloaded.

Which reminds me of another category of payment, one that arrives in a block after the cut-off deadline.

Seems like these oddball payments happen pretty regularly.  This month one wager (in the amount of 0.50 BTC) was an overpayment and another (in the amount of 0.00000025) was an invalid wager as it wasn't 0.25 BTC or higher.  Is there a policy that BitLotto has for treatment of these?  (i.e., always refund overpayments and invalid payments?)

It appears to be off by just one entry .. the 0.00000025 invalid entry.

At the moment, Block Explorer shows: Received BTC: 12.25000025:
 - http://blockexplorer.com/address/1C164nvYnofZjGVzHdJkfGLes3T1s3YsvS

The BitLotto site shows:
- http://www.bitlotto.com

The key word is "approx odds".  I think it says "approx" as that doesn't accommodate for the errors (the 0.50 wager instead of the intended 0.25, and the 0.00000025 invalid wager).

12.13 BTC / 0.99  [the 99% payout) = 12.25 BTC (rounded down)

But then subtract out the 0.25000025 of invalids and overpayments and you get 12.00 BTC wagered.

So for the site to be accurate, it should say:

Calculated as:
12.00 BTC wagered X 0.99 [the 99% payout] = 11.88 BTC jackpot.
$12.00 / 0.25 per-ticket = 48 tickets

Perhaps I didn't explain that step properly.  Converting bitcoins to USDs allows you to lock in the exchange rate but there's no requirement that those funds be withdrawn at that instant in time.  Those USD funds can be left in the account with the exchange.  

At a later time conversion back to bitcoins can occur at whatever exchange rate exists at that time and as a result, bitcoins once again can be withdrawn.  There's no exchange rate risk using this tactic and the exchange fees are reasonably small -- for both selling and then buying back later the fee ranges from 0.6% to 1.2% combined, depending on monthly volume.  There might be risk to holding those USDs at the exchange though so this may not be the ideal approach.

Moving those funds to Liberty Reserve does add an additional expense but that provides a place where the funds can be parked and then easily moved back into a bitcoin exchange at a later time.

It is too bad there isn't yet a BTC/GAU exchange where the GAU is backed by physical gold (where delivery can be taken even).  http://Bitcoin-central.net offers a BTC/PGAU (Pecunix GAU) market but it appears to be unused -- currently there are no sellers shown.  That's probably what would serve you best for the problem you are describing.

If Litecoin is similar to bitcoin, then it will come up with a combination of coins that causes the least amount of change.  Described here:
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=29207.msg373800#msg373800

From the #mtgox IRC channel:

<d> MagicalTux: Are dwolla withdrawals blocked again? PM'd you the ref id.
<MagicalTux> yeah
 because of holidays, funds are not moving *in* dwolla at the speed they should
 but since we process withdraws in realtime, it's still going out at the same speed
<MagicalTux> didn't expect to have a rally during the holidays, it's causing a lot more withdrawals to be happening than on normal days
<MagicalTux> we had $60k on dwolla friday

So you would book as revenue the bitcoins valued at the current exchange rate at the time they were received (earned) but not actually sell them then?

Sounds like a self-reinforcing market.  Price goes up which rewards the businesses that accept them, which encourages them to seek more trade using bitcoins.  Problem?


If price stability is an important factor, bitcoins received can be moved to an exchange and converted to USDs within minutes after receipt.  At some point there will be  options and other derivatives that will provide the ability to hedge and lessen exchange rate risk without having to immediately (or ever) convert out of bitcoins.

About six to eight business days, in most instances.

When you first sign up to Dwolla and link your bank account, Dwolla will push a set of two transactions to your account.  That will take three business days, in most instances, before those amounts will appear in your bank account.  Once you confirm those amounts with Dwolla you will then be able to have Dwolla initiate a transfer of funds from your bank.  That also will take three business days, in most instances.  So at best, you are at six business days.  The time of day the actions are performed is a factor as well.  If you do a transaction late afternoon or in the evening, that action will likely be treated as if it happened the next business day.

Of course, once the funds have reached in Dwolla the transfer to an exchange is fairly quick ... like under an hour for most (e.g., w/ Mt. Gox)

These delays through Dwolla are just the nature of how the banking ACH network operates.  If you need a smallish amount of funds transferred sooner, you can deposit cash at a bank (as described by the exchange http://www.getbitcoin.com or by the intermediary, http://www.bitinstant.com which uses http://Trustcash.com ).   If you are transferring a larger amount (e.g., $1,000 or more range) a bank wire is the fastest and least expensive method.

BitcoinNotify used to do an alert on 0 confirmations.  

I suppose a hack method could be put together to trigger an HTTP request when an e-mail's trx notice from blockchain.info arrives.

The "price" can vary between exchanges, particularly when there is a volatile period and arbitrage hasn't brought prices to an equilibrium.  Can you be a bit more specific on what would cause this "$2 price" event to occur? 

PayPal's user agreement says their payment network is not to be used for digital currency, so you could file a dispute with PayPal (or your credit card issuer if that is where the funds for PayPal originated) and get your money back.

If you check on the #bitcoin-otc marketplace you might find someone willing to trade.  The -otc marketplace's Web of Trust (WoT) can be used to see the trust history of the seller before you engage in a trade.  Here are some links:

- http://bitcoin-otc.com
- http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=#bitcoin-otc-foyer
- http://bitcoin-otc.com/trust.php
- http://bitcoin-otc.com/vieworderbook.php

Another third-party method is @PayBitBack -- you send a tweet to your friend and the PayBitBack service creates an intermediary wallet the recipient later can access.
 - http://www.paybitback.com

But as far as a URI scheme to accommodate bitcoin transactions I believe that has already been described here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/URI_Scheme
  The &send=[private key]  is the method for sending coins

I don't know if the key import capability being included in the Bitcoin.org client v0.6 will accommodate this yet though.

Sorry for hijacking your thread with that.


Lending BTCs exposes the lender to huge exchange rate risk.  Imaging you borrowed BTCs about six weeks ago when BTC/USD was $2.25 or thereabouts.  Today at $2 higher, repayment is much higher.  Add in the ability to ditch a sullied social network username and start over and you'll likely find borrowers who maintain a good credit history when BTC/USD is going up but a rapidly increasing number whose credit turns south when the BTC/USd exchange rate drops as well.

I'm being reminded by the borrowings by stevenbucks (problem gambler, allegedly) https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3355.0 and bond auctions by Atlas and others:

- https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4863.0
- https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5214.0

Additionally, with P2P there is the risk of the lender running away with the collateral.  Unfortunately, an automated escrow solution for handling that is not available (at least not since ClearCoin closed) http://wiki.bitcoin-otc.com/wiki/Secured_loan
- http://wiki.bitcoin-otc.com/wiki/Secured_loan

I suppose it is a little of both.  For the borrower that takes out the loan with the intention of repaying it in full regardless of the value of the collateral,then this is simply a loan using other property as collateral -- nothing more nothing less.  This could be used for speculation, though I suspect the interest rate would not be minimal for this lending service and as a result, there would hopefully be cheaper methods specific for exchange rate speculation.

Ha!  This is awesome.  I am able to create a Send transaction to spend the funds received to My Wallet immediately -- before there is one confirmation even!