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Economy / Service Announcements / Re: [ANN] Joinmarket - Coinjoin that people will actually use
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on: July 15, 2015, 10:03:39 PM
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How long should it take to send a payment? I tried sending a payment of about 1 BTC, and it just sat there for an hour. Nothing changed in the wallet; all amounts at m/0/0/0/ are unchanged. I did get one interesting message shortly after initiating the payment: nonrespondants = [u'SiegeOfJa']. Did it hang because one of the participants dropped out?
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2
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Economy / Service Announcements / Re: [ANN] Joinmarket - Coinjoin that people will actually use
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on: July 13, 2015, 07:17:21 PM
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I'm having a little trouble getting joinmarket working with bitcoind (to be honest, I haven't tried it yet with blockr.io). Here's a dump of what happens: $ python wallet-tool.py wallet.json Enter wallet decryption passphrase: [2015/07/13 13:35:20] requesting wallet history [2015/07/13 13:35:34] rpc: ['~/bitcoin-cli', '-datadir=~/.bitcoin', 'getaddressesbyaccount', 'joinmarket-wallet-85993a'] Traceback (most recent call last): File "wallet-tool.py", line 54, in <module> common.bc_interface.sync_wallet(wallet) File "/home/cryptoman/joinmarket/lib/blockchaininterface.py", line 31, in sync_wallet self.sync_addresses(wallet) File "/home/cryptoman/joinmarket/lib/blockchaininterface.py", line 388, in sync_addresses imported_addr_list = json.loads(self.rpc(['getaddressesbyaccount', wallet_name])) File "/home/cryptoman/joinmarket/lib/blockchaininterface.py", line 365, in rpc res = subprocess.check_output(self.command_params + args) File "/usr/lib/python2.7/subprocess.py", line 566, in check_output process = Popen(stdout=PIPE, *popenargs, **kwargs) File "/usr/lib/python2.7/subprocess.py", line 710, in __init__ errread, errwrite) File "/usr/lib/python2.7/subprocess.py", line 1327, in _execute_child raise child_exception OSError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory $
What file is it looking for? It's obviously finding and decrypting the wallet file OK. I tried creating an account with the name "joinmarket-wallet-85993a" in bitcoind, but that didn't help. RPC is set up properly as far as I can tell. Thanks. EDIT: Found the problem. It didn't like the "~/" path. Used the full path "/home/cryptoman/" and it worked fine.
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4
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Bitcoin / Legal / Re: Swiss national councillor to ban Bitcoins
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on: September 18, 2013, 07:21:28 PM
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Silly council members think they can solve all the world's problems with legislation. Once you have in place the basic laws against force, fraud and theft, it's all downhill from there.
Let them try to legislate away the laws of prime numbers.
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6
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Other / Off-topic / Re: Lavabit.com and Tormail Email Alternatives...
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on: August 10, 2013, 03:11:29 PM
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I assume someone has already mentioned bitmessage.org (even though it's not email) it could replace email someday as a secure alternative.
Unless it becomes possible to send and receive messages to non-bitmessage users I highly doubt it will gain much acceptance. There's too much network effect to overcome. It is already possible to configure Thunderbird mail client to route mail through the bitmessage network ... it will become just another protocol layer option like POP, IMAP, SMTP, etc. There's also I2P mail, which has a gateway out to the internet at large.
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8
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Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / Re: Tatsuaki Okamoto = Satoshi Nakamoto?
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on: June 16, 2013, 04:50:41 PM
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Normally I don't take "Satoshi is x" threads too seriously, but since Severian started this one, I decided to take a closer look. If Satoshi isn't Okamoto, he might be one of Okamoto's co-authors. One could make a list of all of his western co-authors (there aren't that many) and see if any of the names connect with anyone known in bitcoin circles. He co-authored a paper with David Chaum in 1991 titled "Direct zero knowledge proofs of computational power in five rounds." The coding style of the Satoshi client is consistent with someone who learned programming before 1990 or so. I think there's a good chance Satoshi is still active in bitcoin circles, just operating under a different pseudonym. One could entertain a study of all the pull requests submitted by pseudonymous persons over the last two years and see if any suggest that they came from someone with a very intimate knowledge of the code.
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11
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Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / Re: Bitcoin Anonymity (or the Lack Thereof) for Newbies
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on: June 10, 2013, 09:36:23 PM
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Are there techniques that don't involve high risk and/or couldn't be seen as structuring or money laundering?
A prosecutor representing the government will "see" the situation however best suits the government's agenda, so the short answer is no. I'm going to avoid giving advice for a couple of reasons: 1) doing so could be interpreted as racketeering in one of our present-day fantasy courts, and 2) you or I might use these techniques to enhance personal privacy, but there are others out there who really would launder the proceeds of violent crime or theft, and I don't think the government makes much of a distinction. I hope math is enough to win the day. Maybe we can figure out how to use math to fight drones.  Math might not be enough to shoot a drone out of the sky, but we can certainly develop warning networks. There are more of us than there are of them.
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12
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Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / Re: Bitcoin Anonymity (or the Lack Thereof) for Newbies
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on: June 10, 2013, 08:42:22 PM
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This is a very important topic. Untraceability is the one key feature missing in Bitcoin. I have used various techniques to remove taint in the past, but my methods have had to evolve as the Bitcoin ecosystem changed. It's not an easy proposition. Money laundering involves "illicit" sources of money. Since the government defines at any given moment what is considered illicit, and many are losing confidence in the government on a daily basis, where does that leave us? ...
This isn't about "If you're doing nothing wrong, privacy doesn't matter." I used to use that argument also. I think recent political realities (and my own education on these topics) have changed my point of view today. The US Government, from my perspective, is increasingly less safe.
You've touched upon an important point which illustrates why privacy is essential for everyone. The truth is that there are so many laws on the books at the federal, state and local levels that nobody really knows whether or not they are a criminal. It's not a simple case of asking yourself “Did I hurt or steal from anyone?” Who knows what law you may have violated—maybe you installed a flush toilet with too large of a tank, or maybe you sold someone an incandescent light bulb. It's ridiculous how many things are illegal, and your life could be turned upside down if the government decided to make an example of you. The current IRS scandal is a perfect example of how the government can selectively choose to enforce laws against groups they don't like. Governments are supposed to protect the rights of their citizens. Consider the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated... It seems to me your financial records and personal correspondence are your “papers,” but this is not how the government sees it. They tell us that case law asserts that if you place your money in the care of others (banks) or send your email through a common carrier, then you give up your right to privacy. Really? So if Chase Bank decided to publish in a newspaper the names, addresses, transactions and account balances of everyone who had an account with them, then this would be OK and they would face no civil or criminal liability? No, not hardly. So, if we can no longer depend on government to protect our basic rights, then we must take matters into our own hands. Bitcoin is a good start. I advise everyone to take stock of all the open-source projects out there that decrease the power of centralized authorities and pick a few to put your support behind. Some of those projects include Tor, I2P, Bitmessage, Open Transactions, Ripple (once it becomes open source), OpenWRT, Linux, various 3D printing projects, etc. It's going to be a long fight but one which we will ultimately win. We have mathematics on our side.
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13
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Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / Re: 100,000 votes on Dropbox website and counting! bitcoin adoption imminent?
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on: June 09, 2013, 04:53:16 PM
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Look folks, regardless of how much Dropbox is cooperating with the NSA at this point, their service is clearly insecure. People have had their (unencrypted) bitcoin wallets emptied after saving them on Dropbox. You have to assume that if someone could compromise your security then they will at some point. That's why everything leaving your machine should be encrypted, and you shouldn't use sites that record IP addresses (use Tor or a VPN as necessary).
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14
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Other / Off-topic / Re: Who are the smartest people in this forum?
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on: June 09, 2013, 04:42:41 PM
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I think another person who is incredibly smart is, Stephen Gornick.
Stephen Gornick always impresses me. He seems to read an extraordinary amount of material and then recalls every detail when appropriate to the topic being discussed.
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15
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Bitcoin / Legal / Re: Decentralized Exchanges Are Illegal.
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on: June 09, 2013, 12:50:51 AM
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According to FINCEN.
Not if every person registers as a MSB? Coming soon, MSB forms stapled to birth certificates  It's probably true that trading in any sort of unregistered or un-tracked financial instrument is or will soon be illegal in most jurisdictions. That's why any type of decentralized exchange, to be successful in the long run, must be anonymous/pseudonymous. On the positive side, all of the restrictions governments are imposing on fiat currencies are making them less and less like real money every day. That can only bode well for the value of cryptocurrencies, and we may soon be much less interested in exchanging them with fiat.
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18
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Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / Re: Bitcoin will route around damaged parts of the system.
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on: June 06, 2013, 05:14:17 PM
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The concept of decentralized currencies will enable the usage of private money on a scale never before seen in the history of mankind. Who knows the amount of innovation and progress that will unlock. The nature of Bitcoin makes any attempt to control the "Bitcoin proper" as futile as attempts to bring peer to peer file sharing under control. At best the state can exert influence on the periphery, the edge where the crypto and fiat worlds meet. However as a circle expands the area inside the circle grows faster than the circumference. In the same respect, even if states around the world clamp down their influence and power is directed at periphery of shrinking importance.
I see Bitcoin as one of many technologies which are placing greater power in the hands of individuals and lessening the amount of control that a central authority can exert. It's going to be a wild ride as everyone gains the ability to create/buy/sell any object or piece of information in total privacy. We'll likely see a state-led war against general-purpose computing, as Cory Doctorow has suggested. On a personal note I don't know the exact future of Tangible Cryptography, we have been discussing various plans and contingencies. Over the last week I have switched back and forth many times between disillusionment and defiance. After deep reflection I am as energized as ever before, and regardless of what happens we will remain involved in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
I'm sorry that I've missed the news. What happened? In my experience, you've always conducted your business in the highest standards of professionalism.
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Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / Re: What exactly are we mining?
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on: June 06, 2013, 05:17:21 AM
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Bitcoin's code however is not a law of nature but a constructed set of rules that can be changed with consensus, leaving absolutely no excuse not to find more intelligent and less wasteful replacements for proof-of-work concepts later on.
Then search we shall; meanwhile, consensus still maintains that there isn't currently a better way, all things considered.
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20
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Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / Re: What exactly are we mining?
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on: June 06, 2013, 02:03:15 AM
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It's pointless busywork designed to scale according to how many other people are doing the same pointless busywork.
Mining gold is pointless busywork; we already have all we'll ever likely need for industrial production, but people continue to do it because it has value. I consider most of what goes on in Washington, D.C. to be pointless busywork.
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