... Is there any news (or better yet reviews) of the Digital Bitbox? They are now on sale. Cost: $50 + $11 shipping = $61. https://digitalbitbox.com/I saw sometime ago a small discussion of this device, what I (seem to) like about it is that looks very simple and easy-to-use (important for me). When I last looked into it, they wrote that there would be no firmware updates required (good IMO). If anybody has used it, were the instructions clearly written? |
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First a quick disclosure: I do not program.
Any new ideas and algorithms to mix BTC (and unmix) is a good thing, it improves privacy. Differing mixing techniques strengthens privacy.
Putting code like yours (fungibit) out for all to see will inspire trust and improve conscientious mixers in improving their mixing services.
Bravo.
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Everything changes over time. History shows us that there have been Bad Times (of many kinds, including economic depressions and nasty totalitarian regimes) for millennia.
I'm not really sure how much The Banksters have contributed (again I don't know how much), but it does seem that corruption among banks has always been a big problem. The old problem of Private Gains / Social Losses has always been with us, and the banks seem to almost always be the beneficiaries (or bank managers anyway).
* * *
Re "money", my favorite description splits money into three concepts, IMO this may be the best way to think of money (not as just "one" slippery thing):
1) Unit of Account (eg, how much a cow is worth)
2) Medium of Exchange (using money to actually buy that cow)
3) Store of Value (your unit of money will be worth about the same next year as this one).
The problem with "money" is that there is no money that reliably fulfills all three! Currency can easily be used for the first two roles, especially No. 2.
But, currency is NOT a good & reliable Store of Value. Gold is however. Gold is not as good for Unit of Account nor Medium of Exchange.
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The only other thing that you might have included would have been a note in Icelandic (I do understand that many people in Iceland already speak English).
Still, that's a wonderful idea to increase interest in BTC and doing a little extra to increase tourism to Iceland.
Bravo!
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Well, I understand it's a little too late to offer advice, but no one should spend all their savings on any one investment!
Diversification is the safest way to guard your savings and perhaps grow them.
Bitcoin can be a part of saving, in most cases should not be above 1% of your (net) wealth, unless you are VERY confident...
Other investments include (physical) gold, real estate, blue chips & other stocks, CA$H, etc.
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Example: The Bank Account
Public illusion. A commercial-bank 'deposit' is as good as money. You will get all your money back, any time you want.
Reality. 'Deposits' are really loans to the bank which lends them to borrowers, some of whom may never pay them back. Another danger is that savers may ask for their money at any time, while loans by the bank tend to have longer-term maturities.
I think I just had an epiphany. This is what bitcoiners have been saying all along! If you want to disrupt the banks then do not make deposits to them. What you should do is "deposit" them where you have total control of your money! Buy BTC. Well it is not really "buying", what you are actually doing is converting fiat to BTC. So do it now and encourage the people around you to do it too. Enough with the BS of the banks. Well, here is another way to look at the matter, Wind_FURY. If you just hold on to your CA$H, not depositing it in the bank nor buying Bitcoin, you accomplish the same main purpose -- keeping your money out of the bank. BTC does have certain advantages (and disadvantages) that make it a different asset, IMO. The same could be said for gold. Gold does have one other feature, namely that once you have receive your gold, you already have been paid! That's not really true with US$, in that you still must spend them in order to get something you want. If you want gold, then any gold you own is free of "counterparty risk" (other than thievery). Buying gold also keeps your money out of the bank. |
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This article confirms my viewpoint that all digital currencies will follow the Ted Kaczynski model of technology always being a detriment to human liberty and freedom: http://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-09-01/on-digital-currencies-central-banks-should-leadThey're spelling it out now in non-ambiguous terms that digital currency is just going to be gateway for things like a ban on cash, increased Keynesianism, NIRP, more taxation, etc. In other words, no matter how it starts out, and might be beneficial in the near term, in the end game you will always be receiving a net loss. Even with things like Monero, they will just force you to use a fixed address alias system for transactions to bypass the Monero mixer, otherwise you'll be considered a money launderer. There is really no such thing as "fungible" digital currency as long as governments exist. Disagree. That article exemplifies to me how little the PBOC understands about this phenomenon. It shows they are far behind and are likely to get their butts kicked by crypto-currency and blockchains. They can't take the lead and control, because it is a global phenomenon and they only control their own nation, and with VPNs, Tor, etc, they don't even control their own nation. Providing a stable value and control over the money supply are not the point of crypto-currencies and blockchains. They entirely don't understand the phenomenon. I told you all upthread that the store-of-value function is not the killer app. We are only waiting on the blockchain which onboards the masses with popular activities. It will be very difficult to ban a popular activity which is deemed by the mainstream to be harmless and advancing technology, and to enforce taxation+KYC on zillions of microtransactions. Edit: I continue to maintain my belief that Bitcoin was primarily driven by tinfoil hats and thus Bitcoin is not the killer app of blockchains: https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@michaelmatthews/how-i-got-into-bitcoinI too have serious doubts about China. My best guess is that China will implode at least as much as the USA, say in the next 5 years or so (hey I don't know when). Millions of small transactions will indeed be hard to trace, even harder to tax. * * * I too had to learn about Bitcoin myself, as no one I know is into it. I got some help (and my first "Bitnickle") from a guy at ZH. It may be that it takes a certain mindset to deal with BTC that totalitarians may not grasp as well. But, the .govs are always full of tough-minded & power-hungry sorts who delight in oppressing their populations and anyone opposed to them. |
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Does localbitcoins.com have any operations in China?
Are there any BTC ATMs there as well?
The more options in more countries, the better!
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Corruption is so deeply embedded in many parts of our system. That is one reason I looked into Bitcoin, flawed as it is (14% at an "BTM" for example, few spending outlets, etc.).
Slowly, some of this corruption is becoming more visible. I am on vacation now bought some BTC at a BTM, the FIRST BTM) in Vancouver, no ID needed... That is a small strike at the parasites.
A worry mentioned above is what happens when things go too far. The totalitarian hammer comes down. We may get to see that in Europe re immigrants. I do NOT see how the Parasitocracy ends comfortably for us, at least in America. There are too many beneficiaries of the parasitical/corrupt system we have now to be easily disentangled.
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If I am understanding this correctly, if you wanted to buy $300 worth of BTC, the charges would be:
2.5% = $ 7.50 (Bitcoin.com)
5.0% = $15.00 (Simplex)
$22.50 are the total fees (7.5%), which would compare very favorably to the last two BTC ATMs I used (some 14% each).
Note that I chose $300 so that one would avoid the high Simplex $10.00 minimum charge.
Correct me if I am wrong please! If this still looks OK (7.5% total fees), I may try the service out.
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... Hmm, I just read Dr. Stephen Leeb's piece saying that FOUR Chinese supercomputers transact some 70% of all BTC transactions, exact quote: "According to The New York Times and other sources, about 70 percent of bitcoin trades go through just four Chinese computers."http://kingworldnews.com/the-stunning-roadmap-to-the-coming-global-sdr-currency/The article is typically breathless in KWN style, but it is interesting, the SDR is about to include the Chinese Yuan. Also mentioned (along with a graph) are comments re China having more supercomputers (and the faster) than the USA. |
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Yes, the BTC ATMs have very high fees. But, it's take it or leave it.
We are visiting Seattle now, I just used one at the Westlake Mall (downtown, at the end of the monorail), it works. The machine requires an ID (Driver's License) scan.
There was a guy in front of me who was using it when I got there.
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... For me (as a non-tekkie and also financially paranoid), rumor has it that Mycelium has an exciting project to automatically mix (tumble) BTC when using a future wallet of theirs. No date yet (as far as I know). Thread here, has link back to an article at bitcoinist: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1592812.0This, IMO, is a nice thing. Easy and gain more privacy. I hope they do it! |
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Why do people support bitocin mixing  I think most people using mixer are not using them to be anonymous but because the money is dirty and probably from something illegal to me this is a bad thing for mycellium to do You are wrong, if someone wants to be anonymous at any environment is not only because he is a criminal, but because he is protecting himself from criminals. Is like a gun, someone with one can be either a hero or a villain, the idea of polarizing one thing to only one side (the bad) is an idea the ones triying to sell it are doing because they wanna be the only criminals. +100 +100 more to all above who think that Bitcoin holdings are NOBODY'S business but the owner's. Buying BTC, mixing it, and then sending it on to a hardware wallet is prudent in my book. Safe and smart. If Mycelium does this (mixing automatically), that is an important step. I will use their wallet if so. |
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Interesting proposal, deisik, re a password to protect Opendime.
* * *
But, my question for nvK today would be how an Opendime's balance could be accessed if all wallets in the future become HD wallets.
My (poor) understanding is that HD wallets do not permit importing Private Keys. This may be a problem if there is no way in the future to "sweep" balance from an Opendime to and HD wallet.
How do we move BTC "from" an Opendime to an HD wallet (for that matter, to a Ledge Nano or a Trezor) or other wallets in the future?
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... I am still not crystal clear on certain things re Opendime devices and sending out any balance from the Opendime to another wallet. Main Opendime thread here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1452987.0I have test-fired the Opendime, and it works as advertised. In particular, I used an (old) blockchain.info wallet to "sweep" (importing the private key on the device) my Opendime balance to the blockchain wallet, and that worked OK. However, my understanding is that the newer HD wallets will not allow importing private keys. That's a problem for me should I want to buy and use (say giving away, etc.) Opendimes and use HD wallets... Nor have I figured out if there is any way to import private keys into a Ledger Nano (about two years old) or Trezor (two years old). Also, would paper wallets have the same issues? Thanks!  |
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Yeah well I too have watched all the doom porn for a long time (and actually enjoy it as entertainment).
There ARE serious problems in the financial system however. There are also threats, which are hard to quantify much less predict, about actual disasters like a dollar collapse.
Anyone who has any concerns (I do) should consider diversification outside of the financial system, including Bitcoin. My *guess* is that a horrible collapse of the US$ would take BTC with it...
Hyperinflation in the USA (same probably for Europe) might be good for Bitcoin.
I would not have a very high percentage of (your net) assets in Bitcoin. 1% - 3% max. Bitcoin is a great speculation though.
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I'm not sure if bitcoin will around when my grandchildren are old enough to take advantage of it. Technology advances at an exponential rate and in 20 years we might not even recognize the advances made. Innovations are going to occur that haven't even been imagined at this point, so I think it's best to keep pace with technology and be prepared to maneuver assets into the most promising ventures.
Yes. While I too like the idea of saving and then giving BTC to my kid (and perhaps later grandchild(ren)), it might be smart to put it large amounts of BTC away for them. Already Bitcoin technology may be on the verge of making some older wallets obsolete, and the newer HD wallets do not allow Private Keys to be imported (so OPENDIMEs may not be able to "send" their balances to HD wallets, ugh). It is probably very smart to be monitoring rather closely the technology changes to make sure that anything you do NOW will still be valuable LATER. |
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