Bitcoin Foundation Flexes PR Muscles for Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin Gets Futures Market

Kyt Dotson
2012-10-01

http://siliconangle.com/blog/2012/10/01/bitcoin-foundation-flexes-pr-muscles-for-cryptocurrency-and-bitcoin-gets-futures-market/

Looks like Bitcoin is getting itself a little more news recently with the formation of the Bitcoin Foundation—a recently formed PR organization seeking to clean up the bad reputation that the cryptocurency has gained in the wake of numerous hacks of trading websites and it’s association with potential criminality. Also in the news is that Bitcoin exchange ICBIT has quietly added a futures market that involves bitcoins as its main currency including gold futures and crude oil.
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The fact that it perpetuates the myth that the core Bitcoin infrastructure is problematic. "Fake Bitcoin" implies counterfeiting, which can't happen. Call it what you actually believe it to be: fractional reserve banking, ponzi schemes, bad business models, people getting hacked because of their own bad security but not Bitcoin itself. Bitcoin itself is still strong and misusing your terms like this makes it appear weak.

An anonymous hacker used phony Bitcoins (BTC) last month to drive down the price of the online currency from $17.50 to a penny within the span of 30 minutes, Bitcoin exchange firm Mt.Gox has revealed.

3-D Printer Company Seizes Machine From Desktop Gunsmith


Robert Beckhusen
2012-10-10

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/10/3d-gun-blocked/

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Initial attempts at raising $20,000 through crowdsourcing website Indiegogo was stymied after the company pulled the fundraiser. Indiegogo cited company policy regarding fundraisers for the sale of firearms. The group managed to raise $2,000 before Indiegogo pulled the fundraiser. Wilson and the Wiki Weapons team — which includes developers across the United States and Europe — eventually raised the full amount using the Bitcoin electronic currency.
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Can the Bitcoin Foundation build legitimacy for an outlaw currency?
"It'll be fractious." - Peter Vessenes

Adi Robertson
2012-10-01

http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/1/3436984/bitcoin-foundation-legitimacy-and-standardization


Some of the biggest names in the world of Bitcoin, the unregulated virtual currency with a small but devoted user base, are looking to give it a friendlier public face. Announced last week, the Bitcoin Foundation — which counts lead developer Gavin Andresen and Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles among its board members — is meant to do for Bitcoin what the Linux Foundation has helped do for open source software, paying selected developers for full-time work and nailing down best practices.
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Bitcoin users are deeply enthusiastic about their currency, but if it’s to survive until the age of flight, it will need to be seen as more than an experiment or potential scam.
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BitCoin Gets a Futures Market

2012-09-30

http://news.slashdot.org/story/12/09/30/2345206/bitcoin-gets-a-futures-market


fireballrus writes

"There is one more way to use your BitCoins rather than buying weed or socks. Recently, a Bitcoin Exchange called ICBIT quietly introduced a futures market, obviously using Bitcoins as its main currency. Gold futures trade roughly at 137 BTC/tr.oz and Sweet Crude Oil at 7.3 BTC/bbl. This may play a positive role in the Bitcoin economy which needs more ways to actually use coins instead of mining them."

While this sounds intriguing, I'd like to hear a good case for why BitCoin makes sense in this context.

Bitcoin Foundation seeks stable ground for virtual currency
The foundation aims to build confidence in the currency and drive merchant adoption

Jeremy Kirk
2012-10-01


http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/437826/bitcoin_foundation_seeks_stable_ground_virtual_currency/
http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/437826/bitcoin_foundation_seeks_stable_ground_virtual_currency/
http://www.techhive.com/article/2010886/web-currency-bitcoin-seeks-legitimacy-stability-via-foundation.html
http://www.techworld.com.au/article/437826/bitcoin_foundation_seeks_stable_ground_virtual_currency/


A foundation has been established to create a more solid footing for Bitcoin, the virtual currency admired for its technical genius but dogged by doubts over its long-term viability.
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I thought you were against having a single person, or small elitist group, representing and acting as an authority over Bitcoin and OUR money?    

Bitcoin Foundation vows to clean up currency's bad rep
'Bitcoin don't get no respect!'

Neil McAllister
2012-09-29

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/29/bitcoin_foundation_launched/

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Tired of bad press, Bitcoin advocates have launched a new foundation aimed at both promoting the electronic currency and funding infrastructure to maintain its momentum.
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Stories of hacks and heists have dogged the digital currency since its inception, too.
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In addition, one of the Foundation's immediate goals is to raise money to provide a salary and some budget for Andresen, who so far has been working as the lead developer of the core Bitcoin software without any compensation.
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Commentary: On the eve of Romney’s Mayan Tax Death Clock
Will supposed hacker meet Friday deadline to release documents?

Ken Whitehouse
2012-09-27

http://nashvillepost.com/news/2012/9/27/commentary_on_the_eve_of_romney_s_mayan_tax_death_clock


We looked up this morning at the official NashvillePost.com stone Mayan calendar/doomsday clock  — What? You don’t have one? — and noticed that we are on the eve of "Dr. Evil’s" threat to release Mitt Romney’s tax records unless he/them are paid $1 million in bitcoins.
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On Sept. 4, our sister publication The City Paper broke the news that an anonymous group or individual claimed to have broken into the Cool Springs offices of PricewaterhouseCoopers, hacked the firm’s computer system, and downloaded GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s tax records.
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We’re putting our marker down now and guessing it is a hoax, perpetrated by a lone operator with a history of wild behavior. At first, that person was excited to be getting all this attention but subsequently soiled his pants when he realized the trouble he’ll be in when he gets arrested.
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New Bitcoin Foundation aims to bring legitimacy to digital currency

Todd Bishop
2012-09-27


http://www.geekwire.com/2012/bitcoin-foundation-aims-bring-legitimacy-digital-currency/

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A new foundation will seek to rally support for Bitcoin, aiming to overcome the challenges faced by the digital currency and boost its use in the long run.
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The foundation’s goals for 2013 include running a Bitcoin Conference in the spring of 2013 in Silicon Valley; publishing a set of best practices for businesses using Bitcoin, and creating a certification process for Bitcoin businesses.
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Bitcoin Exchange BitFloor Says It Will Replace Stolen Coins
(from the fdic-never-replaces-bitcoins dept.)

Timothy
2012-09-27

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/09/27/156231/bitcoin-exchange-bitfloor-says-it-will-replace-stolen-coins

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angry tapir writes
"Bitcoin exchanges generally don't seem to recover that easily after security breaches. However, BitFloor, which was hacked and had 24,000 Bitcoins stolen in early September, is coming back online, refunding account holders whose coins were stolen and implementing new security measures, including cold storage for private keys."
The key word is "intends" — but I hope it happens as promised.
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Bitcoin Trading Floor Reopens After Daring Online Heist

Luke Hopewell
2012-09-28

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/09/bitcoin-trading-floor-reopens-after-daring-online-heist/

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 On 4 September, hackers broke into the secure servers of the Bitcoin exchange, bitfloor — and lifted $US250,000 worth of coins. The heist put the future of bitfloor in doubt, but after a few weeks of to and fro, bitfloor today reopened for business, but will it be hacked again?
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That’s the free market spirit, Roman!
What’s going to be interesting is whether bitfloor will report a drop in active users following the theft.
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After $250,000 theft, Bitcoin exchange Bitfloor reopen

Joel Falconer
2012-09-28

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/09/28/after-250000-theft-bitcoin-exchange-bitfloor-reopens/

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Early in the month, we reported that the top US Bitcoin exchange, Bitfloor, had a security breach that resulted in a theft of Bitcoins worth $250,000. At the time it was very much up in the air as to whether Bitfloor would be able to resume operation, but today it has announced that it is back in business.
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Despite a number of high-profile setbacks, Bitcoin growth continues unencumbered, and the decades to come will be very interesting as one of society’s oldest tools — currency — is disrupted.
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Bitcoin - a Means for Redistribution of Wealth

Rüdiger Koch
2012-09-27

http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/koch20120927

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Amazing things would happen if a large percentage of transhumanists were financially independent. How can this be done?
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There is a way…
We need to redistribute wealth!
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Should 1 Billion people use Bitcoin in the future, the price will have to rise 5 orders of magnitude to compensate. In other words, if you buy a Bitcoin today, you have $12 to lose, should the project fail entirely. But you have $100,000 or more to gain should it succeed.

This already suggests how redistribution of wealth works in favor of early adopters. Early adopters are able to acquire Bitcoins cheaply.
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Cryonicists will find the option of a brain wallet interesting: As a private key is simply a very large (256 bit) number, it can be deterministically created from a pass phrase. This is a string of words that have meaning to you, possibly salted with things like your social security number. Since you can remember the string now, you should be able to remember it after your reanimation. So as long as you keep your memory, you can access your funds even if everything else has been taken from you during your time in the dewar.

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Transhumanists tend to be freethinkers, which means they usually can’t agree on anything. This is both the greatest strength and the greatest weakness of the H+ movement. But if we can agree for once to use Bitcoin and use our personal networks to spread it, there are enough of us to make Bitcoin’s success and hence, rising prices, a self fulfilling prophecy.
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Rüdiger Koch is CTO and founder of the first African Bitcoin exchange, Fikisha Africoin in Lagos/Nigeria. Previously, he worked as an IT Consultant in the banking and IT industry in Germany, Switzerland, Thailand and Singapore.
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Rüdiger serves as head of the Business & Bitcoin department of ZeroState and has previously served as vice chairman of De: Trans.

The IEET's mission is to be a center for voices arguing for a responsible, constructive, ethical approach to the most powerful emerging technologies. We believe that technological progress can be a catalyst for positive human development so long as we ensure that technologies are safe and equitably distributed. We call this a "technoprogressive" orientation.
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Bitcoin exchange Bitfloor attempts comeback after $250,000 heist
Founder hopes to earn enough profits to repay stolen client funds.

Timothy B. Lee
2012-09-27


http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/09/bitcoin-exchange-bitfloor-attempts-comeback-after-250000-heist/

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Bitfloor, a fast-growing Bitcoin exchange that was felled by a security breach earlier this month, has resumed operations. Founder Roman Shtylman announced the site's revival on Google Plus.

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Disclosure: The author owns some Bitcoins.

Bitcoin Savings and Trust Facing SEC Investigation Over 'Ponzi Scheme'

Alistair Charlton
2012-09-27


http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/388782/20120927/bitcoin-savings-trust-sec-investigation-pirate-ponzi.htm

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Founded in 2008, and with honourable intentions from its creators and many users, the BitCoin currency is almost immune to money-laundering and hard to track, making it ideal for users looking to make illegal purchases online.
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Bitcoin Savings and Trust has now caught the SEC's attention, according to Willard Foxton at the Telegraph, who claims to have seen an email sent by SEC investigator Philip Moustakis to many of those who invested in Pirate's scheme
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...the SEC investigation will no doubt lower the value of Bitcoins and possibly scare investors away from the currency altogether.

Gavin Andresen Launches Non-Profit Bitcoin Foundation to ‘Standardize, Protect and Promote’ Bitcoin
Can it legitimize the currency in the eyes of the mainstream?

Jessica Roy
2012-09-27


http://betabeat.com/2012/09/gavin-andresen-launches-non-profit-bitcoin-foundation-to-standardize-protect-and-promote-bitcoin/

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The Bitcoin Foundation has stacked its board with well-known, high-profile people active in the Bitcoin community so that users feel safe donating. Still, as Mr. Perry points out, “according to the dissenting voices, it’s representative only of the ‘big business’ side of Bitcoin, not the actual users.” Indeed, some users have expressed dissent on the boards, but for the most part they seem supportive of a unified effort to legitimize Bitcoin.
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host: So British cybercop Mick Jamieson specializes in internet fraud, and he cites *numerous* examples of dodgy people using Bitcoins to hide their dodgy activities

M Jamieson: It's filed under an account number and the account number is obviously then referenced to your registration details.
Of course registering for a bank, you would be... Mr Jamieson.. you would give your address.. something like that.
*This*; you give your email address and you give them your IP address.. and any other details they wish you to volunteer.. whether they be true or false.. but of course, they don't require the person to go in with a passport or a driving license or proof of identification or financial history.

host: So basically, you're saying criminals are all using it.

M Jamieson: I think when it comes to the really high level drug traffickers - they trust cash. But yes, any transfer or any transaction which takes place in an environment where people are using details to keep them anonymous, makes it harder for law enforcement.  It's obvious.

host: But are digital currencies really such a bad thing? ...

host: There's about 10 Billion dollars of Bitcoin in circulation at the moment

host: Theoretically, I suppose, the dreamers have.. have imagined we could one day develop currencies that somehow bypass central banks in the same way that the the internet itself seems to revolutionize commerce. That that an online currency could could bypass the men, the men in grey suits who've controlled everything up til now.

crap, just realized i'm a bit too late on this. :/