cool, thanks, I thought it was named after that homestar runner stuff.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. newegg should accept litecoin (and perhaps namecoin, doge, ppc, etc... ATI is miles ahead in terms of making efficient scrypt miners, and if they went into scrypt asics, they could corner that market, easy)

the first mover effect in bitcoin is gone, if newegg were to partner with a litecoin payment provider, it's like magic. Without something like that, I fear litecoin will die to the doge-wolves.

(*interesting that any time I type bitcoin, or litecoin, I get a red squiggle telling me I'm spelling it wrong. Yet when I type utter nonsense, like doge or doge coin, or even doge-wolves.. there is no red squiggle.

obviously doge is the true coin of the future.

nothing else interesting until 28:30 of Panel 2 Day 2- Virtual Currency Commerce and Consumer Protections

this is not even a paraphrase, this is what I think she meant "so this means more protection of the private keys? those are like the credit card number?"

I think that chick on the panel is starting to get it.


<please note my statements are still pending confirmation>

http://www.totalwebcasting.com/view/?id=nysdfs

look for Panel 1 Day 2- Law Enforcement and Virtual Currencies and then go to the times I list.

I'm going to continue to point out some highlights, in my mind at least.

here's another gem, around 67:57 where the law guy #2 talks a bit about his massive stash of bitcoin, "we seized it and we treat it as regular currency" --

also note at 68:40 law guy #1 doesn't really have an answer, or simply doesn't understand the question, so he falls back on the script of identity theft.




hmm, so what if we had a new system where you assholes don't need to know my identity, then it wouldn't get fucking stloen!!!1

Ok, I hate to pollute this thread with non-meme filled posts, but if I don't blurt this shit out, I probably won't remember it in the morning.

At 60:50 law guy #1 starts going off about how identity theft is their biggest issue.

Let me paraphrase

"Let's be clear, cyber crime, identity theft, are an international crime wave."

These guys don't even understand that bitcoin kills identity theft outright.

*edit*
60:13 for the start of the question
60:40 for the start of the answer (note the obvious amusement of the female panelist - I think I kinda like her attitude)

so in other news, at 40:00 in Panel 1 Day 2 the law guy starting going off about silk road. I don't know where to find a written record of his testimony, but I'll paraphrase.

"The volume was staggering"
"several thousand vendors"
"hundreds of kg of illegal drugs"
"well over 100,000 buyers"
"launder hundreds of millions of dollars"

So obviously, these are the guys we are trying to catch, because they undermine the operations of the mafia bosses.



HSBC

"HSBC was found to have laundered over $670 billion over the course of four years, and this makes BitInstant's total amount pale in comparison. HSBC was eventually fined $1.9 billion in an arranged agreement, which equates to 3/100% of the total amount laundered through their institution."

These are the bosses. You wanna play the game, you gotta play by their rules... until bitcoin.


oh yeah, CCMF
 

you and me threeth. I pulled my csv's from virtex and ran them through a spreadsheet after the 266 bump, my average sell price was $17 dollars. I'm sure my average price has gone up a bit since then, but sometimes it sickens me to think how many of these things I let slip through my fingers.

One thing I think bears and bulls can agree on is that bitcoin is definitely not dull.

Remember that old Chinese curse? "May you live in interesting times."

Lately, it kinda seems like we've been cursed...

Sorry if this is old, wish I could have watched this live, but at 34:15 (1st panel of day 2) that second law guy nearly slips up and uses the term crypto currency instead of the term he was told to use, "virtual currency"

Virtual currency is another catch phrase that they want to embed in the subconscious. Virtual currency is very different from crypto currency. Crypto is the term I would use to define a currency protected by cryptography, like bitcoin. Virtual is the term I would use to define Amazon bucks, or WoW gold, or USD; these are currencies that are centralized and controlled. Crypto currency is neither centralized, nor controlled, and I think that would scare them to death, if they only understood.

Heh, I love a good conspiracy theory. When that law guy mentioned requiring the same level of oversight for exchanges as for banks, it makes me wonder if the banks just wanna become the new exchanges.

They know that's where all the money is at, and also the best opportunity for corruption. If they can justify high fees as "the cost of doing business" due to overly onerous regulation, then that's just icing on the cake.



Also like to say thank you to all the other respondents. This truly is the best thread on the internet. <- please note that I have not been vetted as a trusted source so that previous statement has not been confirmed  

Just got home, not gonna bother catching up with the last 30 pages of probable nonsense,

But I just watched the first segment of the first panel today, and sorry for the serious but I'd like if some of you could offer an opinion on the following.

Cyrus R. Vance, the very first person to speak, chooses to start with a case of money laundering, of course. Money laundering is the catch phrase and it's designed to put a negative image on bitcoin. They will repeat it again and again when asked about bitcoin.

The interesting thing is that they were laundering fiat dollars acquired from the theft of credit card information, using western express. This crime can't even happen with bitcoin. There is no credit card information to steal in the first place.

I think the reason they are going to try to vilify bitcoin and try to regulate the shit out of it is so that they can maintain their monopoly on the money laundering business.  


What do you think?

Very interesting. Any guess as to the Cryptsy business model?

many many currencies. playing around could get you burned pretty quick.

I wonder if they keep deposits segregated?

This was actually one of the things that I think Charlie hinted at but was unable to get his full point across, but that's just my interpretation of the testimony.

I think that Charlie was trying to get to the point that your assets should be held as your assets... meaning, if you deposit bitcoin, you should have an account balance of bitcoin, it should not go into some magic mixing bin and whoever cashes out first, wins.

What we really need is to leave the world of trust. There should be a transparent receipt or proof of transaction (blockchain) that eliminates the need for trust. As long as there is a centralized exchange, and as long as it is under the jurisdiction of "legislators" then you still haven't really gotten away from the trust issue. the "counter-party risk" if you will.

hmm, I'm still trying to get through the second panel, Charlie Lee is not the most eloquent proponent of cryptocurrencies, but I thought the "safe harbour" stuff was covered in the first panel?

Andreas would probably refuse the invitation. If he actually did go, here is how I imagine it would go down.........






Douchebag #1: "What do you think about the arrests yesterday?" <- actually was the first question he asked!!?!?

Andreas: "If you can't buy drugs with your currency, then what good is your currency?"

D#1: "blah blah blah money laundering"

Andreas: "Silk Road was doing maybe $100,000 dollars worth, tops. HSBC does like 100 billion and you give them a 2% haircut."

D#1: "but what about 9-11?" <-maybe not the exact question, but he went there pretty quick.

Andreas: "you know what? FUCK YOU GUYS! WE DON'T NEED YOUR PERMISSION!"

<mic drop>

This needs to be in the confirmed bad news thread  - I'm sure proudhon will get that taken care of promptly.

On a serious note, I believe that the biggest threat to bitcoin is the Bitcoin Foundation itself.

Huobi roaring up again, very entertaining show this morning 

I think watching the 5 min chart of Huobi is my favourite show on TV right now! Such drama and suspense! lol

*edit* actually, I'm kinda digging the 15 min chart, easier to see the plot twists, lol

Yet again we are of the same mind, yet polar opposites of opinion. We have (now) both left the market for the time being. I've taken my bitcoin and gone home, you've got your dollars. One of us will be right. I honestly hope you are right and we will have more time to buy more coins, but I fear that you might be wrong.

I suspect that it is our hopes and fears that are at polar opposites - or rather - our assessment of risk.

I have trouble sleeping at night when I have bitcoin at risk. If I lose bitcoin, it might be prohibitively expensive for me to get them back, I might never get them back.

If I lose dollars, yeah, it might suck a bit, but I knew I could lose them all at any time when I put them on the exchange, and it's easy to get dollars.

I know I can't change your mind, but there are more than 75 billion dollars being printed per month from QE alone. There are less than 150 thousand* bitcoin created in that same time period.


*should be closer to 110 thousand, but due to the rising difficulty I used 8 blocks per hour instead of 6

errr.. unfortunately, I'm uncomfortable with leverage, or shorts, or any of that kind of stuff. I will continue to wait for the dips, was just hoping you had some kind of feeling for at least a short-term bottom.

- and then I realize that there is no bottom for your bet. maybe I am starting now to understand what a "short" actually is.

Thank you again.