What if that could be done in a decentralized manner?  The one central server is just a proof that this can be done in some way - but this is not the goal.  What I would expect is that you can have a timestamping protocol with multiple super-nodes (not unlike those that are proposed as adaptations of the bitcoin protocol to handle bigger traffic) with many checks and balances, some of them probably outside of the protocol (just like now outside of the bitcoin protocol you have distribution of the block chain 'checkpoints' into bitcoin clients).  Control over timestamping does not mean 'all control' over the system - the timestamping server does not need to know what it is signing.

With a central server you can have even more secure time stamps using one machine instead of a vast network of computers to do that job.  In that sense the protocol is wasteful - it uses huge resources for something that can be done with very little.  Sure it would not be exactly the same thing - it would be an alternative

What I would like to see is a clone that would get rid of the wastefulness of mining or use mining for something useful like folding at home or something. The only cryptographic purpose of the mining is to time-stamp the transactions - with a central server this could be done with one machine instead of this massive array of mining computers.   It is probably impossible in a completely decentralized protocol - but maybe it is possible to have a clever compromise that would introduce a few super-nodes with additional checks and balances on them to do that job. 

Thanks for the update - I was starting to think that the reason you ignore inquiries or cite bogus reasons for withholding withdrawals is because you don't really have funds for them after the hack.


When you write 'will' - this means a new UI version?  Because now I don't see such link at the withdrawals records in the account history (in USD).

The status is the following, whatever that means.  Do you suggest that it is OK for them to keep my money indefinitely as long as 'the request is being processed'?  On top of taking a 2% fee?

---------------

This request is currently being processed by our staff
Natalie is assigned to your request.

You will receive a notification when the request status is updated by our staff.

Priority
Normal

Months ago I've managed to increase my withdrawal limit by sending a photocopy of my national ID to the MtGox admins and proving that I am not an US citizen.  After the hack that limit was back to the $1000 but I managed to catch MagicalTux at IRC and he lifted that limit again to $10000 daily.  Last week I tried to withdraw money 3 times, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Today, after a week of waiting for the money transfers to arrive and 5 days after my inquiries,  received following email (and got ignored again on IRC):

------------

Natalie, Jul-11 10:51 (JST):
Hello,

It appears that the status of the three withdrawals were AML, meaning they are over the limit.

To increase your withdraw limit (by default $1000 USD per 24 hours and $10000 USD per 30 days), please provide your account name and the copy of an official ID document (such as passport, driver's license, etc...).

We will review your document and increase your withdraw limit based on your risk profile.

If you wish to proceed, please respond back with at least one photo ID and the following:

Username:
Requested Daily Limit:
Requested Monthly Limit:

Please note that you can also send a notarized color copy of your ID document to this address (remember to include your mtgox account name) via registered mail (fedex, etc) :

Name: Mark Karpeles
Company: Tibanne Co. Ltd.
Address: 26-1 Sakuragaoka-cho
Address (cont): Cerulean Tower 15F
City: Shibuya
Region: Tokyo
Zip: 150-8512

Thanks,

MtGox.com Team

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This seems  bogus because in the UI I can see my increased limit and it lets me do these transfers (what was previously impossible).

I also made a SEPA withdrawal on Monday and as of Saturday they did not arrive.  I made another one on Tuesday and yet another on Wednesday - neither arrived yet.  I am not yet very nervous because in the other way it was also taking a week to transfer.

What's up with MtGox SEPA withdrawals?  I've maid three requests (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) - money was deducted from my MtGox account all three times, and suddenly yesterday I've got an email from MtGox saying that I've requested a withdrawal:
But that is only my last operation.  What happened to the previous two?  I've answered that email - and ticket was registered - but as we know the tickets are never answered.  So I'd like to ask other MtGox users - did the site add this emal notification on Wednesday?  Have you received such an email previously?

Update after even more waiting it eventually became 'Completed' - but in fact it was just sent to the bitcoin network and only started to get confirmations.  Update: I also made a mistake about the amounts being sent - because they are not displayed in order - I have to remove that accusation now.

That depends on what is large amount - but I did not get any emails so I guess it was not large amount.  And today the same thing happens.  It is even more frustrating because there is no way to see the past withdrawals and verify the address.

I have just lost money because of this misleading information - today it is even longer than last time, I am already waiting 4 hours and it still in Progress, while just in last hour there were 7 new blocks.

Apparently there was one just released: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2732708

There is no competition for bitcoin now - but I would like to see something less wasteful.  Maybe with a bit of compromise on the decentralization requirement (which is in any case only partially meet by bitcoin - I am sure you've seen the latest Ben Laurie post).

Or maybe there is a competition - http://ripple-project.org/

Yeah - but for all we know bitcoin can be pets.com instead of AMZN.

I've sold because of a few things:

1) Google trends for bitcoin are declining: http://www.google.com/trends?q=bitcoin&ctab=0&geo=all&date=mtd&sort=0
2) With the current price it means we need about $100 000 daily new money inserted into the bicoin economy to stabilize the price - without new people investing in bitcoin this will not happen
3) Media is mostly against bitcoin now - so there will not be many people to try bitcoin now
4) What Ben Laurie wrote is very convincing
5) Lack of instant payments (this can be improved - but this will not be easy)
6) The recent technical failures (and the user interface of TradeHill is a failure too) - decreased my faith in the skills of people running the show

It's possible that I'll buy back when the media is more in favour of bitcoin and I'll let you earn lot's of money, for now I am content with what I've got so far from my investment in March.  But even then I'll probably try to compute some numbers from the Kelly formula to determine how much of this money should I reinvest.

Update: added some more points.

Pure systems are pipe-dreams.  A bit of centralization on a decentralized framework is a good compromise.  Provided that the decentralized economy is what governs - and more importantly that the super-nodes are subject to competition in between them.  I think that the situation with exchanges will improve and it already started to improve.

This is also my conclusion - this is the next step for bitcoin.  I think the chances are good here - because there is such a low barrier to entry for the 'banks' there should be much competition between them and the market should fix the trust problems.  Maybe this is where cooperation with Ripple (http://ripple-project.org/) could bring much benefits?

Please change the title of this thread.

Yeah - but then you lose all the decentralization benefits that are the raison d'etre of bitcoin.  Maybe this is the way to go - some compromise, a bit more complexity but much more robust and universal system.  This could work especially well if married to the e-cash system http://finney.org/~hal/chcash2.html.

But you do understand that the hash rate can influence the supply of bitcoins only temporarily?   When it increases the difficulty follows to ballance it.

I am well aware of the confirmation process - the problem was that it did not seem that they initiated the transfer at all.  But eventually it went through.

I've tried to withdraw bitcoins from TradeHill - the interface says it can take up to 12 hours - but I thought this is just to cover the confirmation time and that they would send the bitcoins immediately.  When I look at blockexplorer there are no transfers to the address I used for over half an hour now