VC Fred Wilson Planning Bitcoin Bank?

[jimbobway]

http://bmfiddle.com/f/#/Wn322

Looks like he outlined some sort of presentation.

EDIT: Link came from this tweet: http://twitter.com/markgoines/status/260412475428724736

Mark Goins is up there in the chain:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/markgoines

Board member of mint.com

[Phinnaeus Gage]

http://bmfiddle.com/f/#/Wn322

Looks like he outlined some sort of presentation.

EDIT: Link came from this tweet: http://twitter.com/markgoines/status/260412475428724736

Mark Goins is up there in the chain:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/markgoines

Board member of mint.com

And Fred didn't mention it on his Twitter account because...? https://twitter.com/fredwilson

And Fred uses Fiddle to announce something epic because...?

Don't get me wrong, I favor the idea, but present it via a standalone CMS.

~Bruno K~

[jimbobway]

http://bmfiddle.com/f/#/Wn322

Looks like he outlined some sort of presentation.

EDIT: Link came from this tweet: http://twitter.com/markgoines/status/260412475428724736

Mark Goins is up there in the chain:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/markgoines

Board member of mint.com

And Fred didn't mention it on his Twitter account because...? https://twitter.com/fredwilson

And Fred uses Fiddle to announce something epic because...?

Don't get me wrong, I favor the idea, but present it via a standalone CMS.

~Bruno K~

Maybe it was a secret meeting for the elite.  Mark Goins tweeted it so it seems like Fred is showing his ideas to all the rich people now.  The way I see it, this is a legit rumor confirmed by someone influential.

[cypherdoc]

nice find.  looks legit to me.

[hazek]

As far as I understood the article about this it's just an example for his lecture on start ups: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-be-in-business-forever-week-four-2012-10

[jimbobway]

As far as I understood the article about this it's just an example for his lecture on start ups: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-be-in-business-forever-week-four-2012-10

Ok, seems like this is where it came from.

[acoindr]

No, this doesn't necessarily mean Fred Wilson is planning a Bitcoin Bank. It does suggest he is positively in tune with Bitcoin, though.

Apparently bmfiddle.com lets you share ideas for business models with others. I've seen the drag 'n drop technology employed there before. It's really cool. You can plan pretty much anything, business projects, events, to-do lists, and see everything organized in a convenient at-a-glance format. What's more, since it's online others can view and, if you allow it, edit/re-order things for possible improvement. Very cool.

I've often talked about the need for a proper Bitcoin Bank, and how it could operate. It appears Mr. Wilson is thinking along the same lines.

[HDSolar]

So I want to toss in my two cents here and so I did a search of Mr. Wilson blog for how much he has talked about Bitcoin.  You can see the three entries for yourself:
http://gawk.it/search?forum=avc&search_type=blogs&query=Bitcoin

What this tells me is that it is on his radar and I bet he is working on something but I would say he is using his B idea to show his A idea off being the business model fiddle.  That being said I think that his Bitcoin B idea might become an A idea next year as he sees how ASIC, halfing and overall market growth happens in the next three months.  I would say from an outside point of view the next three months might be the most important time to gauge how Bitcoin will do going forward.  I think he will then reevaluate the market and decide that if it is worth his time he will step in and create idea A but if Bitcoin stumbles then he will keep the idea in the B bucket.

Just a guess,

[acoindr]

So I want to toss in my two cents here and so I did a search of Mr. Wilson blog for how much he has talked about Bitcoin.  You can see the three entries for yourself:
http://gawk.it/search?forum=avc&search_type=blogs&query=Bitcoin

What this tells me is that it is on his radar and I bet he is working on something but I would say he is using his B idea to show his A idea off being the business model fiddle.  That being said I think that his Bitcoin B idea might become an A idea next year as he sees how ASIC, halfing and overall market growth happens in the next three months.  I would say from an outside point of view the next three months might be the most important time to gauge how Bitcoin will do going forward.  I think he will then reevaluate the market and decide that if it is worth his time he will step in and create idea A but if Bitcoin stumbles then he will keep the idea in the B bucket.

Just a guess,

Well, the thing is Bitcoin has been mentioned a lot on Hacker News, which is how I heard of it myself. To understand what HN is think of a community/forum for technology geeks, a scrappy cutting edge business school, and investor stake out, and merge them. The site was created and is led by Angel investor Paul Graham, who has gobs of respect in the tech-entrepreneur/investor community (seeing as he was a successful tech-entrepreneur himself). And while VCs can let's say screw entrepreneurs quite often, Fred Wilson appears to be a rare exception, someone whom Paul Graham speaks highly of.

What does all this mean? It just means that something like Bitcoin, a truly revolutionary technology project, has been exposed to probably the best community on earth for its own growth. I'm pretty sure a good bit of Bitcoin's project development, in all areas, stems from HN exposure. For example, forum member Mike Hearn from Google is openly and actively working to help Bitcoin progress. I would think he first learned of it because of HN. Coinbase.com has also been selected for funding by Paul Graham's Y-Combinator, which means he also views Bitcoin favorably.

So I think things are moving fairly fast for Bitcoin, indeed. The world will know about it soon enough.

[HDSolar]

You know too is that someone posted that Microsoft was developing something with Bitcoin and I know of other in the VC world that are watching Bitcoin so I agree with your analysis.  I think there are folks on the sidelines to see how things turn out here by early next year but if this rocket takes off be prepared for Fed involvement and the game changing in a big way probably in six to nine months.  For once I am actually glad that the silicon valley hooks are so deep in DC right now because if this thing blows up they will pull hard on DC going too far to shut this down.

I hope, or as our econ friends would say; all things being equal.

[acoindr]

Yes, my analysis is things will get very interesting in the next several months...

EDIT: and remember, FED involvement doesn't mean shutting Bitcoin down. Bitcoin is a global project/currency. No person or entity can shut it down without shutting down the entire Internet.

[cypherdoc]

Wilson is definitely interested in Bitcoin and my guess is he's taking the bank model seriously for as his own project.

i posted heavily throughout the comment section of one of his blog posts here:  http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2012/08/bitcoin-update.html

[franky1]

give a guy your bitcoins for months on end in a promise for interest in return. hmmm trendon shavers comes to mind.

the only reason i use banks are for my wages to be paid. if i was to be paid cash in hand or in bitcoins i would have no need for a bank,

This idea is flawed on the principles of standard banking, but more likely work if advertised as a investment opportunity. unless i can put my real world wages into the account to bypass standard banking. i do not consider this idea to be a 'bank' at all.. just an investment account.

I know in many countries a business needs to meet strict criteria to be classed as a 'bank' even the great richard branson of the 'virgin media' corporation has had issues with the legality of becoming a bank. and he is a billionaire.

i advice people remain cautious

[acoindr]

give a guy your bitcoins for months on end in a promise for interest in return. hmmm trendon shavers comes to mind.

the only reason i use banks are for my wages to be paid. if i was to be paid cash in hand or in bitcoins i would have no need for a bank,

This idea is flawed on the principles of standard banking, but more likely work if advertised as a investment opportunity. unless i can put my real world wages into the account to bypass standard banking. i do not consider this idea to be a 'bank' at all.. just an investment account.

I know in many countries a business needs to meet strict criteria to be classed as a 'bank' even the great richard branson of the 'virgin media' corporation has had issues with the legality of becoming a bank. and he is a billionaire.

i advice people remain cautious

This is not a scam or Ponzi scheme. As far as I know the proposal isn't even talking about paying out interest. Rather, it's talking about charging users fees to offer them secure Bitcoin banking services. Fred Wilson is a highly respected and well known VC. His firm probably often invests five times the amount of money stolen by the "Bitcoin Savings and Trust" scam (what was that around $5 million?).