Should Peter Vessenes resign as the Executive Director for Bitcoin Foundation ?

[charleshoskinson]

Voted 'hell no'.  The guy is making me money, and is my best bet to make a genuine fortune.  Three cheers for ~vess!

Now, how about an update on Coinlab/MtGox for Christsake!

Lol, a vote with your dollars. I like it.

[abbyd]

Perhaps when he says "we", he means CoinLab. CoinLab might want regulators to come in because regulations give established companies an economic advantage. Too-big-to-fail is the epitome of regulation.

This. Regulation is the enemy of Bitcoin.

Good point - unless it's FAKE regulation - like those on Wall Street enjoy.  Then it becomes "unfair advantage".
And guess what: the bitcoin regulation bribe/payoff will be hard to track... LOL

Humor - Swap Meet Louie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gZr6w82zAA

[tvbcof]

Voted 'hell no'.  The guy is making me money, and is my best bet to make a genuine fortune.  Three cheers for ~vess!

Now, how about an update on Coinlab/MtGox for Christsake!

Lol, a vote with your dollars. I like it.

Well I have to admit, with shame, that I've yet to contribute to the foundation.

I was one of the distinct minority who spoke up with reservations about the Bitcoin Foundation's creation prior to the event.  But we got it now so there is little reason not to go ahead and make lemonade out of lemons.

[Zooey]

I was one of the distinct minority who spoke up with reservations about the Bitcoin Foundation's creation prior to the event.  But we got it now so there is little reason not to go ahead and make lemonade out of lemons.

This is just about the worst possible reasoning you could ever make for giving your support to any kind of authority, ever.

[tvbcof]

I was one of the distinct minority who spoke up with reservations about the Bitcoin Foundation's creation prior to the event.  But we got it now so there is little reason not to go ahead and make lemonade out of lemons.

This is just about the worst possible reasoning you could ever make for giving your support to any kind of authority, ever.

I agree.

But I also reiterate 'go ~vess!'  Some things are well worth standing on principle, some are not, and some switch categories.  Bitcoin is among the last group.  To me.

I was never strongly against the BCF anyway.  Just voiced some theoretical concerns and reservations about how it could influence the evolution of the Bitcoin solution.  I cannot help but feel slightly vindicated at this point.

[Gavin Andresen]

I was never strongly against the BCF anyway.  Just voiced some theoretical concerns and reservations about how it could influence the evolution of the Bitcoin solution.  I cannot help but feel slightly vindicated at this point.

Huh. What evidence do you have that the Foundation has been hurting the evolution of Bitcoin?

Because it seems to me things have been going gangbusters since the Foundation was formed (with all the usual chaos and drama).

Or, to be less polite to all the haters: we've all been working our asses off (especially Peter), to make Bitcoin a success. What have you anonymous cowards been doing besides spouting off about things you know NOTHING about?

[Herodes]

Or, to be less polite to all the haters: we've all been working our asses off (especially Peter), to make Bitcoin a success. What have you anonymous cowards been doing besides spouting off about things you know NOTHING about?

I'm sure many of the 'Anonymous cowards' have contributed in various ways. Personally I don't see a problem with discussion, and being concerned about matters related to bitcoin. I would be more concerned if everything went silent, and nobody cared one way or another. Personally I've set up a Norwegian wiki, link in sig, and also contributed in numerous other ways. As for the other 'Anonymous cowards' I don't know. Let them speak for themselves. 

[charleshoskinson]

Huh. What evidence do you have that the Foundation has been hurting the evolution of Bitcoin?

Because it seems to me things have been going gangbusters since the Foundation was formed (with all the usual chaos and drama).

Or, to be less polite to all the haters: we've all been working our asses off (especially Peter), to make Bitcoin a success. What have you anonymous cowards been doing besides spouting off about things you know NOTHING about?

Gavin, I'm a supporter of the foundation and also a member. I really do appreciate the work you and Peter have done for the community and to ensure that our software is ever evolving. I think some of members of this community are just upset- justified or unjustified- with a perception that the foundation has begun excluding certain voices and also supporting concepts like regulation. After events like SOPA and the net neutrality debate, many people dislike the notion that the government should be involved with bitcoin at this juncture.

We do concede that the exchanges require regulation and entities like bitpay also should have some sort of oversight, but FINCEN makes all of us a little worried. I would really like more clarity on the media strategy as well as a better notion of what regulation means to the leadership of the foundation. Also it would be nice if we could get someone to approach both amazon and paypal to start hammering out a system to accept bitcoins. This alone would mainstream bitcoin and likely get a commitment from amazon to contribute experienced developers to help you.  

Also there has been little work broadcasting that bitcoins can really help international charities. For my course, I've approached several people involved with overseas NPOs who accept bitcoins to do guest lectures so we can enhance the positive side of bitcoin instead of the negative side associated with silk road. What is the foundation's plan?

[BCB]

What is the foundation's plan?

The better question is What is YOUR plan to help support the foundation to this end.  The foundation is all of us, (or any of you who choose to join).  It will be through our efforts collectively that we will further support the widespread adoption and acceptance of bitcoin.

Remember when you print a finger there are three fingers pointing back at you.

If you are not part of the solution then you are probably part of the problem.

This is a very important discussion.

Glad we are having it.

I expect to hear more clarity at the conference about the bitcoin's goals and plans and learn more about ways I can participate.

[Gavin Andresen]

What is the foundation's plan?

Last quarter's plan:  https://bitcoinfoundation.org/blog/?p=99

What is next:  I dunno.  Foundation board will be meeting all day before the conference, and we'll all be talking to lots of people at the conference to figure out what the priorities should be going forward.

As for excluding certain voices:  "okey dokey."  I listen a lot harder to people who are actually getting things done, and have learned to tune out trolls.

[tvbcof]

I was never strongly against the BCF anyway.  Just voiced some theoretical concerns and reservations about how it could influence the evolution of the Bitcoin solution.  I cannot help but feel slightly vindicated at this point.

Huh. What evidence do you have that the Foundation has been hurting the evolution of Bitcoin?

Because it seems to me things have been going gangbusters since the Foundation was formed (with all the usual chaos and drama).

Or, to be less polite to all the haters: we've all been working our asses off (especially Peter), to make Bitcoin a success. What have you anonymous cowards been doing besides spouting off about things you know NOTHING about?

Geesh...take a chill pill!

Everyone has their own opinions about the ideal way for Bitcoin to evolve.  Your opinion and mine differ.  They were already a long ways apart when we met.  No harm in that.  You and others have been doing massive amounts of very good work and I have been doing nothing.  Things are going your way because of this, and that is the way the world should work.

I was not being factitious about supporting ~vess's efforts, and by extension yours and the rest of the 'core' developers.  But I also do not believe that it is without value to make it known that alternate viewpoints exist and have certain support from within the community.

At a fundamental level I believe it is a mistake to grow the system toward providing native support for end-users.  The conundrum there is that the better your work is, the more I disagree with it.  And your and ~sipa's and Mike's work is very good.

FTR, I personally am neither anonymous nor fully at liberty to speak my mind at the present time.  It's a balancing act for me.

  Edit: sentence structure, spelling

[BCB]

Gavin,

Is the board meeting open to all members?

It is on the agenda?

I'm a member and this is the first I'm hearing about it.

Thx.

[charleshoskinson]

The better question is What is YOUR plan to help support the foundation to this end.  The foundation is all of us, (or any No bitcoin

My plan has always been to unite the veterans of the community together to develop a crowdsourced comprehensive introduction to bitcoin for the mainstream. This should be goal number one for the community. The more people who enter the bitcoin world; the better for everyone.

[charleshoskinson]

I'm a member as well and it's the first I've heard. But there isn't any exclusion at all

[Gavin Andresen]

Board meetings are board members only.  If you've ever been on the executive team of a company or non-profit I'm sure you can appreciate that if you want to actually get things done (as opposed to wanting to talk endlessly about things) then small, focused meetings are a necessary evil.

The Bitcoin Foundation Members Only Lunch Forum is on the conference schedule.

[charleshoskinson]

Gavin did you guys send out an email to all foundation members soliciting feedback for the agenda?

[Gavin Andresen]

Gavin did you guys send out an email to all foundation members soliciting feedback for the agenda?

I'm allergic to that kind of bureaucracy. The agenda will probably be decided ten minutes before the meeting, and will probably be something like "Peter talks for ten minutes and answers questions for 20 minutes while everybody is eating. Then we all talk to each other about whatever we like."

One day maybe the Foundation will be big and bloated, and will have lots of staff to prepare Official Agendas, solicit feedback from members months in advance, tabulate the responses, then hire a consultant to figure out how to increase the number of responses received, etc.

I hope I'm not on the Board any more when that happens.

[charleshoskinson]

It's called crowdsourcing and it works. You don't have to follow the advice, but it does give you an idea where common problems are occuring and also great ideas from people who have been in the movement since satoshi.

[Chakraball]

I was never strongly against the BCF anyway.  Just voiced some theoretical concerns and reservations about how it could influence the evolution of the Bitcoin solution.  I cannot help but feel slightly vindicated at this point.

Huh. What evidence do you have that the Foundation has been hurting the evolution of Bitcoin?

Because it seems to me things have been going gangbusters since the Foundation was formed (with all the usual chaos and drama).

Or, to be less polite to all the haters: we've all been working our asses off (especially Peter), to make Bitcoin a success. What have you anonymous cowards been doing besides spouting off about things you know NOTHING about?

Perhaps if the Foundation were a bit more transparent there would not be so much dissent. As things stand, to Joe Soap off the street, with paid membership and a closed forum it looks like a private members club for well heeled speculators and investors.

Perhaps you could explain why the Foundation was originally registered in Carmel IN and is now defunct.

Current Information
Entity Legal Name:
BITCOIN FOUNDATION INC.
Status: Voluntarily Dissolved
Entity Type: Non-Profit Domestic Corporation

Entity Creation Date: 9/13/2011
Entity Date to Expire:
Entity Inactive Date: 3/28/2013

Also would you care to explain why two men, Andrew Lee and Steve Deprospero, both with affiliations to MtGox are listed as agent and principles in the corporate entry?

Continuing with the transparency theme,

Maybe you could shed some light on the new Foundation registered in Seattle WA and known as THE BITCOIN FOUNDATION, INC. DBA THE BITCOIN FOUNDATION

Why is a wedding photographer named Daryl Garmon listed as Special Address Information using a Seattle PO Box?

Special Address Information
Address   PO Box 31671
City   Seattle
State   WA
Zip   98103

[BCB]

These should be questions for Peter Vessenes not Gavin.  He just happens to have the forethought to post here.

I don't think Peter has weighed in.