EFF donations and the Bitcoin Faucet

[kokjo]

can they be used for some sort of lending pool for start up projects?
some kind of bitcoin fund?

[Jan]

It would be a better idea to put them into a bounty for badly needed projects to help solve problems of wallet theft and wallet loss for the average user.
 
Eg. A user-friendly, secure liveCD or live USB drive configured for automatic online backup.

+1

There are several high priority obstacles for bitcoin. Why not make a bounty for the first person/group that solves them?

• 1. Convincing 10 new merchants to accept BTC.
• 2. Make a secure/useable android/iPhone wallet.
• 3. etc...

[Eri]

I think you've confused what YOU need with what everyone else needs.

My wallet is already secure. My client is already setup. I don't have a business and I don't see how having people donate 5% of their cpu to a pool /if they want/, in any way could possibly help me any more then it would help anyone else.

And, it technically isn't even to help us, but to help those new to bitcoin and to make it easier for those that are new, many people wont be bothered with it unless its secure and "works right out of the box".

So tell me... how is this to help me?

Fair enough.

EFF directed funds redirected to development projects .... helping people into bitcoins versus helping them out of bitcoin troubles ... just can't see the rationale, sorry.

I don't quite get what you mean. With a bit over 3500 BTC in that account, at a value of 16.50 USD each that is nearly 60K or 60,000 USD. That ought to be enough to do many things. What i suggested could help people into bitcoin as well as making it more secure and easier to use for all of us and improve it in ways the community would like if people submitted ideas, a poll could even be taken for the most popular ideas. Gavin or someone else could then OK the ideas as 'winners' to be funded and issue funds on completion of these "top ideas", but require them to be open source with no claims for ownership etc as well. As far as any 'bitcoin troubles' i don't quite follow you, but if their are any issues this is exactly what the fund itself would be for. Heck their is probably enough in that account to even throw some towards the bitcoin faucet since quite a few people seem to be interested in that. Though it does seem like bots might get most of it and they probably already do.

[walidzohair]

I would suggest funding new "strategical software improvements" .. umm in English .. something like "BTCPAL=paypal" or "BTCPAY=ebay". specially an BTCPAY that would really interest merchants and individuals to use the new currency.

Along with some faucet funding.

[markm]

Don't make them re-write their blog entry! Keep it simple, let what they said they were doing be what they did, don't drag it out so endless comments and trollings and questions leave bitcoin mentioned over and over, pointing out they keep changing their mind, does that mean they are not consistent, and so on and so on and on and on.

Honestly when Gaven linked to their blog post it seemed to me that was the end of it, look folks, they made their decision, they wrote it into the record, it is a done deal.

So, lets look at this hacker-the-faucet problem.

How specific to the faucet are the security problems the faucet, like possibly many another website that uses bitcoins, might face?

I notice their blog post didn't really go into a whole lot of detail about precisely how the faucet operates, upon what criteria it dispenses coins, or even whether paying its own bills constitutes redistributing via the faucet.

Would it break faith with their intentions ("so that they can continue to circulate in the community") were the faucet to use some of those coins to get some serious work on bitcoin-on-the-web security done on its behalf?

-MarkM-

[citizen]

whatever happened with this?  Did the EFF send Gavin the coins?

[teukon]

whatever happened with this?  Did the EFF send Gavin the coins?

I'm also curious.  What was decided in the end?  Anyone?

[Gavin Andresen]

The plan is the same as before: EFF coins will be redistributed via the Bitcoin Faucet.

Last week the folks at the EFF said they'd be sending the coins to a secure wallet I created for that purpose "tomorrow."
I asked that they send them to address: 1vc3ZU4ae2cF6ZxqE44j5Ak3wfsZqybtb

I'll let you know what happens; they never told me where the coins are being held, it is possible they got caught in the mybitcoin disaster.

I'll keep that wallet secure and offline except to periodically top-up the Faucet's balance.

[Cryptoman]

I'll let you know what happens; they never told me where the coins are being held, it is possible they got caught in the mybitcoin disaster.

Perhaps someone needs to tell them about the claim process in case they missed it.

[Gavin Andresen]

Update:

The EFF donation account/address was at mybitcoin, so half of them are gone.

I received 1,879 from the mybitcoin claims process.  They are now safe in an offline, encrypted wallet; here is the transaction:
 http://blockexplorer.com/tx/4b32ed2f7c1422ced7f1f0be88b2afe355c59180be72e942df085d93f1c8737a

According to block explorer, 3515.06 BTC were donated to the donation address I had for them:
 http://blockexplorer.com/address/1MCwBbhNGp5hRm5rC1Aims2YFRe2SXPYKt

49% of that would have been about 1,722 BTC, not 1,879. I'm guessing the difference is because of donations from other mybitcoin customers just crediting the eff account without generating a block-chain transaction.

Before sending coins to the Faucet, I think I'll create a patch to always send "change" to the same address, so it is really easy to keep track of these bitcoins and make sure they're not sent anywhere other than the Faucet.

[Cryptoman]

According to block explorer, 3515.06 BTC were donated to the donation address I had for them:
 http://blockexplorer.com/address/1MCwBbhNGp5hRm5rC1Aims2YFRe2SXPYKt

Wow, turning your nose up at $35,000 in donations.  I'm not sure I will ever hold EFF in high esteem again.

Before sending coins to the Faucet, I think I'll create a patch to always send "change" to the same address, so it is really easy to keep track of these bitcoins and make sure they're not sent anywhere other than the Faucet.

Does it make sense to send the coins a little at a time, in case the Faucet gets scammed again?

[Gavin Andresen]

Does it make sense to send the coins a little at a time, in case the Faucet gets scammed again?

Yes, I'll send... oh, I dunno, $200 or so worth of bitcoins at a time to the Faucet.

RE: not holding the EFF in high esteem: I still strongly support the EFF. They're good people working to make the world a better place, and I trust them to know better than I do whether or not accepting bitcoin donations is good for both them and the bitcoin project.

[royalecraig]

Give the money out to companies that are trading which accept Bitcoin as encouragement and reward for their efforts.
And some to set up new businesses.

[bbit]

Give the money out to companies that are trading which accept Bitcoin as encouragement and reward for their efforts.
And some to set up new businesses.

+1 this is the only way Bitcoin survives

[Tasty Champa]

eff doesn't do anything.
fuck neckbeards.