I can't think of what to do with my time and money

[seriouscoin]

A software engineer but you do not have any ideas for Bitcoin?

Software engineers are more or less just workers...... They're not in any position that requires vision....

Without a vision,they usually just are at average.
Okay then let's see what the engineer can do for bitcoin.

LOL you think Steve Job is a Computer Engineer?

The OP is asking for ideas... not HOW to do something. But What to do

[BitOnyx]

Well bitcoin atm's is nice idea that would require a lot of money,btc and skill to push any further in diferent coutrys. You can try that

[benjamindees]

The Bitcoin meshnet situation is fairly bleak, for no apparent reason.  Is McAfee still on the case?  No telling.

Integrate Bitcoin with something like CJDNS, so that it's easy to setup a secure mesh network and pay-by-the-hour for bandwidth.  Sell packaged routers.

[murkster]

you could help support the future of crypto by supporting some of the better altcoins that would work much better for small transactions

there is so many things that the comunaty needs but one of the more important ones is clearing up the scams

( To be clear I am the dev of ADT and I am not trying to get your money before people say it )

IMHO Noblecoin.

Transparency and openness in spades..... just read their page and see what you all think..

[Lauda]

LOL you think Steve Job is a Computer Engineer?

The OP is asking for ideas... not HOW to do something. But What to do

Steve Jobs was my student.
Idea #1, contribute and work on the bitcoin core.

[matt608]

Are you looking to donate or invest?

You could contact the various core bitcoin developers and find out what needs to be done the most and provide bounties for the completion of those things.

And as others have said, there can't be enough bitcoin vending machines at this stage.

There are many bitcoin business in need of funding and investment groups.  There ways to support bitcoin are endless.  We need bitcoin insurance, as well as trustable web-wallet providers.  We need better exchanges with larger banking partners all over the world.  We need more bitcoin banks like Neo and Bee.  

[franky1]

re-invent a bitmit/ebay style site.

[lorix]

I am a software engineer and fairly early adopter of Bitcoin. I have also recently quit my job.

I have a fairly large amount of Bitcoin that I would like to invest into bettering the Bitcoin community.

What is a product or service the industry is lacking or that can be done better?

I would love to get it up and running.

It seems most people here are either quasi-begging or looking for someone to support a technical idea or project - which is not a bad thing but there are already a lot of angel investors for projects around the scene.

Those sort of investors are largely looking to make a return, but you have stated that you want to invest in bettering the Bitcoin community - which is commendable.

I don't know what amount of coin you have behind you but my suggestion would be to look for opportunities in the public media space to show how Bitcoin can be used to help people and change lives.

I'll give you an example:

Most current affairs shows have regular spots about people down on their luck. I would suggest contacting the current affairs show about one of these spots that feels right to you and tell the show that you are contacting them with an offer to fully help whoever you decide to go with. The only catch is you have to pay the donation directly to them in Bitcoin. I'm sure you can choose to remain anonymous if you want, and just be honest with them about your reasons - tell them this is about showing that Bitcoin isn't just a gimmick and can be used to help people instantly. They might even want to film the transaction being received by the person in need. Either way, this is a good opportunity to help someone and generate good press for Bitcoin at the same time. You may even be able to take this a step further and contact a Bitcoin accepting company like Overstock.Com and see if they are prepared to be involved if the person you help needs to make purchases with the Bitcoin.

Ultimately it's your BTC and your choice what you want to do with it but I feel the best thing we can do is show the public just how powerful it can be and have a real life benefit to people.

Thoughts?

[MrPiggles]

If seller cheats buyer, buyer will not press button to release bitcoins to seller.

If buyer doesn't hit the button to release the bitcoins, buyer cannot get a refund so buyer cannot cheat the seller.

You left out option 3: buyer is an asshole and doesn't release the funds because - what difference does it make?

Would happen a lot

[miragecash]

I am glad you agree with me. That's 2 votes!  

re-invent a bitmit/ebay style site.

I didn't leave that option out. That's the "miners' fees" remember? Also, once you have a couple transactions under your belt, your feedback rating would make you more trustworthy than someone with a lower feedback rating. So, the seller could opt to refuse large dollar amount sales to newbies as a condition of the auction. Another condition of the auction set by the seller could be a discount for those with a very good feedback rating. Feedback ratings are weighted with more weight given to high dollar amount sales that have closed successfully. With this discount in place, there would be a great incentive to not use throwaway profiles just to be an "asshole" as there is no financial incentive to be an "asshole" since the money goes to the miners and not the "asshole" buyer. The financial incentive is on being a good buyer to keep a high feedback rating for said discounts.

You left out option 3: buyer is an asshole and doesn't release the funds because - what difference does it make?

I invite you to notice that, A 21st century money of the Singularity, Bitcoin, needs a 21st century libertarian marketplace.....

P2P auctions using bitcoin. Have a blockchain record all financial transactions just like bitcoin, it is distributed so no central server nor company.
1. buyer pays and bitcoin enters into a wallet controlled by the computer program and not controlled by any person. private keys held by computer and not a person.
2. buyer's bitcoins are in escrow in the computer system.
3. seller sends stuff.
4. when buyer receives stuff, buyer hits a button to release the bitcoins to seller. buyer cannot get the bitcoins back.

If seller cheats buyer, buyer will not press button to release bitcoins to seller.

If buyer doesn't hit the button to release the bitcoins, buyer cannot get a refund so buyer cannot cheat the seller.

system is free to use. there are no auction fees.

bitcoins trapped in the system from buyers who have paid but not released the bitcoins to the seller, will be distributed to the "miners" after 30 days. The "miners" get the bitcoins for running the distributed central serverless network auction program for everyone to use for free.  

All auction items are found with a simple search engine. There are no complicated menu trees and employees. The entire system is automated. System is encrpyted just like bitcoin so miners will not be liable for any crazy stuff people put on there since they do not know what is on there.

I am a sucky computer programmer or else I would've done this already. I invite you to hire some programmers to do this.

Many thanks,
 

[whtchocla7e]

Bail out those who lost btc on gox. That would be helpful.

What does bailing out people do for Bitcoin?

The train gotta leave the station with or without some people.

[acoindr]

I am a software engineer and fairly early adopter of Bitcoin. I have also recently quit my job.

I have a fairly large amount of Bitcoin that I would like to invest into bettering the Bitcoin community.

What is a product or service the industry is lacking or that can be done better?

I would love to get it up and running.

That's easy. The biggest thing this community needs is easier coin usage. This includes everything from acquiring to dealing with coins. The #1 biggest priority in that is simple and secure coin storage, with easy retrieval to be spent. Lack of this really fueled this MtGox loss, because people used them as a storage wallet.

The two best efforts so far in that area IMO are bitcoinarmory.com and bitcointrezor.com. Both are in early stages and working to improve. While these are a huge leap forward, I still don't see either as perfect for the average user who struggles with technology. I don't have the exact answer. It's something I constantly think about myself, but the more people trying to solve usability problems elegantly, I think, the better.

[miso]

1. Become the greatest email provider
2. Make new Wallet software
3. Implement this https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=487060.0

[FelixOliver]

ahhh Just Hodl and call it a day...

[Swordsoffreedom]

I am a software engineer and fairly early adopter of Bitcoin. I have also recently quit my job.

I have a fairly large amount of Bitcoin that I would like to invest into bettering the Bitcoin community.

What is a product or service the industry is lacking or that can be done better?

I would love to get it up and running.

I would like more merchant APIs myself to increase usability worldwide

[oOoOo]

Ok, for real this time:

Write an android/ios native client for Bitmessage! (https://bitmessage.org/)

That would be FANTASTIC!!

[Meuh6879]

What is a product or service the industry is lacking or that can be done better?

glass (optical) and ... medical specialist.
ah ... you can build a home for senior (very valuable).

[rmines]

Just wondering..how many btc are we actually talking about?
They'd just serve the community, or are you looking to get a return?

[Sniar]

I am a software engineer and fairly early adopter of Bitcoin. I have also recently quit my job.

I have a fairly large amount of Bitcoin that I would like to invest into bettering the Bitcoin community.

What is a product or service the industry is lacking or that can be done better?

I would love to get it up and running.

Make a BTC Exchange on your country !

[_Miracle]

I would appreciate a site that functions like ebay but uses bitcoin/alts instead.

I pay 10% in fees to ebay and then another percentage through Paypal AND Paypal takes days to get funds into my account (my small amount may not be much in interest but the amounts they're holding?)

A way to put your skills to profitable use.
Trading goods for goods could be less cumbersome in relation to regulations.

Or figure out what it is that would make your everyday work a pleasure.

Wishing you much luck.