VanityGen + Firstbits = No Anonymity--On Purpose!

[Phinnaeus Gage]

I've stated on another thread that there exist several business models based on users using Bitcoin and purposely directing others to view the blockchain, thus showing others that they've received and sent bitcoins. In this post, I'll briefly outline one such scenario, and welcome all other similar ideas on this thread, coupled with your suggestions or reason on why this, or any other idea, won't work.


YouTube currently has a Partner Program in place that pays out a percentage of the revenue Google earns by those ads you sometimes see on some videos. But what if a person either opt out of that program or supplement that revenue stream with an alternative Bitcoin program. The following is one example of how it could work.

My name is Tom Arnold. I'm an avid hunter. I'm about to start taking videos of all my hunt outings and post those videos on YouTube. I may or may not join their Partner Program, but I will embrace Bitcoin as part of my business model. My user name on YouTube will be 1TurkeyBob1, a perfect fit for my brand Turkey Bob.

1TurkeyBob1 just happens to be the Firstbits to my vanity Bitcoin address 1TurkeyBob1ab3MEt5SFj74ZBcF2Mk97Aah4ac (not a real address). I will have this address on my website, my 100's of YouTube videos, as well as all the major social media sites. In a concise manner, I will describe what that address is all about and how viewers can tip me if they've found value in viewing my videos. Likewise, I will only favorite videos that I like which also use the same program and that I have tipped them with bitcoins. By viewing the blockchain, one will be able to see what I've earned and what I've tipped.

If I've done the math correctly, after 10M views, and if on average everybody tipped 1/10 of a penny, I will earn $10K USD. I plan on tipping a dime ($.10 USD) for each video I favorite, because the videos I do favorite will be of value to me.

C0017A is a YouTuber with 558 subscribers and 598,928 video views with 189 uploaded videos. Using the same calculations as above, he would have earned about $600 USD to date. I can envision his Firstbits as 1Coo17A.

warrior412 has 6,271,214 viewers for this one stupid video alone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZmMwP5bELE Now, if his user name were 1Warrior1 or, at the very least, he displayed this as his tip address, I would have been inclined to favorite that video, but I'm on a mission to only favorite videos that I'm capable of tipping first-hand.

There are some videos that I like so much, I'm going to contact them and let them know not only what I'm up to, but why.

If you like this idea, please tip 1TurkeyBob1 (not a real address).


There you have it, folks. Only one example on how have Bitcoin transparency could play out.

Thoughts?

~Bruno~

[genjix]

http://bitcoinmedia.com/vanitygen-firstbits-bitcoin-handles/

brmlab hackerspace did this.

[deepceleron]

Uh, wot? Firstbits is just another step for users to go through to find out what your address is. It's not a magic trick to get people to send you money; you'd think people would be looking over there ← and sending their pocket change if so. They realize it is just a "send 1000 get well cards to a sick kid" thing, without the sick kid. There are lots of "if you like my post, send me money" sigs on this forum with 0 balances. And here, we all have wallets.

If you have the room and don't need to remember it for later, why not just post the whole address so it can be cut and pasted? The phrases in vanitygen addresses are pretty obvious if you just want to make a cool address.

Double-click on address to highlight it, press CTRL-C. Select the address field in Bitcoin, press CTRL-V. Type in 1 BTC. Press send. Repeat.

Ideally we would get to the point where you can show a QR code to users which includes your address and recommended amount, and on the pervasive Bitcoin mobile phone client, people will snap a picture of it and press send.

Subject has nothing to do with OP...

[markio]

I'm really just overall confused by the words I'm reading here

[deepceleron]

I'm really just overall confused by the words I'm reading here

To summarize:
PG: People will send micropayments and donations if they see a vanity address!
DC: No they won't.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

I'm really just overall confused by the words I'm reading here

To summarize:
PG: People will send micropayments and donations if they see a vanity address!
DC: No they won't.
PG: But maybe they would if given the right circumstances.

Fixed!


1JBieber1
1LadyGaga1 (too long, I'm sure)

1LUNGevity1

1Virgo1
1Libra1
1Pisces1
1Leo1

1Derful1D ~ A real twitter account: https://twitter.com/#!/1Derful1D_
#1DHQHarry ~ Currently trending on Twitter
#1DVIP ~ Also, currently trending on Twitter

Major takeaway: Now tweeps only have to put a pound sign in front of their number one hashtag. They've been doing it for years, now here's a chance to monetize it.

All Justin Bieber would have to do is announce a new charity that only accepts Bitcoin to his followers. The FirstBits is 1JBieber1 for the vanity address 1JBieber1ab3MEt5SFj74ZBcF2Mk97Aah4ac (not a real address). Please use the hashtag #1JBieber1 to show your support. He doesn't even have to explain Bitcoin to his followers. They'll figure it out on their own, for if Justin Bieber is using it, it has to be cool. You'll be surprised what those "kids" would pull out of their ass just to be a small part of their idol. They'll do it for the bragging rights, and it's the bragging rights aspect that I'm trying to get across. Look-at-me! Them Bieber fans are a tight knit group just as we are a tight knit group, as well as this is a tight knit club.

#1DVIP Got Youtube? Subscribe to us YouTube.com/RedCarpetBiz Tumblr ? RedCarpetBiz.Tumblr.com #RedCarpetbiz #1DVIP

#WARvRED

to

1WARvRED1

to

1LSUvBYU1

to

1DUKE1

http://bitcoinmedia.com/vanitygen-firstbits-bitcoin-handles/

brmlab hackerspace did this.

Thanks for that link, genjix. The first time I've seen that, I believe.

~Bruno~

[Cryptoman]

What prevents someone from generating another address with the same firstbits and then creating confusion at best or hijacking some of the contributions at worst?

[Phinnaeus Gage]

What prevents someone from generating another address with the same firstbits and then creating confusion at best or hijacking some of the contributions at worst?

A lot of that has been addressed in the various VanityGen and FirstBits threads.

[Vitalik Buterin]

What prevents someone from generating another address with the same firstbits and then creating confusion at best or hijacking some of the contributions at worst?

Firstbits, as implied in the name, returns the first address in the blockchain that matches the shortened version. The second address would have a firstbits one character longer.

[muyuu]

I can only see this as a way to confuse people into assuming vanity addresses are legit, when in truth anyone can create any.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

I can only see this as a way to confuse people into assuming vanity addresses are legit, when in truth anyone can create any.

You are correct. With a $130 piece of hardware and a few hours, you can have one like 1BTC1oo1J3MEt5SFj74ZBcF2Mk97Aah4ac

Should I remove it from my sig so not to confuse anybody into thinking that it's a legit address? It even looks like a scam when you see the FirstBits for the first time: 1BTC1oo I so cleverly used the small case 'O' instead of zeros.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Here's a screenshot, taken at the end of this YouTube video, of what I'm trying to accomplished.



Pretend that this is not a major news organization, but some individual that just happens to post many videos. He can easily create a one page landing page at 1moxy.com. Once there, the reader is greeted with simply instructions and a call to action. The worst that happens is that the reader is first introduced to Bitcoin, regardless of what actions he chooses to take. Secondly, he wants to learn more about the person who put that video up on YouTube, putting the Bitcoin aspect to the side. The YouTuber's hope is to gain a subscriber to what ever program they're involved in regardless if the reader becomes a Bitcoin supporter or not. To the YouTuber, Bitcoin is, at the very least, another revenue stream for him. Coupled with Google's Partner Program, in essence he's able to double dip. Now, if I were one of those Gurus who earn a living by selling information like this to my tribe (read email list), I would want to be the first one to make this work so that for a short period of time I would be a Guru's Guru, opposed to only currently being a Guru who exposes what other Gurus have developed.