Flexcoin is now owned by James Gray

[mark_logan]

James Gray is my real name. Go figure though, as it's so ridiculously common it's almost always easier to use the alias I came up with in 1997 "mark_logan".

[Yankee (BitInstant)]

James Gray is my real name. Go figure though, as it's so ridiculously common it's almost always easier to use the alias I came up with in 1997 "mark_logan".

James, can you address my questions above?

[mark_logan]

As I asked before, can you please tell us who you are in the physical world?

Facebook profile? Linkedin profile? Address? Work experience?

Something!

James Gray. 29 Years old. Telecommunications Engineering Technologist for Bell Canada.
Facebook I've always kept pretty locked down: http://www.facebook.com/jamesaegray
I think I created a linkedin profile, but I never did anything with it.
Alberta Canada.

Telecommunications, that's my work experience. Which is why I didn't go at this alone, I brought in my friends in security analysis.

I can't guarantee I can continue answering questions today. I'm quite ill at this time. But, I'm going to try.

[Cosbycoin]

I still think any bitcoin bank is stupid.

[Yankee (BitInstant)]

As I asked before, can you please tell us who you are in the physical world?

Facebook profile? Linkedin profile? Address? Work experience?

Something!

James Gray. 29 Years old. Telecommunications Engineering Technologist for Bell Canada.
Facebook I've always kept pretty locked down: http://www.facebook.com/jamesaegray
I think I created a linkedin profile, but I never did anything with it.
Alberta Canada.

Telecommunications, that's my work experience. Which is why I didn't go at this alone, I brought in my friends in security analysis.

I can't guarantee I can continue answering questions today. I'm quite ill at this time. But, I'm going to try.

Cool, thats a start!

[mark_logan]

Oh, and this is my reddit account:
http://www.reddit.com/user/Mark_Logan/

I mean, it's not a shining example of who I am in a business sense, but you're going to find it anyhow.

[mark_logan]

Alright, I'm going to try and sleep off my illness and get back to answering these questions in the morning. Post away!

[rexcoin]

I still think any bitcoin bank is stupid.

For now maybe it is. Will i use it? Maybe. why?
Well the good thing about a bank is that if the funds are ever hacked or stolen. They are suppose to cover it. Now i am not 100% sure flexcoin covers that but look at it this way.

If your a new business and want to accept bitcoins and have a automated process you have to do one of these things:
-Use a online bitcoin wallet such as walletbit or instawallet. - problem with that, not only can the coins be stolen you must likely wont see any of the online wallets help to pay back for the stolen funds.
- Set up a vps or dedicated server - Problem with that is vps can be compromised and funds stolen and vps provider wont pay you shit same for dedicated server.

Now if you use a bitcoin bank i would think if the funds are stolen you should get them back.

If you compare the wallets and vps - a bitcoin bank certainly kicks there ass since you would get your bitcoins/money back at the banks cost.

Now does flexcoin offer this? I dont know.. lol

[acoindr]

I still think any bitcoin bank is stupid.

Why so? On the contrary I believe it quite necessary. Most people will not want to manage the storage of their coins, even with some of the nifty advances we've seen with wallets and the Armory client. These are supposed to be for average users, but even this is too much hassle. The really average user doesn't care about how safe such things are from a technical standpoint; they only want a place to store their coins without thinking about it, and they'll pay if they have to.

[acoindr]

I still think any bitcoin bank is stupid.

For now maybe it is. Will i use it? Maybe. why?
Well the good thing about a bank is that if the funds are ever hacked or stolen. They are suppose to cover it. Now i am not 100% sure flexcoin covers that but look at it this way.

If your a new business and want to accept bitcoins and have a automated process you have to do one of these things:
-Use a online bitcoin wallet such as walletbit or instawallet. - problem with that, not only can the coins be stolen you must likely wont see any of the online wallets help to pay back for the stolen funds.
- Set up a vps or dedicated server - Problem with that is vps can be compromised and funds stolen and vps provider wont pay you shit same for dedicated server.

Now if you use a bitcoin bank i would think if the funds are stolen you should get them back.

If you compare the wallets and vps - a bitcoin bank certainly kicks there ass since you would get your bitcoins/money back at the banks cost.

Now does flexcoin offer this? I dont know.. lol

No, Flexcoin says clearly in their terms they are not responsible for covering lost coins. James Gray has said he sees no reason to change the terms for now.

I would like to see a bitcoin bank provide some level of insurance against loss (a bitcoin version of FDIC), even if they have to charge for it. However, I don't see this as imperative. Flexcoin, as the first bitcoin bank, doesn't cover loss and that's fine because they are clear about it. Their customers can make their own decisions about the risk of banking with them, trusting essentially they will do everything they can to protect deposits. For many users in exchange for convenience (and along with reputation) this will be enough.

[acoindr]

Alright, I'm going to try and sleep off my illness and get back to answering these questions in the morning. Post away!

If it's a cold be sure to drink/eat an orange for 100% vitamin C.

[koin]

he will not have access to the site for a few days.. this was written into the contract for your protection, and it was his idea....  I believe that is a good confidence building measure.

unless your customers themselves move the funds to the new owner (or opt-in for the transfer somehow) you likely don't necessarily lose the responsibility of caring for those funds.

customers funds must be segregated.  if you are selling the business and transferring control of the website that is one thing.  but transferring control of the segregated funds?  certainly you want to seek legal advice on this first!

not only are you considering transferring your customer's funds to another entity, but to a foreign entity?  seriously? you can't be!

your customers have funds in a u.s.-based "bank" (words from the title of your site) and then all of a sudden those funds are now controlled by an entity from a foreign land?   if you have their permission, then no problem.  i believe the agreement with your customers that would allow this might be called a "subordination agreement" but each customer must be onboard before their funds are transferred.

please read this: http://www.finra.org/investors/protectyourself/investoralerts/p116996

then there are aml concerns.  firstly, there is the significant transfer of funds from flexcoin to this foreign entity.  are you reporting everything that needs to be reported for that?

[edit: i am not a lawyer, but sometimes i try to play one on bitcointalk.]

[kjlimo]

Welcome James A. Gray!  I wish you the best of luck!

Here are my thoughts:

1) I also thought it was hilarious that your user ID is mark_logan while your name is James A. Gray

2) I was going to offer to drive up to Canada to meet you,  but unfortunately Google Maps tells me that Alberta, Canada is a 38 hour drive away from Cleveland, Ohio.  Feel free to look me up if you're ever in the area!

3) Does Flexcoin already, or do they plan to be the third payment API system competing with bit-pay.com & mtgox.com checkout solutions for merchants?

4) Will Flexcoin give the ability that Paypal has of allowing me to send bitcoins using their payment API system (see #3 above) to send bitcoins to an e-mail address?

I feel this is a great opportunity for a "bitcoin bank" to provide the service where I don't have to send money from dsfsd3543DSFS to sdfdsjfslf5335DSFS3lkjer for example.  It's a small annoyance, but a cumbersome detail that Flexcoin could simplify!

5) I'm not sure if Flexcoin is a "bank" so before we go asking whether they are adhering to all of the regulations that Banks must comply with, keep in mind that we're in the wild west of bitcoin world here.  Most of the laws and regulations aren't written for bitcoin.... yet! 

Don't presume that any previously applied protections and laws automatically apply to Flexcoin.

6) Don't hold your breath for FDIC coverage...  As for Flexcoin insuring our deposits, that's likely going to take some time.  But give them time to get started.  I'm guessing as they deal with attacks (which sounds like they are prepping for), and grow in experience, they will eventually have a business reason to offer insurance against deposits.  Until then, we either have faith in the system, or we don't.

Just some brain vomit as I lay here awake in the middle of the night/morning.  Happy investing!

[RaggedMonk]

From his reddit:

what is the most interesting thing you know? by rezynin AskReddit
[–]Mark_Logan 1 point 3 months ago (1|0)

How to track, trap and skin a wolverine. Of course, it's a skill I haven't used since I was 8 and No, not just wolverines, wolves, caribou, bear, fox as well.

[mark_logan]

If it's a cold be sure to drink/eat an orange for 100% vitamin C.

I did, and I still feel like death. But thank you for the suggestion.

No, Flexcoin says clearly in their terms they are not responsible for covering lost coins. James Gray has said he sees no reason to change the terms for now.

I would like to see a bitcoin bank provide some level of insurance against loss (a bitcoin version of FDIC), even if they have to charge for it. However, I don't see this as imperative. Flexcoin, as the first bitcoin bank, doesn't cover loss and that's fine because they are clear about it. Their customers can make their own decisions about the risk of banking with them, trusting essentially they will do everything they can to protect deposits. For many users in exchange for convenience (and along with reputation) this will be enough.

We won't be changing the terms and conditions for at least a while. But I do want to say that we are looking into options for insuring deposits. This is a complicated thing of course, but one up for discussion in the long term, as I too think that we should be able to find a way to provide insurance on deposits. But I worry that the bitcoin community may not be ready for monthly banking fees.

Welcome James A. Gray!  I wish you the best of luck!

Here are my thoughts:

1) I also thought it was hilarious that your user ID is mark_logan while your name is James A. Gray

2) I was going to offer to drive up to Canada to meet you,  but unfortunately Google Maps tells me that Alberta, Canada is a 38 hour drive away from Cleveland, Ohio.  Feel free to look me up if you're ever in the area!

3) Does Flexcoin already, or do they plan to be the third payment API system competing with bit-pay.com & mtgox.com checkout solutions for merchants?

4) Will Flexcoin give the ability that Paypal has of allowing me to send bitcoins using their payment API system (see #3 above) to send bitcoins to an e-mail address?

I feel this is a great opportunity for a "bitcoin bank" to provide the service where I don't have to send money from dsfsd3543DSFS to sdfdsjfslf5335DSFS3lkjer for example.  It's a small annoyance, but a cumbersome detail that Flexcoin could simplify!

5) I'm not sure if Flexcoin is a "bank" so before we go asking whether they are adhering to all of the regulations that Banks must comply with, keep in mind that we're in the wild west of bitcoin world here.  Most of the laws and regulations aren't written for bitcoin.... yet! 

Don't presume that any previously applied protections and laws automatically apply to Flexcoin.

6) Don't hold your breath for FDIC coverage...  As for Flexcoin insuring our deposits, that's likely going to take some time.  But give them time to get started.  I'm guessing as they deal with attacks (which sounds like they are prepping for), and grow in experience, they will eventually have a business reason to offer insurance against deposits.  Until then, we either have faith in the system, or we don't.

Just some brain vomit as I lay here awake in the middle of the night/morning.  Happy investing!

1) James Gray is a family name. My father and his father share the same name.
2) Yes, Cleveland Ohio is far, far away from here. Next time I make the trek to visit my father in law in Wisconsin I'll consider your offer!
3) The API is, from what I know, in a "half finished" state. What this means, I'm not exactly sure, but it is on our Radar as being a very VERY important thing going forward.
4) Another thing we want to work on. (The list is very long.) Because I agree that sending money to a human readable email address is better than trying to remember what the hash was!
5) Yes.
6) Security first. Take care of what you have and then look towards the future.

From his reddit:
Quote
what is the most interesting thing you know? by rezynin AskReddit
[–]Mark_Logan 1 point 3 months ago (1|0)

How to track, trap and skin a wolverine. Of course, it's a skill I haven't used since I was 8 and No, not just wolverines, wolves, caribou, bear, fox as well.

Posted on: Today at 07:38:33 AM Posted by: kjlimo

Yes. I used to live here. I'm Serious.

[mark_logan]

Thank you. I repaired mine

[Yankee (BitInstant)]

We should pitch Bitcoin to the Eskimos.

I think your our man for the job.

[acoindr]

If it's a cold be sure to drink/eat an orange for 100% vitamin C.

I did, and I still feel like death. But thank you for the suggestion.

Keep drinking OJ, and give it 24 hours. One dose should be enough but it only helps to have more. Vitamin C will kick your body's natural defense into gear. Keep insulated and you should move to the recovery part of the cold cycle quickly.

No, Flexcoin says clearly in their terms they are not responsible for covering lost coins. James Gray has said he sees no reason to change the terms for now.

I would like to see a bitcoin bank provide some level of insurance against loss (a bitcoin version of FDIC), even if they have to charge for it. However, I don't see this as imperative. Flexcoin, as the first bitcoin bank, doesn't cover loss and that's fine because they are clear about it. Their customers can make their own decisions about the risk of banking with them, trusting essentially they will do everything they can to protect deposits. For many users in exchange for convenience (and along with reputation) this will be enough.

We won't be changing the terms and conditions for at least a while. But I do want to say that we are looking into options for insuring deposits. This is a complicated thing of course, but one up for discussion in the long term, as I too think that we should be able to find a way to provide insurance on deposits. But I worry that the bitcoin community may not be ready for monthly banking fees.

The bitcoin community currently consists mostly of technocrats. These are not your primary customers and will mostly look after their own coin management. Your customers (fortunately for you) are the majority of the populace, and begin to frown at anything with more than one or two big shiny red buttons.

Bitcoins are highly complex to understand and manage successfully. Absent severe market pressures most wouldn't even attempt using them in raw form. This means services are badly needed to make bitcoins more user friendly. Currently there are no market pressures, and the people who hold bitcoins do so for investment/speculation primarily. Taking the management/security responsibility off these users for no fees is quite a favor.

As market forces do develop average users will definitely need/seek banking services, and even be inclined to pay for it. The business model of no account fees employed by Flexcoin is good in a promotional sense, and naturally supports bitcoin adoption but I wouldn't be too shy about fees especially as things develop.

[MPOE-PR]

So good luck with it.

[MoneyIsDebt]

I like the idea of flexcoin, especially for enabling fast microtransactions, and quick transfers person to person needing but web access.
A merchant API would be nice though.

_{Flexcoin id: moneyisdebt}