Vote for 2014 Bitcoin industry awards!

[CBG81]

never heard of these rewards before.. How serious is this really?

[illymoka]

never heard of these rewards before.. How serious is this really?

Why not vote and make it serious?

[rayson]

its a scam i guess just kidding

[little_chrisna]

pbmining 

[Rira6ade]

As for startups, BTCChina was huge this past year.

[AaronCraig]

As for startups, BTCChina was huge this past year.

Bitstamp's input looks more important now that I think of it.

[GTA]

As for startups, BTCChina was huge this past year.

Bitstamp's input looks more important now that I think of it.

Blockchain.info! I kid you not.

[Gleb Gamow]

BitPay has done more than anyone else. Even the Microsoft news can be attributed to BitPay.

http://www.coinbuzz.com/2015/01/05/bitcoin-bowls-popular-success/

More interestingly, BitPay payed for the sponsorship entirely in Bitcoin. ESPN immediately exchanged all of thew Bitcoin for US Dollars.

BitPay, the top third-party payment provider, even sponsored a Bowl game, paying ESPN for the rights entirely in bitcoins, whereupon they immediately exchanged them bitcoins using a third-party payme... Wait a second! If this trend continues, next year we may witness the Fiesta/HashTrade Bowl and the LiquidHuluBits Bowl and the Netsolus/Nectarine Bowl, all on the same day to boot, preceded by the CoinWare Parade in front of the Miami Bitcoin Embassy bearing a block-long, two-story tall banner that reads: A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man.

[fabiola!]

As for startups, BTCChina was huge this past year.

Bitstamp's input looks more important now that I think of it.

Bitstamp's website was down all day yesterday, couldn't get any money out, doesn't give me a good feeling.

[QuestionAuthority]

BitPay has done more than anyone else. Even the Microsoft news can be attributed to BitPay.

http://www.coinbuzz.com/2015/01/05/bitcoin-bowls-popular-success/

More interestingly, BitPay payed for the sponsorship entirely in Bitcoin. ESPN immediately exchanged all of thew Bitcoin for US Dollars.

BitPay, the top third-party payment provider, even sponsored a Bowl game, paying ESPN for the rights entirely in bitcoins, whereupon they immediately exchanged them bitcoins using a third-party payme... Wait a second! If this trend continues, next year we may witness the Fiesta/HashTrade Bowl and the LiquidHuluBits Bowl and the Netsolus/Nectarine Bowl, all on the same day to boot, preceded by the CoinWare Parade in front of the Miami Bitcoin Embassy bearing a block-long, two-story tall banner that reads: A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man.

I don't even know what you're talking about Bruno? Can you be a little less cryptic and dumb it down for me?

Do you mean: Because BitPay exchanges BTC for USD they aren't doing anything valuable for Bitcoin? Streamlining merchant acceptance of Bitcoin by performing a seamless exchange function is kind of what they do for a living. 

[Rira6ade]

As for startups, BTCChina was huge this past year.

Bitstamp's input looks more important now that I think of it.

Bitstamp's website was down all day yesterday, couldn't get any money out, doesn't give me a good feeling.

I have a deposit with them, too, nothing big, but a little worried as well.

[fonenumba]

BitPay has done more than anyone else. Even the Microsoft news can be attributed to BitPay.

http://www.coinbuzz.com/2015/01/05/bitcoin-bowls-popular-success/

More interestingly, BitPay payed for the sponsorship entirely in Bitcoin. ESPN immediately exchanged all of thew Bitcoin for US Dollars.

BitPay, the top third-party payment provider, even sponsored a Bowl game, paying ESPN for the rights entirely in bitcoins, whereupon they immediately exchanged them bitcoins using a third-party payme... Wait a second! If this trend continues, next year we may witness the Fiesta/HashTrade Bowl and the LiquidHuluBits Bowl and the Netsolus/Nectarine Bowl, all on the same day to boot, preceded by the CoinWare Parade in front of the Miami Bitcoin Embassy bearing a block-long, two-story tall banner that reads: A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man.

Even if they exchanged their bitcoin for fiat it sill exposed many people at ESPN to bitcoin which will result in potentially more people at ESPN using/buying bitcoin.

Additionally the transaction in question gave bitcoin positive publicity which it has been running short of as of recently

[BitCoinNutJob]

Roger Ver and Andreas Antonopoulos continue to head the list as far as I am concerned

I'd vote andreas as #1 and unfortunately gox as #1 news story but maybe we should pick something more positive.

[Gleb Gamow]

BitPay has done more than anyone else. Even the Microsoft news can be attributed to BitPay.

http://www.coinbuzz.com/2015/01/05/bitcoin-bowls-popular-success/

More interestingly, BitPay payed for the sponsorship entirely in Bitcoin. ESPN immediately exchanged all of thew Bitcoin for US Dollars.

BitPay, the top third-party payment provider, even sponsored a Bowl game, paying ESPN for the rights entirely in bitcoins, whereupon they immediately exchanged them bitcoins using a third-party payme... Wait a second! If this trend continues, next year we may witness the Fiesta/HashTrade Bowl and the LiquidHuluBits Bowl and the Netsolus/Nectarine Bowl, all on the same day to boot, preceded by the CoinWare Parade in front of the Miami Bitcoin Embassy bearing a block-long, two-story tall banner that reads: A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man.

I don't even know what you're talking about Bruno? Can you be a little less cryptic and dumb it down for me?

Do you mean: Because BitPay exchanges BTC for USD they aren't doing anything valuable for Bitcoin? Streamlining merchant acceptance of Bitcoin by performing a seamless exchange function is kind of what they do for a living.  

What third-party payment provider did ESPN use when BitPay, a third-party payment provider themselves, and the one that got ESPN to accept bitcoins in the first place, paid ESPN bitcoins for the rights, whereupon ESPN immediately had the bitcoins converted to fiat and deposited into their bank account?

BitPay --> ESPN --> BitPay --> BitPay's Bank --> ESPN's Bank

or

BitPay --> ESPN --> CoinBase --> CoinBase's Bank --> ESPN's Bank

The latter wouldn't make any sense, for it was BitPay that got ESPN to accept bitcoins, not BitPay's competition, CoinBase.

The rest of the BS that I penned about CoinWare, et al., was to get you to think about the above. It doesn't make sense! BitPay could've easily just gave ESPN a check and that'll be that. But to state that they gave ESPN bitcoins whereupon the bitcoins were immediately sent back to BitPay so that a conventional fiat transfer can be made doesn't make sense on so many levels.

Just like nobody, and I mean NOBODY can open up an account at BitPay to solely convert their personal BTC to fiat, whether it's a buck, ten dollars, a grand, or a million dollars. BitPay is a third-party payment provider. The key word being third. But, supposedly unknown to BitPay, that's exactly what service they provided to Sonny Vleisides' BFL when they converted over 10 MILLION DOLLARS worth of BTC to fiat under the guise of product purchases where there is NO way that BitPay wouldn't have known that that was exactly what BFL was doing even prior to this PR release: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/10/prweb11283333.htm picked up by Reuters here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/31/idUSnGNX4VPYg9+1dc+GNW20131031

Again, BitPay is a third-party payment provider and not an exchange. Especially, not an exchange to convert tens of millions of dollars worth of bitcoins that were mined via ill-gotten means to fiat, of which is exactly what transpired when BFL did such virtually up to the day of the raid on their facility via the FTC.

To be clear, BitPay was a major player in a multi-ten-million-dollar money laundering scheme conducted by Sonny Vleisides' BF Labs Inc. (Butterfly Labs) and I uncovered it back in late 2013 (not 14), but nary a periodical has touched this. The question is why? And why has BitPay not answered a single email to them concerning this issue?

[QuestionAuthority]

BitPay has done more than anyone else. Even the Microsoft news can be attributed to BitPay.

http://www.coinbuzz.com/2015/01/05/bitcoin-bowls-popular-success/

More interestingly, BitPay payed for the sponsorship entirely in Bitcoin. ESPN immediately exchanged all of thew Bitcoin for US Dollars.

BitPay, the top third-party payment provider, even sponsored a Bowl game, paying ESPN for the rights entirely in bitcoins, whereupon they immediately exchanged them bitcoins using a third-party payme... Wait a second! If this trend continues, next year we may witness the Fiesta/HashTrade Bowl and the LiquidHuluBits Bowl and the Netsolus/Nectarine Bowl, all on the same day to boot, preceded by the CoinWare Parade in front of the Miami Bitcoin Embassy bearing a block-long, two-story tall banner that reads: A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man.

I don't even know what you're talking about Bruno? Can you be a little less cryptic and dumb it down for me?

Do you mean: Because BitPay exchanges BTC for USD they aren't doing anything valuable for Bitcoin? Streamlining merchant acceptance of Bitcoin by performing a seamless exchange function is kind of what they do for a living.  

What third-party payment provider did ESPN use when BitPay, a third-party payment provider themselves, and the one that got ESPN to accept bitcoins in the first place, paid ESPN bitcoins for the rights, whereupon ESPN immediately had the bitcoins converted to fiat and deposited into their bank account?

BitPay --> ESPN --> BitPay --> BitPay's Bank --> ESPN's Bank

or

BitPay --> ESPN --> CoinBase --> CoinBase's Bank --> ESPN's Bank

The latter wouldn't make any sense, for it was BitPay that got ESPN to accept bitcoins, not BitPay's competition, CoinBase.

The rest of the BS that I penned about CoinWare, et al., was to get you to think about the above. It doesn't make sense! BitPay could've easily just gave ESPN a check and that'll be that. But to state that they gave ESPN bitcoins whereupon the bitcoins were immediately sent back to BitPay so that a conventional fiat transfer can be made doesn't make sense on so many levels.

Just like nobody, and I mean NOBODY can open up an account at BitPay to solely convert their personal BTC to fiat, whether it's a buck, ten dollars, a grand, or a million dollars. BitPay is a third-party payment provider. The key word being third. But, supposedly unknown to BitPay, that's exactly what service they provided to Sonny Vleisides' BFL when they converted over 10 MILLION DOLLARS worth of BTC to fiat under the guise of product purchases where there is NO way that BitPay wouldn't have known that that was exactly what BFL was doing even prior to this PR release: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/10/prweb11283333.htm picked up by Reuters here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/31/idUSnGNX4VPYg9+1dc+GNW20131031

Again, BitPay is a third-party payment provider and not an exchange. Especially, not an exchange to convert tens of millions of dollars worth of bitcoins that were mined via ill-gotten means to fiat, of which is exactly what transpired when BFL did such virtually up to the day of the raid on their facility via the FTC.

To be clear, BitPay was a major player in a multi-ten-million-dollar money laundering scheme conducted by Sonny Vleisides' BF Labs Inc. (Butterfly Labs) and I uncovered it back in late 2013 (not 14), but nary a periodical has touched this. The question is why? And why has BitPay not answered a single email to them concerning this issue?

Bruno, you get yourself all flustered and confused then go off on a tirade. ESPN does not accept bitcoins for payment. ESPN does not have a merchant account at BitPay. None of the people involved in the Bitcoin Bowl accept Bitcoin for payment through BitPay. BitPay cannot exchange Bitcoin for them without them having an account because they would all go to jail. It was a publicity stunt that they graciously paid A HALF MILLION DOLLARS for. Part of the stunt was to pay ESPN for the event in Bitcoins. ESPN does not want Bitcoins, they want dollars. They had to go to some exchange to sell them because they have bills to pay for the event and they don't give a shit about Bitcoin. They chose Coinbase probably because they wanted assurance that they would immediately get cash for the coins. That transfer to Coinbase was probably brokered months before the event. How the fuck can you not get that!

You know that every once in a while for the last 3-4 years I've told you when you were straying a little too far from the shallow end of the pool. This is one of those times. As a friend, please chill out dude. You're freaking out a little and making conspiracy connections that simply aren't there.

[Flashman]

You're freaking out a little and making conspiracy connections that simply aren't there.

What, Gleb? Never

[fabiola!]

As for startups, BTCChina was huge this past year.

Bitstamp's input looks more important now that I think of it.

Bitstamp's website was down all day yesterday, couldn't get any money out, doesn't give me a good feeling.

I have a deposit with them, too, nothing big, but a little worried as well.

Yeah same here, i wouldn't lose much but Bitstamp is the only way I have set up to convert my Btc into fiat atm.

[Rira6ade]

Roger Ver and Andreas Antonopoulos continue to head the list as far as I am concerned

I'd vote andreas as #1 and unfortunately gox as #1 news story but maybe we should pick something more positive.

True, I do need something more positive at the moment.

[GTA]

As for startups, BTCChina was huge this past year.

Bitstamp's input looks more important now that I think of it.

Bitstamp's website was down all day yesterday, couldn't get any money out, doesn't give me a good feeling.

I have a deposit with them, too, nothing big, but a little worried as well.

Yeah same here, i wouldn't lose much but Bitstamp is the only way I have set up to convert my Btc into fiat atm.

They're saying now
We are working to transfer a secure backup of the Bitstamp site onto a new safe environment and will be bringing this online in the coming days.
Any thoughts about how long it's going to take? And how exactly they're going to make this work?
Bitstamp customers can rest assured that their bitcoins held with us prior to temporary suspension of services on January 5th (at 9am UTC) are completely safe and will be honored in full.

[fabiola!]

As for startups, BTCChina was huge this past year.

Bitstamp's input looks more important now that I think of it.

Bitstamp's website was down all day yesterday, couldn't get any money out, doesn't give me a good feeling.

I have a deposit with them, too, nothing big, but a little worried as well.

Yeah same here, i wouldn't lose much but Bitstamp is the only way I have set up to convert my Btc into fiat atm.

They're saying now
We are working to transfer a secure backup of the Bitstamp site onto a new safe environment and will be bringing this online in the coming days.
Any thoughts about how long it's going to take? And how exactly they're going to make this work?
Bitstamp customers can rest assured that their bitcoins held with us prior to temporary suspension of services on January 5th (at 9am UTC) are completely safe and will be honored in full.

Temporary suspension of services?? That sounds bad. I was hoping maybe it was a glitch with their website or server, it sounds a lot more serious than that now.