Gavin Andresen on the front page of the FT

[Whitehouse]

His warning is legit, but he is scaring people off bitcoin. I think new users should start off with a small amount of coins to learn and not avoid it completely.

I agree, though it was probably taken out of context and seems more alarming than it actually is, but like you say, his warning is relevant because if you don't know what you're doing you could easily lose your coins.

If you look closely, you can see the antennae with which he receives instruction from the CIA.

Hehe. Someone should draw them on the paper lol.

[Flashman]

nice. gets the word out.  and the more you say 'don't...', the more they get curious. 

Yah, I like the unsubtle "internet in 1994" connotations, and the way it might stimulate a new wave of computer savvy people, who haven't had bitcoin on their radar to think "Hmmmm, I have the skills to get into this before the crowd..."

[Triffin]

His warning is fair. 2015 is the year to make Bitcoin ironclad.

BTC is fine ..

Make the WALLET ironclad ..
All the security features are focused on foiling access to one's wallet ..
Gain access to a wallet and your coins are gone ..
There needs to be an additional security feature from within the
wallet to authorize/complete a transaction/transfer ..
Do that and mass adoption will follow ..

Triff ..

[Gavin Andresen]

The ideal message should imo be "Give bitcoin a try, but don't put too much money in it".

+1

I don't get to write the headlines, though...

[newIndia]

The ideal message should imo be "Give bitcoin a try, but don't put too much money in it".

+1

I don't get to write the headlines, though...

Did u really say "Bitcoin is dangerous, avoid it" as is being discussed here (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=922041.0) ?

[inBitweTrust]

The ideal message should imo be "Give bitcoin a try, but don't put too much money in it".

+1

I don't get to write the headlines, though...

Did u really say "Bitcoin is dangerous, avoid it" as is being discussed here (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=922041.0) ?

If you read through most his quotes in the article are quit sensible. The problem is the editors took him out of context:

Bitcoin is dangerous and people should steer away from using it. This is a bearish opinion held by many traditional investors, but not one you would expect from the man responsible for turning the virtual currency into a commodity worth billions.

Gavin never suggested people should stay away from it as insinuated by the editors but that non-technical people should avoid it. This may be going too far as well, because I advise all my non-technical friends to buy into bitcoin and store them with secure services that are insured and use muti-sig like circle and coinbase.

[QuestionAuthority]

This is the most sensible thing I've heard anyone in a position of authority say about Bitcoin yet. I applaud Mr. Andresen for having the guts to say it. Someday, Bitcoin will be a magnificent tool to financially free the people of the world. However, someday isn't today. We can't allow our greed and personal desire for success to overpower logic and reason. The more people we invite to use Bitcoin today that are disappointed with the experience (for whatever reason) the fewer the number of users we will have tomorrow. Slow and steady wins the race. I'm sorry I ever believed you were just a puppet of the business community. That's obviously not true because they have to hate this viewpoint.

[inBitweTrust]

This is the most sensible thing I've heard anyone in a position of authority say about Bitcoin yet. I applaud Mr. Andresen for having the guts to say it. Someday, Bitcoin will be a magnificent tool to financially free the people of the world. However, someday isn't today. We can't allow our greed and personal desire for success to overpower logic and reason. The more people we invite to use Bitcoin today that are disappointed with the experience (for whatever reason) the fewer the number of users we will have tomorrow. Slow and steady wins the race. I'm sorry I ever believed you were just a puppet of the business community. That's obviously not true because they have to hate this viewpoint.

Sensible , but too far possibly? What is wrong with suggesting non technical people to make a small investment with mutisig and insured services like circle and coinbase where they take on the security responsibilities?

My advice would be :
Diversify your investments and invest some into bitcoin. If you are technical use multisig paper wallets and/or hardware wallets and if you are non technical leave your BTC in circle or coinbase.

[QuestionAuthority]

This is the most sensible thing I've heard anyone in a position of authority say about Bitcoin yet. I applaud Mr. Andresen for having the guts to say it. Someday, Bitcoin will be a magnificent tool to financially free the people of the world. However, someday isn't today. We can't allow our greed and personal desire for success to overpower logic and reason. The more people we invite to use Bitcoin today that are disappointed with the experience (for whatever reason) the fewer the number of users we will have tomorrow. Slow and steady wins the race. I'm sorry I ever believed you were just a puppet of the business community. That's obviously not true because they have to hate this viewpoint.

Sensible , but too far possibly? What is wrong with suggesting non technical people to make a small investment with mutisig and insured services like circle and coinbase where they take on the security responsibilities?

He didn't say don't use Bitcoin. The idea that Bitcoin is for people willing to take the risk and have enough knowledge to be sucessful needs to be presented.  All the businessmen want is expansive growth because profit hides there. Wise businessmen will realize that profit will be short lived.

[tvbcof]

This is the most sensible thing I've heard anyone in a position of authority say about Bitcoin yet. I applaud Mr. Andresen for having the guts to say it.  ...

+1.

It is for things such as this that when I hammer on Gavin, I try to remember to stipulate that I think he's probably a very decent guy.  It doesn't change the my strong belief that he is marvelously ill-equipped for the job of chief scientist or chief-almost-anything-else in this particular ecosystem.

[inBitweTrust]

This is the most sensible thing I've heard anyone in a position of authority say about Bitcoin yet. I applaud Mr. Andresen for having the guts to say it. Someday, Bitcoin will be a magnificent tool to financially free the people of the world. However, someday isn't today. We can't allow our greed and personal desire for success to overpower logic and reason. The more people we invite to use Bitcoin today that are disappointed with the experience (for whatever reason) the fewer the number of users we will have tomorrow. Slow and steady wins the race. I'm sorry I ever believed you were just a puppet of the business community. That's obviously not true because they have to hate this viewpoint.

Sensible , but too far possibly? What is wrong with suggesting non technical people to make a small investment with mutisig and insured services like circle and coinbase where they take on the security responsibilities?

He didn't say don't use Bitcoin. The idea that Bitcoin is for people willing to take the risk and have enough knowledge to be sucessful needs to be presented.  All the businessmen want is expansive growth because profit hides there. Wise businessmen will realize that profit will be short lived.

Actually, he did tell people not to use it unless they are technically proficient according to the article:
 

“It actually is dangerous and people should be aware it’s like the early internet,” he tells the Financial Times. “If you lived through time, you remember lots of press articles came out saying don’t give internet companies your credit card details. But the internet grew past that. Bitcoin will be the same way. Over time, I will stop saying to people, ‘Don’t use it unless you’re technically proficient enough to keep your computer secure’.”

I applaud him for his intentions and honesty but I would suggest this is going too far as I would be comfortable recommending my luddite mother invest a couple thousand on the side and store it in the insured multisig vault with coinbase. People should diversify their investments and that includes partially investing into Bitcoin.

P.S.... perhaps the author was quote mining him and left off the part where he recommended non-technical people to use regulated and insured mutisig solutions?

[ChuckBuck]

He's basically saying if you're not technically proficient, or have no clue how to secure your Bitcoins, don't use or get involved, period.  Don't see anything wrong with that.

He's saying don't go all-in on Bitcoin as an investment, hedge your bets, and wait for the technology and currency to mature out of it's development/beta phase.

Don't see the negative slant, but then again I'm a glass half full kinda of guy.  

[Flashman]

Bitcoin navigational insight, You are here ....

[allthingsluxury]

Quite the facial expression they have him locked in, looks shocked to say the least.

[QuestionAuthority]

This is the most sensible thing I've heard anyone in a position of authority say about Bitcoin yet. I applaud Mr. Andresen for having the guts to say it. Someday, Bitcoin will be a magnificent tool to financially free the people of the world. However, someday isn't today. We can't allow our greed and personal desire for success to overpower logic and reason. The more people we invite to use Bitcoin today that are disappointed with the experience (for whatever reason) the fewer the number of users we will have tomorrow. Slow and steady wins the race. I'm sorry I ever believed you were just a puppet of the business community. That's obviously not true because they have to hate this viewpoint.

Sensible , but too far possibly? What is wrong with suggesting non technical people to make a small investment with mutisig and insured services like circle and coinbase where they take on the security responsibilities?

He didn't say don't use Bitcoin. The idea that Bitcoin is for people willing to take the risk and have enough knowledge to be sucessful needs to be presented.  All the businessmen want is expansive growth because profit hides there. Wise businessmen will realize that profit will be short lived.

Actually, he did tell people not to use it unless they are technically proficient according to the article:
 

“It actually is dangerous and people should be aware it’s like the early internet,” he tells the Financial Times. “If you lived through time, you remember lots of press articles came out saying don’t give internet companies your credit card details. But the internet grew past that. Bitcoin will be the same way. Over time, I will stop saying to people, ‘Don’t use it unless you’re technically proficient enough to keep your computer secure’.”

I applaud him for his intentions and honesty but I would suggest this is going too far as I would be comfortable recommending my luddite mother invest a couple thousand on the side and store it in the insured multisig vault with coinbase. People should diversify their investments and that includes partially investing into Bitcoin.

P.S.... perhaps the author was quote mining him and left off the part where he recommended non-technical people to use regulated and insured mutisig solutions?

You just clarified what I said. Currently, Bitcoin is not for the faint of heart investor playing with tomorrow's morgage payment. It's not for world travelers that need to ensure they have enough money to safely travel. It's not for going to the grocery store with three kids in tow. It's an experiment that hopefully will lead to all of the above someday. When you get screwed by a company they will likely lose your business forever and you will give a negative report on that company to everyone that asks about them. Why should anyone want Bitcoin to suffer the same fate? Tell them the truth now and they will trust you tomorrow.

[inBitweTrust]

You just clarified what I said. Currently, Bitcoin is not for the faint of heart investor playing with tomorrow's morgage payment. It's not for world travelers that need to ensure they have enough money to safely travel. It's not for going to the grocery store with three kids in tow. It's an experiment that hopefully will lead to all of the above someday. When you get screwed by a company they will likely lose your business forever and you will give a negative report on that company to everyone that asks about them. Why should anyone want Bitcoin to suffer the same fate? Tell them the truth now and they will trust you tomorrow.

I think the problem is not with what Gavin said but the way he was quote mined and editorialized. Hopefully, he doesn't suggest non technical people shouldn't have 50 usd of btc on their cell phone and a couple grand(if they have other investments) in an insured multi-sig wallet like circle or coinbase.

[MrTeal]

You just clarified what I said. Currently, Bitcoin is not for the faint of heart investor playing with tomorrow's morgage payment. It's not for world travelers that need to ensure they have enough money to safely travel. It's not for going to the grocery store with three kids in tow. It's an experiment that hopefully will lead to all of the above someday. When you get screwed by a company they will likely lose your business forever and you will give a negative report on that company to everyone that asks about them. Why should anyone want Bitcoin to suffer the same fate? Tell them the truth now and they will trust you tomorrow.

I think the problem is not with what Gavin said but the way he was quote mined and editorialized. Hopefully, he doesn't suggest non technical people shouldn't have 50 usd of btc on their cell phone and a couple grand(if they have other investments) in an insured multi-sig wallet like circle or coinbase.

I'm not sure how much distillation of technical material you've had to do for traditional media, but the discussion of how to protect a small amount of BTC using multi-sig technology on an insure service is the kind of thing that ends up on the cutting room floor. Gavin could probably have given an hour of material on security best practices to the reporter and the article would look no different than it does now.

[QuestionAuthority]

You just clarified what I said. Currently, Bitcoin is not for the faint of heart investor playing with tomorrow's morgage payment. It's not for world travelers that need to ensure they have enough money to safely travel. It's not for going to the grocery store with three kids in tow. It's an experiment that hopefully will lead to all of the above someday. When you get screwed by a company they will likely lose your business forever and you will give a negative report on that company to everyone that asks about them. Why should anyone want Bitcoin to suffer the same fate? Tell them the truth now and they will trust you tomorrow.

I think the problem is not with what Gavin said but the way he was quote mined and editorialized. Hopefully, he doesn't suggest non technical people shouldn't have 50 usd of btc on their cell phone and a couple grand(if they have other investments) in an insured multi-sig wallet like circle or coinbase.

That wasn't the impression I got when I read it. I just saw it as a warning that people should hold off for now if they have any doubt about their abilities, financial or technical. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[countryfree]

...people should be aware that's like the early Internet...

Best thing I've read this month!
If BTC could enjoy the same growth as the Internet, this would be a dream. Still, it's true it's quite shaky right now, but there are many investors looking for wild, promising, high risk and possibly high return investments.

[Flashman]

Bitcoin navigational insight #2, we are also here...

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/10/business/business-technology-doubts-raised-on-number-of-internet-users.html

as in "OMG it's completely overhyped, there's nowhere near as many regular users as the optimists say, it's just not taking off as fast as it should, it sorta works, but there's so much more to be done...."