Quote from: Bit-pay Merchant Solutions on October 28, 2011, 02:51:30 AM

There is a real need for development, and most importantly TESTING, of all the core bitcoin code. for this Gavin is 100% right that there needs to be some pooled funding and infrastructure.

Ok fine, but what do the donors get for their donations to the pool? Well that's where the pooled marketing comes in. Just like your Chamber of Commerce promotes the city's member businesses as a whole, or an industry trade association promotes its members as a whole, the bitcoin association can promote its members' businesses.

Want to grow the whole bitcoin user base from 50,000 to 500,000 by running some ads? Or maybe setup a few more billboards? Well, become a member, donate to the pool, and your business will be included. It's not about power at all. It's about promoting our mutual best interests, which includes bitcoin adoption by a much larger group of people, and a solid infrastructure to support it.

Good comments.

In my post I typed the word power thus: 'power', because I know it's not power that Gavin seeks. He simply wants a stronger Bitcoin, and that is laudable. Probably "centralized promotion/information" is more accurate. However, it will still need to proclaim some measure of authority...which is fine. Go for it.

My main point was that it's not core. At the core is trust.

In fact, in the final analysis, trust is beyond the core thing, it's the only thing.

It is trust that has been blown out and until that is restored, vis-a-vis infrastructure, it's lipstick on a pig. But who is going to make that happen in a serious way? It MUST come from the guys who have benefited the most from Bitcoin and who also have the most to gain from greater Bitcoin success.

As far as I can see, nobody is taking these guys to task.

It is irrational to think that guys with no stake in the game are going to keep falling on their sword, day after day, just because Bitcoin is a great idea (which it definitely is) and they are idealistic. Idealists have to eat too.

Talk is cheap. The guys who have the Bitcoins need to pony up and get behind Gavin with a serious effing fund.