This has been a remarkably amiable and informative thread, so I’m sorry if this post derails it a bit, but I can’t help expressing an opinion here.

David started this thread, and has provided some incredibly complex and thoughtful analyses, that none of us are paying for. After following someone’s writings, I think it’s natural to want to know a little bit more about the author, his other talents and interests, and what else he’s up to. So, I’m a little bit curious about what’s going on with his office construction project, but even if I weren’t, I think he’s more than earned the right to insert whatever he feels like into this thread. If it’s not something you’re interested in, it’s pretty easy to just scroll past it.

Your office looks really nice. I’m envious.

In a couple of your photos, it looks like the overhead lighting is either dim or causes a glare against the screens. You might want to consider adding some under-the-cabinet lighting beneath some of your shelves. You can pick it up at Lowes and it’s relatively easy to install. If I can do it, it certainly should be no problem for you.

Thanks for all of the analyses you have done. I’ve been lurking for a while and always find your thoughts worth thinking about.

I just successfully withdrew about $650 worth of BTS a few minutes ago.

Agree wholeheartedly.

Fluffy comes off as extremely honest, non-defensive, and competent. A few topics covered in this 55 minute presentation:

• Why privacy is important
• How to evaluate privacy tools
• Overview of how Monero functions technically
• TOR vs I2P
• History of Monero
• Future plans and directions of Monero
• An excellent Q&A session

Would you mind going over some of the reasons you think Bitcoin might be a dying dinosaur? If you've already covered this elsewhere, a link to a prior post would be great. Thanks.

An interesting article and discussion today over at BleepingComputer.com.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/editorial/security/with-the-looming-threat-of-ransomware-should-companies-stockpile-bitcoins/#cid3169

This article by Mark Nestmann is mostly about negative interest rates and the government's incentive to penalize cash, but it does mention Bitcoin as something worth investigating, indicating that Financial repression laws are leading people who wouldn't otherwise be interested in Bitcoin to consider it as a means to avoid repressive laws.


http://www.nestmann.com/will-central-banks-abolish-cash#.VUoEW5PzfYm

+1

What does 2015.75 refer to?

I don't think so. If I understand it correctly,  1 BitUSD is backed by enough Bitshares to equal $1. Someone has locked up 3 times as many bitshares as would be needed to collateralize the BitUSD, so assuming there isn't a quick and devastating crash in bitshares, there should be enough collateral to make you whole. So 100 BitUSD would always be worth $100 and would not fluctuate.

At least until there are gateways available, no one will give you USD for it. If you decide to cash in your BitUSD what you will actually get is enough bitshares to equal the value of USD at the time you decide to cash in. You would then need to sell your bitshares on an exchange to get actual USD.

"In New Jersey, if you accept bitcoin as a retailer, you must collect sales tax — twice."
http://www.pymnts.com/news/2015/new-jersey-wants-to-tax-bitcoin-transactions/#.VSZ0OZPzfYk

This is very confusing, and I'm not sure I understand it correctly. Neither the article nor the technical advisory has any examples to clarify how it might work. But if I understand it correctly, it requires the retailer to collect sales tax from the purchaser for the dollar value of goods sold, which is standard. But it would also require the customer to collect sales tax from the retailer, because in effect he sold bitcoins to the retailer in exchange for the products he purchased.

Thanks, that does clear it up. Seems ambitious but doable.

The Business Plan includes some key milestones. Given appropriate funding, are there any estimates of how long it would take to achieve the milestones?

Popular blogger Mike Shedlock includes a long thoughtful post from a crypto-currency advocate, but nevertheless concludes that government will be able to crush Bitcoin even though it hasn't been able to crush Uber. He says the difference is that the masses demand Uber but the masses don't demand Bitcoin or even know what it is.

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2015/03/bitcoin-vs-uber-bitcoin-lovers-respond.html?#echocomments

I don't know enough about it to be able to meaningfully contribute to the discussion, but there is quite a bit of discussion about it in the Alt Coin Discussion forum, especially in some of the Monero threads.

Although it's an overstatement to say that this solves the sock-puppet problem, it's a great summary of useful techniques for mitigating it. Thanks for the reference.

I think your comment about "it remains legitimate law" indicates way too much respect for the legal system. There are many examples of clearly immoral laws, (e.g. Fugitive Slave Law) and I'm sure you could come up with your own list of them. Also there are lots of example where copyright laws have been used to stifle creativity rather than encourage it. Kim Dotcom provides one more use-case for bitcoin. If you don't want to use his service, don't.
 

+1
Me too. Especially since slow, cumbersome, and expensive payment processing is one of the biggest weaknesses of online gambling sites. Bitcoin seems like it would be such a natural solution.

Not as much material as Let's talk Bitcoin but Epicenter Bitcoin sometimes has some very good shows.

https://epicenterbitcoin.com/

A little dated, but excellent largely positive introduction to Bitcoin. Spurlock is a charismatic guy and entertaining to watch. It may not seem so to most main-streamers, but I thought his interview with Senator Manchin made him (Manchin) look like the typical blow-hard, paternalistic, controlling, special-interest serving politician that he is, even though Morgan didn't really challenge him on anything.