Hey Guys and Gals!!!

When I was first learning about Bitcoin [(and blogging/interviewing at BitcoinBulletin), the Blockchain/Public Ledger protocol, the monetary policy implications, i.e. how it could impact the world for better or worse] in those early days it was fascinating and exhilarating.  

Then I bought a few (in mid-2011), and I became obsessed with the price of Bitcoin --> I stopped writing --> and I began missing-out on all that made the movement fun to partake-in to begin with.  I think this is the fate of many, and it's saddening.

Since then (over three+ years), I have formed the opinion that (assuming it can survive/endure the attacks as it always has) Bitcoin will have a resoundingly positive effect on the life of the average citizen of the world.

That being said, I have noticed that there is an INCREDIBLE amount of negativity and mis-information in the mainstream media (and even on /r/Bitcoin on Reddit).  It is simply disparaging.  People don't get it.  At all.

Here are three, simple reasons that the world would be a better place if Bitcoin survives long term:

1.  Economics: If the dollar begins to compete with other Big currencies of the world, there would be a flow of money out of equities and into commodities (Oil, Pork Bellies, Orange Juice, Gold, Silver, etc..).  Bitcoin would serve as a new store of value that would not harm the quality of life of the average person (as rising oil prices (etc) would).

I don't believe that Bitcoin will be the responsible party in the fall of the dollar, but I do think that it will "soften the landing."

2. Freedom of Information:  Although the Bitcoin protocol is not optimized to disseminate information -- it achieves that goal in a unique fashion.  As you probably know, you can bake extraneous information into the end of a Block -- or treat transactions themselves as lengths of verifiable data.  With checksums and public/private keys - there is the potential to counteract the censorship of information that States (with a capital 'S') can surreptitiously "get away with."  As a Free and Open Internet Activist (yes, I've gone to jail over publicly challenging copyright laws! ), I see Bitcoin as what can hold the internet up by its britches and keep it from falling further under the influence of untrustworthy stewards.

This point (#2) is also the reason I feel that if Bitcoin's network ever shrinks to an easily--attack-able size, a similar p2p protocol may never be given the light of day again --- it's simply too dangerous of an idea for totalitarian regimes to willingly allow to exist.

3. Transparency in Finances: This is the one that really irks me.  Major institutions, like Hospitals, are supposed to have 100% transparent finances because of their "Not For Profit" status (which is a farce to begin with.)  Furthermore, google "Not For Profits misappropriation of funds" - and you'll find that many NFPs (like Lamar Odom's or Gordon Brown's etc etc) do not allocate their money as promised.  Finally, many of these NFPs have insane overhead expenses (the vast maj. of which goes into the pockets of the organization members).  Few laymen can quickly spot such financial injustice because the flow of money is secret -- between bank accounts and private channels.   Bitcoin businesses are, by default, transparent.

I have ideas that I plan to set in motion for #3, but the reason I'm making this post is because PLEASE BE POSITIVE with regards to Bitcoin this Holiday Season.  You can make/print-off/email some totally FREE Christmas/Happy Holiday cards at my two-week old website (see footer).

Hey, just wanted to point out to MagTux or whomever that there's are two glaring typo on the left column
"Announce" should be "Announcement"
"Dwolla withdraws are back!" should be "Dwolla withdrawals are back!"

I know it's nit picky, but sites that deal with a lot of money should look professional.

We hope to soon launch a discovery engine on a dedicated website.  Please share your opinion on which URL you think would be best.

There have been some interesting challenges in this endeavor. The small size of the economy means that a ton of search queries still bring up 'null' -- but I think we've got a solution in hand.  It's also very bandwidth intensive.

Anyways, please offer opinion, feedback and your URL choice (I've got one in mind.)

Here are the info splash pages:
http://www.btcsearch.com/info/
http://www.searchbitcoin.com/info/

About a month ago, we (Jared and me, mostly Jared!) pushed out our BTC Economy plugin, but all of the work since then has been on the back-end of stuff--and building a scalable system to index Bitcoin's economy.

Much appreciated!

I came in from the Security Now podcast and immediately shared Steve's enthusiasm.  His reaction to Bitcoin really encapsulated the way so many geeks feel about the topic:  total awesomeness.

twit.tv/sn287

Last week, I bought my first batch of Bitcoins, and it's made me a bit paranoid about computer security.

I guess it's just common sense, but it struck me that here on the forums the click through rates on random links is likely pretty high. I guess links to software package downloads could also pose a risk.   The individuals here likely possess wallet files of considerable value, thus might be a target of phishing scams or browser exploit attacks.  The profile of most forumers is also quite similar.  That being said, I've reacted by doing my bitcoin-browsing with NoScript turned on in Firefox.

Just wanted to share my thoughts

It's late at night; my mind is wondering; I had this thought (I'm sure the point has been raised before, but oh well):

We're all familiar with the vulnerability posed by an entity with 51% of the total cpu power: potentially reversing transactions.

But this kind of attack requires sophistication and, well, 51% of the total network hash rate: http://bitcoin.sipa.be/.

As many have pointed out, botnets are presumably made up of a bunch of low-cpu-power machines (servers in closets), making the threat of the aforementioned attack unlikely.

However, these low-cpu-powered machines would be capable of spamming small transactions (.00001 btc's) to each other, right?  Even if future clients are written to enforce transaction fees, couldn't a botnet use a forked client?

I believe the result of such an attack would be massively delayed transaction validations.

I'm sorry if I'm totally off base with these assumptions, and I don't mean to fear-monger.  I thought this was a valid concern.

I'm very excited that the Real Plato is coming into Fayetteville, AR tonight!  I'm looking forward to hearing his story and getting some material to write about! http://twitter.com/#!/TheRealPlato/status/71695740946223104

I plan to help him out with gas and food.  If anyone who hasn't donated to his trip yet could help me cover the cost of his meal and tank o' gas, it would be greatly appreciated.  My address is: 1JSv4mydZJoQ9wjXeFau9AmpofcHrsMFvW
--
A few random thoughts:

I bought my first chunk of Bitcoin the other day, and it really got me thinking about my comp's security:

Basically, these forums seem like the perfect vector of attack for a malicious hacker.  There's a high click through rate here, there's a willingness to trust strangers, and there's a very targeted audience with wallet files.  So be careful!  

Also!  The next Meet the Trader is up!  It's with Active Grade!  You should check it out here: http://www.bitcoinbulletin.com/2011/05/20/meet-the-trader-06-active-grade/  If you like what you read, and would like to support the Bulletin, remember this string of numbers: 1JSv4mydZJoQ9wjXeFau9AmpofcHrsMFvW .  The total sum of all donations (last four months) has totaled less than one BTC  

-Spencer

Edit: Also up on ycombinator:  http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2569596

To see the plugin, visit http://www.api.bitcoinbulletin.com/!  Here's a screenshot of the plugin (javascript cannot be embedded in a forum post):



"bitcoin economy" - serendipitous product discovery - Showing to the world that our economy offers more than Alpaca socks.

About two months ago, we (@jostmey and myself) tried tweaking Google’s Custom Search to create a focused BTC search experience.

We weren’t impressed with the results and discontinued the Google search feature.  That whole experience highlighted the need for an index of the Bitcoin economy.

We've got a big challenge ahead of us, as indexing all of these pages takes lots and lots of bandwidth!  Support is welcome: 1JSv4mydZJoQ9wjXeFau9AmpofcHrsMFvW

• The basic purpose of the plugin is to make this BTC economy discoverable.
• Search is on the way.  It’ll be here in a few weeks.
• Depending on the level of interest, we may make parts of this initiative open-sourced or crowd sourced.  We may use an input system that incorporates the Bitcoin-OTC reputation system.
• The database is pretty small right now but will become more comprehensive as time passes.
• There will probably be alternative ways to digest the Bitcoin Economy stream, like an IRC channel similar to what Bitcoin Market for exchange rates (thanks mizerdearia for this suggestion).

Jared is leading the development on this because he’s awesome and a great coder.  You can reach him at jared at bitcoinbulletin dot com.

The following line of Javascript will enable the plugin on your page:

This was originally posted on my blog at the bulletin here:  http://www.bitcoinbulletin.com/2011/05/09/the-bitcoin-payment-system-isnt-like-the-gold-standard/

Never have I written a blog post with so little preparation, but in the wake of reading this steaming rant about Bitcoin (http://apenwarr.ca/log/?m=201105#08), I was compelled to do my worst.

Fact #1 – Bitcoin ≠ the Gold Standard.

Is Bitcoin a deflationary currency?  Yes.  That’s where the similarities end.

I cringe when people make these kind of historically inaccurate comparisons.

What was the Gold Standard?  It was a system in which one currency was tied directly to a finite resource.  There was no choice in how one could pay, payments were made in a vacuum.  All transactions had to be made in a currency backed by gold.  That meant that any abuse of the Standard could affect the economy negatively and runs on banks were almost inevitable.

Bitcoin’s contribution to capitalism is choice, not control.

Fact #2 – Bitcoin is a convenient solution for web transactions

Anyone who’s interfaced with the Bitcoin client will tell you that it is a brilliantly written program that can be controlled easily via JSON-RPC.

It’s not “a stupid inconvenient currency that’s worse than paper” like gold.  That guy really took the whole Bitcoin = Gold thing way way too far.

Fact #3 – Unlike w/Paypal, floating cash is not at risk of being frozen

As scores of entrepreneurs will tell you, Paypal is notorious for taking action without warning, especially when thousands of dollars are at stake.  As the vast majority of online transactions rely upon a few trusted third parties, this makes “choice” even more relevant.

Fact #4 – Cool, mainstream services use and accept Bitcoin

My next two interviews are with www.ActiveGrade.com and www.Wuala.com for example.

Fact #5 – Bitcoin is highly international

This only enhances the point that it’s not a standard.  How could something so distributed (distanced from a fiat currency) be considered a Standard?

Very cool, although the page isn't loading for some reason.  I do see the link on the homepage announcing their acceptance!  Super cool.

Edit:  Link works now. http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/bitcoins-a-new-way-to-donate-to-the-fsf

Bitcoin got smashed by Leo in Macbreak Weekly.  Very depressing to hear. http://twit.tv/mbw245

On the other hand, Steve Gibson was excited again about Bitcoin in Security Now:  http://twit.tv/sn299  Go Steve!  You are Luke and Leo is the Emperor--don't feel tempted by the dark side!

Furthermore, Reuben's Legal paper/draft is the second most downloaded paper from SSRN in the past two months.  Very significant.  

His paper was also mentioned in this post on Marginal Revolution (although I'm sure others noticed this): http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2011/04/is-bitcoin-a-bubble.html  I've been out of the loop for several days.

I'm asking the Yale Law student a similar question about Bitcoin regulation in this thread: http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=6247.msg106095#msg106095

Heya Reuben, here's my feedback on the paper as a layperson.
  
First, digging a bit deeper into the consequences of securities regulations being imposed upon the Bitcoin economy would be relevant.  It would also be helpful if you could give the layperson (the BTC "businessman") a starting point for self-education on what you feel is relevant case law.

Now, I just have questions:

Is exchanging basic goods or services for a "security" or "investment contract" a foreign idea to the local grocery store or web service provider?  How often does someone go into a store and get a cup of coffee in return for giving a "security?" (As opposed to a unit legally defined as a "currency.")  

Perhaps I'm just overlooking an obvious (everyday) security-for-goods analogy that exists on a micro-level in the US economy.  For example, as far as I know, buying something on a credit card could be analogous to buying something with a BTC-security--(maybe credit is considered a security or investment contract).

If the US economy is structured around laws that make it easy to get 'x' with USD, what funky repercussions would come out of getting 'x' with BTC?  Would I collect sales tax in the same manner?  Would the big differences come out in the wash on tax day--or--would doing business in accordance with the law be so dragged down by securities regulations that it would prohibit the purchase of a stick of gum with BTC in the first place?  

My point is that as a very simple-minded person, when I hear the words "securities law" -- I immediately think of the SEC -- and I don't typically think of the SEC as an institution worrying about the kinds of everyday transactions that Bitcoin might ultimately end up facilitating.

Sorry if you were expecting an analysis of your legal opinion--that effort fell flat on its face.  But addressing the above points might be useful to the Bitcoin community.

Wow, what a crock of shit.  As media outlets mention Bitcoin for the first time, we can immediately see what side of the coin they're on:

CNN = It's cool
Forbes = Cyber Criminals use it
Washington Post = Forgot to do its homework/fired the fact checking department
TWiT = It's Steve Gibson vs. Leo = Neutral

Ah, sorry, I was in a rush and didn't notice that.  Yes, this will have to wait until a later time for me, but I'll still want to test it out. 

Slick implementation!  I don't see any major issues on the security-side, so long as friends aren't using my computer.

Nice work!

Hm.  The URLs you provided were timing out, although I'm very interested in hosting the Bitcoin Bulletin at a .bit address.  So I'll try again tonight. 

Hilarious!  The Satoshi comic gave me a good lol this morning.  I think you're going places!  Once I've got more than a few bitcoins myself, I'll be here with a suggestion and a bounty.

Edit:  Also, you may consider putting all of your bounty-drawings on a website?

Update:
My Tweet: http://twitter.com/#!/BitcoinBulletin/status/61446925005750272
Recognition: http://twitter.com/#!/dhowell/status/61465184455229440
Got to love Twitter.  

Update 2:
I felt like this effort was more than "Hacker News worthy," so I took the liberty of sharing it.  I also made a comment that linked back to this forum thread, indicating that you had requested feedback.  It's currently on the front page.  Here's the submission link: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2480073

Thank you, Reuben.

As we get our feet wet in the Bitcoin pool there is a considerable need for legal opinion.

Denise Howell of This Week in Law has expressed interest in covering Bitcoin but has needed a guest familiar with the topic.  It's not uncommon for her to bring on law students, so I would look into it!

Here was our exchange:  
Initial Tweet:  http://twitter.com/#%21/Fencefinder/status/44218519663017984
Her Response: http://twitter.com/#!/dhowell/status/46301866065276930

It seems like you are a qualified guest!  I encourage you to reach out to her.

I look forward to passing along my thoughts once I've finished reading it!

Thanks again.

Edited:  Fixed broken links.  Also, this is her show:  http://www.twit.tv/twil
2nd Edit:  Wow, now the link is fixed, sorry.

@ Brito -  It was a very well written article that focused on the useful qualities of bitcoin as a medium of exchange. Because of its properties as a store of value, discussions in a public forum all too often devolve into politicized shouting matches.  Thank you.