By Jack Butler. June 7, 2013. It may not be ‘real’ money, but they’re accepting donations of it.
Recently, the Foundation for Economic Education, which describes itself as “one of the oldest free-market organizations in the United States,” announced that it will accept bitcoin donations.
“It’s official: FEE accepts donations in bitcoin,” the donation page of the organization’s website reads. “Donate a few bitcoins today to help us fulfill our mission to inspire, educate and connect future leaders with the economic, ethical and legal principles of a free society.”
Bitcoin is a completely electronic currency developed anonymously as a computer code in 2009. Online, bitcoin functions as cash to those who accept or wish to exchange it. A limit of about 21 million bitcoins and an equation-based “mining” procedure combine to prevent devaluation.
Based on the increases in the value of a single bitcoin since the currency’s creation, these features have succeeded. In 2009, a single bitcoin was worth $0.89; as of April, that value has increased to over $100 — higher than many national currencies. Some attribute this to the increasing unreliability of the fiat currencies used by most of the world. - Read more here: http://redalertpolitics.com/2013/06/07/foundation-for-economic-education-to-accept-bitcoin-donations
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Foundation for Economic Education to accept bitcoin donations
How Bitcoin Lets You Spy on Careless Companies
BY ROBERT MCMILLAN 06.05.136:30 AM. When Foodler jumped on the Bitcoin bandwagon a few months ago, it seemed like an interesting way to drum up new business. But it turns out that, for some, Bitcoin business can come with an unexpected pricetag: privacy.
Since April, the Boston-based online restaurant ordering service, has accepted payments in the world’s hottest digital currency, and sales have grown nicely. Foodler is now doing about $15,000 in Bitcoin food orders per month. This is convenient for customers, and with Bitcoin, the company doesn’t have to fork over the payment-processing fees that come with credit card sales. But there’s a downside: If Foodler isn’t careful, Bitcoin could give competitors a way to spy on its business.
To be sure, Bitcoin makes it possible for people to exchange money without anyone knowing who is sending or receiving it. But because all transactions are recorded publicly on the Bitcoin peer-to-peer network, once you know the Bitcoin address of the person you’re paying, it’s possible to track all other payments made to that address.
“It’s very easy for merchants to inadvertently expose the details of their supply chain, their finances, and their spending habits,” says Christian Dumontet, one of Foodler’s founders.
Figuring out this kind of information isn’t easy, but it’s possible, Dumontet says. In order to combat this, most merchants create a unique Bitcoin deposit address for each sale, but when the merchant decides to bundle all of those deposits together — to pay suppliers or to convert Bitcoins to U.S. dollars, for example — they could still be giving a competitor a way of tracking all their Bitcoin transactions. - Read more here: http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/06/bitcoin_retai
China’s romance with Bitcoin continues
Published On June 6, 2013 at 08:51 BST | By Danny Bradbury. Why is China’s interest in Bitcoin growing? The country’s increased interest in the currency has shown no signs of abating over the past couple of months, leading to all kinds of fun theories about currency wars.
Chinese downloads of the original Satoshi client, as maintained by the Bitcoin core development team, have increased in recent months. For the month of January, China ranked seventh amongst downloaders of the software, accounting for just 3.66 percent of downloads. As recently as April, Chinese downloads accounted for 13.15 percent of the total, lagging the US, which downloaded 27 percent of the clients. Play with the charts here.
Things have changed considerably over the last month. From the start of May until June 4, China soared to the top of the charts, surpassing even the US. During that period, Chinese addresses accounted for just over one quarter of all downloads of the original Bitcoin client. The US had a still-respectable 21.94 percent. - Read more here: http://www.coindesk.com/chinas-romance-with-bitcoin-continues
Bitcoin: the solution to our financial woes?
7 JUNE 2013, By Cee Cee Biddlecombe. Given the backdrop of Cyprus’ financial crisis, Bitcoin, a digital currency that is independent of governments and banks, seems to be a revolutionary concept. However, is Bitcoin a viable solution to the problems in today’s financial structure, or is it a fake promise that could lead to disaster?
From $2 for a Bitcoin in the end of 2011 to the current price of $135, the value of Bitcoin skyrocketed over the course of two years, making it a seemingly golden opportunity for speculators.
However, one has to ask, does Bitcoin actually have a future? Will the bubble burst again like it did at the end of 2011? To understand that, one must first understand the idea behind Bitcoin and the way it functions.
Bitcoin was developed and launched in 2009 by a mysterious figure who called himself Satoshi Nakamoto.
Bitcoins are created through a process called ‘bitcoin mining’. Unlike government currencies and the method of fractional reserve banking used worldwide, there is an upper limit on how many Bitcoins can ever be produced.
After around 21 million bitcoins are mined, no more bitcoins will be produced by the system.
This means that bitcoins, unlike government currency, cannot lose value due to inflation. - Read more here: http://www.palatinate.org.uk/?p=40134
Bitcoin London Draws Attention Of Mainstream Finance
Jun 7, 2013 Posted By Jonathan Stacke. In his opening remarks at Bitcoin 2013 in San Jose, Peter Vessenes of the Bitcoin Foundation asked “Are there bankers here tonight?” A lone voice in the crowd can be heard offering positive acknowledgement. The response to that question at Bitcoin London, coming up on July 2nd, would probably be quite different.
The invite-only, single day event is expected to draw 200-300 attendees and is being held in Canary Wharf, home to numerous global banks’ London offices. The venue for the event is Level 39, the 29,000 square foot, state of the art FinTech accelerator that’s received an abundance of media attention in recent months for their ability to connect startups with major banks.
In addition to the usual bitcoin presentation topics, the conference will also feature a panel titled Bitcoins as an Asset Class – a Hedge Fund Perspective, no doubt an appeal to the growing attention paid to bitcoin by major financial firms. Media attendance from global news outlets including CNBC, Bloomberg, the Guardian, Calvinayre and Euromoney is also expected, according to the event’s coordinators. Read more here: http://www.thegenesisblock.com/bitcoin-london-draws-attention-of-mainstream-finance
Bitcoin in Egypt? Go directly to Jail?
Do not pass go and do not take any bitcoins. For those of you not in the loop bitcoin is a new digital currency. There have been many currencies that started on the internet and have survived for a long time. e-gold for instance survived from 1996 till 2009 when the USA government closed them down for money laundering and “operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business”. E-gold was backed by gold, that is for every currency in circulation the company had gold to backup the currency and the price of e-gold moved more or less with that of gold. Of coarse such a currency was a threat to countries that now give people unbacked pieces of paper as wages their hard work, the paper itself is worthless.
E-Gold as such was in reality worth more than dollars, and when the company had to close due to the actions of the USA government, the company has started the process of returning money to people as they have on their blog at blog.e-gold.com. It is important to see that the USA did not charge them on counts of fraud which would have been the case if they did not acually have gold to back the e-gold currency. But the “operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business” is clear that the USA does not like non-government currency and I think they especially do not like any parallel currency backed by gold or precious metals since that exposes the real weakness of our current economical system.
Now back to bitcoins, bitcoins is a new currency that is very strange. It is not backed up by gold or anything tangible yet as of 2013 the bitcoins in circulation have a one billion dollar exchange value. Now bitcoin is not backed by gold but by cryptography and computing power. See bitcoin has learned from e-gold, as a digital currency it was easy to close e-gold because it had a central company backing it up, but bitcoin is a peer-peer currency that operates like torrents. If you do not know what a torrent it it will be very hard to imagine this. Bitcoin has no central server, nearly anybody can be a bitcoin server and issue and manage bitcoin transactions! - Read more here: http://ehabheikal.net/everything-related-to-the-exchange-of-little-pieces-of-paper/bitcoin-in-egypt-go-directly-to-jail
Beware of Mt.Gox Scam Sites
Published On June 7, 2013 at 00:25 BST | By William McCanless. As interest in Bitcoin continues to escalate on a global scale, scammers have decided to cash in on the digital currency gold rush by taking advantage of the Internet’s less tech savvy users. Over the last several years there have been examples of Trojans stealing Bitcoin wallets and installing Bitcoin miners, however these efforts haven’t been terribly complex. Recently. Now there are a slew of Mt.Gox scam sites on the loose, tricking unsuspecting users into thinking they’re making a wise investment decision.
A recent example last week demonstrates how far criminal intent has come in the Bitcoin economy. Reports began emerging about phishing websites – as reported by Symantec – that are impersonating Mt.Gox. Although Mt.Gox has seen its fair share of hackers, this is geared toward confusing the user about whether or not they’re actually on the correct website to begin with. - Read more here: http://www.coindesk.com/beware-of-mt-gox-scam-sites/
Fighting Botnets to Bitcoin with Dell Next-Generation Firewalls
Patrick Sweeney 6 Jun 2013 9:00 AM. If your IT organization is worried about how to fight the botnets to bitcoins threats, you needed to be at Dell Enterprise Forum in San Jose, California. I had the opportunity to present and engage with our customers and partners at two breakout sessions: “Expand Your Portfolio with Dell Security Solutions” and “Best Practices for Combining Dell SonicWALL and Dell Networking.” The latter was a collaborative effort with Bala Pitchaikani, head of Product Management, Dell Networking. More than 1,500 people attended these sessions as well as the exhibit hall demos and hands-on tutorials.
The first ‘Connected Security” session was for our channel. Every single day companies are being probed, exploited, and infected. They lack the tools to visualize and counter these threats. To combat these cyberattacks, partners can expand their offerings to sell our big iron: Dell SonicWALL Next-Generation Firewall appliances. The key functionality is the ability to ‘see’ what applications are running on the network and who is running it, regardless of port, protocol, or file size. Add bandwidth management of important business applications (Voice over IP, email, online collaboration, etc.) and the network administrator can implement policy without having to decipher cryptic protocols and configure in a trial-and-error methodology. - Read more here: http://en.community.dell.com/dell-blogs/direct2dell/b/direct2dell/archive/2013/06/06/fighting-botnets-to-bitcoin-with-dell-next-gen-firewalls.aspx
Coinbase investor: Bitcoin is the currency of the future
Published On June 6, 2013 at 22:41 BST | By Alice Truong. A gathering of A-list entrepreneurs, investors and Bay Area politicians — Bloomberg’s Next Big Thing Summit — is set to tackle emerging issues in technology and business … including the future potential of Bitcoin.
Taking over the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay on June 16 and 17, the conference roster reads like a who’s who of the tech community, including the head of mergers and acquisitions at Google, CTO of PayPal, California’s lieutenant governor and the startup-friendly mayor of San Francisco. It’s particularly notable, then, that a highlight of the conference is a sure-to-be-heated, televised debate on Bitcoin.
The debate plan was an eye-opener even for Micky Malka who, as founder and general partner at Ribbit Capital, will be arguing that Bitcoin is the currency of the future. Ribbit invests in companies innovating the consumer financial services space.
“I was surprised myself,” said Malka, who is also co-founder and chairman of Lemon, a wallet cloud service. “As you start to hear very smart people thinking about (Bitcoin) and understanding what it really means, dissecting the bad things from the good things, it becomes a good topic (for debate).”
Malka has been dabbling with Bitcoin for the last year and a half. Having grown up in Venezuela and done business in Latin America, he witnessed the first-hand the effects of hyperinflation. - Read more here: http://www.coindesk.com/coinbase-investor-bitcoin-is-the-currency-of-the-future
NSA Spying: Sweeping US data-mining program revealed
US intelligence confirms it is collecting the private messages of internet users but defends the move, claiming the mass surveillance was targeting only "non-US persons" outside the country. Earlier British and American papers reported that the US was tapping directly into the servers of leading American internet companies, getting access to personal e-mails, photos and documents. A leaked court order has become the first hard evidence of Washington's sweeping data collection program. RT's Anastasia Churkina reports. Eugene Puryear, an activist for the civil rights organization Answer Coalition, joins after to give his perspective on the issue.
NSA Spying: Sweeping US data-mining program revealed
Check out more videos here (121 pcs.) Big Brother is Watching You
Analysis: US government snooping on internet firms
The U.S.'s National Security Agency has been using the world's biggest internet companies to spy on foreigners.
Leaked documents suggested the NSA was tapping directly into the servers of firms like Google, Facebook and Apple.
The head of the agency confirmed it has been collecting information - but only about non-U.S. citizens.
On Thursday it was revealed the NSA has been monitoring the phone records of milions of Americans.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Declan McCullagh, an analyst at the CNET technology website, said that it is still unclear whether the internet tapping operation has the tacit approval of the biggest technology firms.
Analysis: US government snooping on internet firms
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Future Bitcoin: Currency for Better World – or Not?
03 JUNE 2013. More recently, there has been a lot of “noise” around bitcoin (BTC), defined on its official website as “an open source P2P digital currency”. Bitcoin has got notable (mixed) media attention; bitcoin start-ups have started to attract VC funds; bitcoin enthusiasts seem to be gathering around the world; bankers and central bankers are paying attention. Wow. That’s a buzz!
Popularity of bitcoin among its enthusiasts and die-hard fans builds on the well-known issues of the current monetary system which:
(a) is centralized and based on “fiat money”, i.e. supervised by governments and central banks that have taken the authority (and responsibility) to control the money supply;
(b) is heavily reliant on the banks that can and from time to time do fail, causing losses both for the depositors (in first order, amounts above the guaranteed deposits) and for the tax payers (when banks are being bailed out or kept on the artificial life support);
(c) has no privacy, that is a banker can see every transaction of her or his customer.
Apparently, many people do not like the idea of being controlled and monitored by the “money masters”. Instead, they (we) want a monetary system that is: secure, decentralized, based on worldwide consensus, politically neutral, and protecting individual rights and freedom. That’s what die-hard fans of bitcoin believe this crypto-currency* to be; that has been the basic promise to the bitcoin enthusiasts.
Yet bitcoin is not fit to live up these noble expectations and promises. I’m not talking about the technology which in one or another way is going to change the financial industry. (Banks would just love certain technological advantages that bitcoin offers; they’d just love this dedicated developers like technological visionaries who are developing bitcoin infrastructure.) I’m talking about the conceptual design of the monetary system in the “bitcoin economy”, and the interactions between bitcoin economy and the world of finance as we know it.
Another major cause of concern is of course legal aspect. Obviously this kind of initiatives and financial innovations are intervening to the aims and tasks and potentially also the authority of central banks and governments. Obviously too, a new and immature currency with bitcoin features is attractive for guys with skewed motivations. I will not go into details with this; it’s more for the lawyers to analyze. Just to note: my guess is that venture capital is going to reconfigure bitcoin in a way that it is generally in line with the legislation. - Read more here: http://blog.logicoffinance.com/2013/06/future-bitcoin-currency-for-better.html
The best Bitcoin videos, infographics and podcasts
Published On June 4, 2013 at 15:53 BST | By David Gilson. Bitcoin is a complicated subject, it really is, that’s why it may sound so unfeasible if whenever you try to explain it to someone, or someone tries to explain it to you. As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, and a video is worth 24 pictures per second! With that in mind, we have scoured the web in search of explanatory videos, infographics and podcasts to help you get a better understanding of Bitcoin. - Check out more videos and infographics here: http://www.coindesk.com/best-bitcoin-videos-infographics-podcasts
Bitcoin - Overview
The Economics of Bitcoin
JUNE 3, 2013. Bitcoin is an ingenious peer-to-peer "virtual" or "digital currency" that challenges the way economists have traditionally thought about money. Its inbuilt scarcity provides an assurance of purchasing power arguably safer than any other system yet conceived.
But to understand these claims, one must first understand the basics of Bitcoin. My conclusion is that, in principle, nothing stands in the way of the whole world embracing Bitcoin or some other digital currency. Yet I predict that, even with the alternative of Bitcoin, people would resort to gold if only governments got out of the way.
The Basic Structure of Bitcoin
According to its official website: "Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority; managing transactions and the issuing of bitcoins is carried out collectively by the network."1 Anyone who wants to participate can download the Bitcoin software to his or her own computer and become part of the network, engaging in "mining" operations and helping to verify the history of transactions.
To fully understand how Bitcoin operates, one would need to learn the subtleties of public-key cryptography. In this section, I'll focus instead on an analogy that captures the economic essence of Bitcoin, while avoiding the need for new terminology.2 Interested readers can find various online articles that explain how a network of computers implements Bitcoin.
Imagine a community where the money is based on the integers running from 1, 2, 3, ..., up through 21,000,000. At any given time, one person "owns" the number 8, while somebody else "owns" the number 34,323, and so on.
In this setting, Bill wants to buy a car from Sally, and the price sticker on the car reads, "Two numbers." Bill happens to be in possession of the numbers 18 and 112. So Bill gives the two numbers to Sally, and Sally gives Bill the car. The community recognizes two facts: The title to the car has been transferred from Sally to Bill, and Sally is now the owner of the numbers 18 and 112. - Read more here: http://www.econlib.org/library/Columns/y2013/Murphybitcoin.html
Let’s Talk Bitcoin! - E13 – Movers & Shakers
Shownotes for Episode 13 – Movers & Shakers
- Bitcoin100, WordPress Tip Widget, BitcoinPressCenter.org
- Interview with Charles Hoskinson, Founder of the Bitcoin Education project
- Platform vs. Service – Bitcoin Neutrality in focus
- Interview with Chris “Fellow Traveler” on OpenTransactions & the Bitmessage breakthrough
- Dust vs. Microtransactions – Throwing out the Baby with the Bathwater
- Interview with Marc Hochstein of American Banker & Bailey Reutzel of PaymentSource on Bitcoin, Journalism and playing by the rules.
Hosts:
Adam B. Levine
Stephanie Murphy, PhD
Andreas M. Antonopoulos
RussiaToday: Bitcoin Crackdown? US laws choke digital cashflow anonymity
US federal prosecutors have shut down digital payment system Liberal Reserve - sparking fears the growing cyber-currency known as Bitcoin could be next. RT's Katie Pilbeam looks at the implications.
Bitcoin Will Disrupt Big Media | Plan B 9
The best of Bitcoin podcasting join forces to discuss how Bitcoin could potentially disrupt the big media monopolies and fund a new generation of independent honest content, controlled by its audience.
Plus more challenges facing Mt. Gox, fixing Bitcoin's infrastructure problem, and the quiet little Litecoin hack no one is talking about.
Show Notes & Download: http://bit.ly/planbshow9
Bitcoin Will Disrupt Big Media | Plan B 9
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The Fed Is Studying The Risks Of Bitcoin
Agence France Presse | Jun. 4, 2013, 11:35 AM. The United States is studying the potential risk from online payment mechanisms like PayPal and Bitcoin, a top US Federal Reserve official told an international conference on Monday.
Some bankers have expressed worries that newer players in the online marketplace could have negative implications for the financial system.
"We have been talking... with banking organisations over the last year or two, trying more carefully to understand what the concerns are with these new payment mechanisms," Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet Yellen said.
But she denied the widespread view that such players operate completely unregulated, saying the United States has a stronger regulatory environment than many are aware of, especially in the area of consumer protection.
"In point of fact, at least in the United States, there are regulations that apply to PayPal and other payment providers," she told the annual International Monetary Conference in China's financial hub of Shanghai.
PayPal is the online payments arm of US Internet retail giant eBay.
"But that said, this is very much on our radar screen and we are carefully trying to identify where the risks are," Yellen added. - Read more here: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-federal-reserve-is-officially-studying-the-risks-of-bitcoin-2013-6
Bitcoin Magazine Proud to be a Partner of the Bitcoin Education Project
Elizabeth Ploshay | On 03, Jun 2013. Bitcoin Magazine is proud to announce its new partnership with the Bitcoin Education Project (BEP). BEP was founded by Charles Hoskinson earlier this year to reduce the knowledge barriers to entry for individuals to enter the world of Bitcoin, and to highlight Bitcoin’s utility in mainstream activities. BEP holds to six key tenets of objectivity, transparency, accuracy, accountability, inclusion, and honesty. The project also works to achieve the following three goals: to eliminate misinformation about Bitcoin, generate and vet content made by members of the Bitcoin community, educate to add 1 million additional Bitcoin users to the Bitcoin ecosystem by 2014.
This past month BEP also began a new partnership with Udemy to bridge the information gap and eliminate misinformation about the Bitcoin currency. While this digital, decentralized, cryptocurrency is growing in prominence, education is still a necessity so those involved in and interested in the currency have an understanding of the fundamental purposes and principles behind Bitcoin. Udemy, an online learning platform allowing instructors to host courses, is known as “The Academy of You”. Launched in 2010, Udemy is now mainstream with over 7,000 premium and free courses and the opportunity for instructors to craft their own courses. Udemy permits instructors to upload videos, PDFs, audio, zip files, PowerPoint presentations, and facilitates online discussions. - Read more here: http://bitcoinmagazine.com/bitcoin-magazine-proud-to-be-a-partner-of-the-bitcoin-education-project
Monday, June 3, 2013
Calculating The Long-Term Value Of A Bitcoin
by JOSHUA SEIMS - 02.06.2013. Editor’s note: Joshua Seims is an angel investor and entrepreneur based in San Francisco. He is currently building a company that provides secure storage of bitcoins. Follow him on Twitter @jseims.
A big question that’s debated in the Bitcoin community is “How much will Bitcoins be worth in the long term”.
Here’s how I approach this question. First, I agree with the common sentiment that in 10 years, bitcoins will either be worth nothing, or a lot more than they are now — there is no middle ground.
Arguments on the side that Bitcoin will succeed include: it’s incredibly viral — once you start using it, you want to use it as much as possible; you can use it to protect your wealth from government seizure, which is a big deal in many parts of the world; it has lots of great properties — negligible transaction fees, no regulatory contraints, anonymity (sort of), and the convenience of a pure digital construct; and government will have a hard time banning it due to its decentralized nature.
However, there are various scenarios that could lead to Bitcoin’s failure. Governments could effectively ban it if they tried hard enough. And given that anonymous payments threaten government’s ability to tax money, they may have enough motivation to try hard enough. In addition, a different crypto currency could succeed in its place. The Bitcoin protocol has some fatal structural fault, as well, that manifests at larger scale. And finally, Bitcoin will remain too nerdy and too uncool to break into the mainstream.
Assuming Bitcoin does succeed, what will it then be worth? Let’s look at what specific markets Bitcoin might capture. - Read more here: http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/02/calculating-the-long-term-value-of-a-bitcoin
Ed and Ethan's Bitcoin cast #15
- Can fractional reserve banking exist in a world that uses bitcoin?
- The Bitcoin Alliance of Canada puts out a last call for volunteers.
http://www.prlog.org/12146361-canada-shows-strong-representation-at-bitcoin-2013-the-future-of-payments-conference.html
- Bitcoin is sometimes called deflationary. We take a page from the world of video games to poke fun at the inflationary model.
http://mises.org/daily/6435/A-Virtual-Weimar-Hyperinflation-in-a-Video-Game-World
- FINCEN talks a bit more about virtual currencies and specifically, currency exchanges.
http://www.coindesk.com/fincen-boss-lays-out-bitcoin-rules/
- Will the bitcoin supply be mined half a century early?
http://www.thegenesisblock.com/at-this-rate-the-last-new-btc-will-be-issued-55-years-ahead-of-schedule
- Is rushwallet a potential solution to the temp' wallet service gap left by instawallet's collapse?
https://rushwallet.com/
Ed and Ethan's Bitcoin cast #15
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Virginia compliance issue leads FastCash4Bitcoins to suspend service
Published On June 3, 2013 at 15:57 BST | By Shirley Siluk. Tangible Cryptography says it is suspending new purchases of bitcoins through its FastCash4Bitcoins service while it tries to resolve a compliance issue with the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Posts on both FastCash4Bitcoins and the Bitcoin Forum reported that a complaint had been filed alleging that Tangible Cryptography was operating as an unlicensed money transmitter. Following an initial investigation that determined the company’s activities might be considered “money transmission” under state law, the Virginia Corporation Commission asked for further information from Tangible Cryptography.
“The Commission’s initial assessment has factual errors which we intend to address,” Bitcoin Forum member Tangible Cryptography wrote. “The notice indicated that the determination is that our company is engaged in issuing Bitcoins through the use of the website https://fastcash4bitcoins.com, which may constitute ‘sale of issuance of stored value’ under Virginia law.” - Read more here: http://www.coindesk.com/virginia-compliance-issue-leads-fastcash4bitcoins-to-suspend-service
Bitmessage is the Bitcoin of online communication
Published On June 3, 2013 at 08:46 BST | By Daniel Cawrey. We’ve seen the impact that Bitcoin can have on the future of payments. But money is not the only area that the movement is influencing. Bitmessage is a protocol that implements some of the ideas of Bitcoin into communications.
Given the pressure on technology companies to cooperate with governments regarding services like email, those looking for a private way to communicate could find Bitmessage’s concept quite interesting.
We live in a time where cloud computing has become the norm for our digital services. That means that a lot of our information is actually stored in data centers scattered around the globe. This has provided us with convenience in the form of access to our data from anywhere. At the same time, however, we are losing a sense of control and security over our communications whether it is via chat, email or on social networks.
Enter Bitmessage
Bitmessage is like Bitcoin in that it is a decentralized, peer-to-peer protocol. Unlike using an add-on component for email similar like Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), Bitmessage is a unified system that encrypts every message. The whole point of the platform is to keep your communications secure. And on top of that, it keeps secure the members of the communication: not only is the content of messages protected, but the sender and receiver of those messages is kept secret as well.
According to the official Bitmessage whitepaper, even those who use encryption standards such as PGP find it an overwhelming process. In this way, one can think about Bitmessage as a decentralized email server.
Up until now, the way in which we have used email systems has really not changed much over the years. But then, this idea came along. Bitmessage runs as a client on your computer — for now, there is not a web-based client. - Read more here: http://www.coindesk.com/bitmessage-is-the-bitcoin-of-online-communication
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Bitmessage Introduction
Tangible Cryptography suspends Bitcoin related transactions
bitcointalk.org by TangibleCryptography on June 3, 2013 – 04:25:35 AM.
Effective the May 31st, 2013 Tangible Cryptography has suspended new purchases of Bitcoins through our service FastCash4Bitcoins. We take this step in response to a notice received on the same day from the Commonwealth of Virginia that a complaint has been made that our company is operating as an unlicensed money transmitter.
The Virginia Corporation Commission did an initial investigation in response to the complaint, and determined that our activity may constitute money transmission under Virginia law. The Commission’s initial assessment has factual errors which we intend to address. The notice indicated that it appears that our company is issuing Bitcoins through the use of the website https://fastcash4bitcoins.com , which may constitute “sale of issuance of stored value” under Virginia law.
As our clients are well aware this is simply an incorrect assessment of our business activity. The site is used to facilitate the purchase of Bitcoins from clients. Tangible Cryptography is acting as a buyers not issuer of virtual currency. Furthermore there is no obligation for redemption, or holding of customer funds, as would occur in a stored value system. The view that buying, selling, or even issuing new Bitcoins would be seen as stored value is at odds with the guidance from FinCEN earlier this year, that exchangers (and issuers) of virtual currency are not issuers of prepaid access (stored value).
The company has been given thirty days to provide written explanation on why our activity is exempt from licensing under current law. The commission has formally stated that unless exempt from licensing we must stop further activity until such time as we apply for and obtain a Money Transmitter license. The prudent action is for the company to suspend all new transactions while we respond to the Commission’s notice
We want to reassure our valued clients that all completed transactions have been paid. At this time there has been no freeze, hold, or closure of our payment accounts. We are one of the few Bitcoin related enterprises which can definitively say that to date, no client has lost funds as a result of theft, hacking, or fraud through fault or negligence by Tangible Cryptography or the services it provides. The future and direction of Tangible Cryptography will depend on the outcome of our response to the Virginia Corporation Commission. While we hope for a timely resolution we recommend our existing clients make alternative arrangements as it is difficult to provide an estimate on how long such a resolution may take.
Staff
Tangible Cryptography, LLC
From Bitcoin to Amazon Coins: A Guide to Virtual Currencies
May 31, 2013, 6:31 PM. Virtual currencies are becoming more pervasive, thanks largely to the increased popularity of bitcoin, which is being used by online merchants and some traditional retailers. But the wider acceptance is attracting law-enforcement scrutiny.
But, some virtual-money firms have been mired in controversy over their lack of compliance with U.S. financial laws and allegations some are involved in illegal activities.
On Monday, federal prosecutors filed criminal charges against seven men for their alleged involvement in money-transfer service Liberty Exchange, which law-enforcement officials said was set up exclusively to aid people engaging in credit-card fraud, identity theft, investment fraud and other illegal activity.
Yesterday, the world’s biggest bitcoin exchange said it is beefing up its identification procedures for users who deposit or withdraw traditional currencies, amid increased scrutiny of the virtual money by U.S. authorities.
Mt. Gox, a Tokyo-based exchange that says it handles 80% of all bitcoin trading, said, starting Thursday, all user accounts must be verified in order to perform any fiat currency deposits or withdrawals.
While most people have heard of bitcoin, there are other virtual currencies. Here are the various virtual currencies gaining attention. - Read more here: http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/05/31/from-bitcoin-to-amazon-coins-a-guide-to-virtual-currencies
Amazingly Best list of Free Bitcoins Websites | You can find more information about Bitcoin Mining here: ASIC Bitcoin Mining - News and Information
Bitcoin, Gold and Silver: Once and Future Money – presentation by Alasdair MacLeod
• European Parliament, Brussels, 29 May 2013
Bitcoin, Gold and Silver: Once and Future Money
- A presentation by Alasdair MacLeod of GoldMoney,
- Hosted by Godfrey Bloom MEP, UKIP
- Sponsored by Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group
- European Parliament, Brussels
Room ASP A7H-1, Wednesday 29 May 2013
- Chaired by Michael Jose (UKIP)
• Alasdair Macleod
Head of Research at GoldMoney,
Editor of FinanceAndEconomics.org
• Godfrey Bloom MEP
UK Independence Party (UKIP)
EFD Group
• Roger Helmer MEP
UK Independence Party (UKIP)
EFD Group
Bitcoin, Gold and Silver: Once and Future Money – presentation by Alasdair MacLeod
Bitcoin, Gold and Silver: Once and Future Money
- A presentation by Alasdair MacLeod of GoldMoney,
- Hosted by Godfrey Bloom MEP, UKIP
- Sponsored by Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group
- European Parliament, Brussels
Room ASP A7H-1, Wednesday 29 May 2013
- Chaired by Michael Jose (UKIP)
• Alasdair Macleod
Head of Research at GoldMoney,
Editor of FinanceAndEconomics.org
• Godfrey Bloom MEP
UK Independence Party (UKIP)
EFD Group
• Roger Helmer MEP
UK Independence Party (UKIP)
EFD Group
Bitcoin, Gold and Silver: Once and Future Money – presentation by Alasdair MacLeod
If Mt. Gox Can Change Public Opinion, Bitcoin Market Wins
Bitcoin used to be a currency you could use almost anonymously, and that has been one of its greatest assets. Unfortunately, with the Department of Justice’s take down of Liberty Reserve, MT.Gox, the most used Bitcoin exchange market, changed its policy and will now require valid identification for transactions.
The government is concerned that exchange markets are being used by cybercriminals or for Black Market transactions, since it’s pretty hard to trace where the money comes from. By installing verification methods, MT.Gox is making it known that they do not condone money laundering, and it’s willing to go out of its way just to prove it. Mt.Gox-Dwolla transactions were recently suspended by the Department of Homeland Security because it was suspected of money laundering.
But how will this move affect MT.Gox and its users? - Read more here: http://siliconangle.com/blog/2013/05/31/if-mt-gox-can-change-public-opinion-bitcoin-market-wins/
Mt.Gox to Increase Security Following Liberty Reserve's Shutdown - Breaking Analysis
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