Online Cash Bitcoin Could Challenge Governments, Banks

Seems a very good cause

 

Bitcoin is now legal in California according to an article in bizjournals.com (which is not accessible temporarily) as posted in Valleywag.

-- Tom

 

Code as Law: How Bitcoin Could Decentralize the Courtroom.

-- Tom

 

Bitcoin core switching from hard-coded to flexible fees in next major release.

-- Tom

 

It's Still Ridiculously Difficult To Buy Bitcoin.

-- Tom

 

Bitcoin: Going from Deceptive to Disruptive.

-- Tom

 

Bitcoin Startup Funding Is On Track To More Than Double This Year.

-- Tom

 

Proposed New York State Virtual Currency Regulations (PDF download link).

-- Tom

 

Yes, and it's a waste of energy. I wouldn't do it even if it provided the chance to become a billionaire. It's wasteful and irresponsible.

It ought to be.

A bunch of monopoly money being traded between friends, and the rest of their social network accepting it as currency is NOT currency.

 

You don't know much about Bitcoin, it seems.

I get paid in Bitcoin, and I buy resources with Bitcoin. I know how to use it anonymously. My Bitcoins are stored on various local VMs. There's no central entity that can be taken down, as occurred with eGold and Liberty Reserve. That's good enough for me.

 

Oh really? Bitcoin requires massive amounts of energy just to generate a single block. It's irresponsible.

It's obvious you, among others, don't know much about energy and where it comes from. The 'central entity' is energy... where is this energy coming from? Mostly petrol resources. There are people whom whore these limited products, and ought to pay an exponential premium for consuming more energy (kWh) than average.

Please elaborate how I don't know much about bitcoin. If you're taking my monopoly money example to heart, then you're obviously taking it out of context, the principle stands. A nations paper/metal currency is not monopoly money, it's just as cryptic as bitcoin, and REGULATED as it ought to be.

If bitcoin becomes a 'standard' currency, then that means everyone would be required to own a computer. That wouldn't fly.

 

Given the openness of Bitcoin mining, it's easy to throw around kWh per Bitcoin. What's missing are energy costs for whatever Bitcoin is displacing. It's pretty clear that Bitcoin is more efficient, just from the fact that transaction costs are so much smaller than for credit/debit cards, wire transfers, and so on. While I admit that using money as a measure of energy cost is dangerous, given potential hidden externalities, I'm confident that kWh/BTC is far smaller than kWh/USD.

What struck me was "bunch of monopoly money", and "being traded between friends, and the rest of their social network". Expedia and Dell, for example, are neither friends nor social networks.

Some of us don't believe in nations, or in regulation

Actually, that's one of the key advantages of Bitcoin and other electronic currencies. Modern cellphones are computers, and there are huge populations in Asia, Africa, etc who have cellphones, but virtually no access to the global banking system. Independence from nations and their restrictions is another big plus.

 

New York proposes strict regulations for Bitcoin

http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2014/07/21/new-york-proposes-strict-regulations-for-bitcoin/

 

New York Seeks to Tame the Wild West of Bitcoin

http://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/view/39409/new-york-seeks-to-tame-the-wild-west-of-bitcoin/

 

What a joke. Who needs New York?

 

Bitcoin Gets Its Own TV Network.

-- Tom

 

Bitcoins.com domain auction cancelled after judge’s restraining order.

-- Tom

 

I really enjoy using Bitcoins. I find them easy to acquire and I love trading "services" for coins in an anonymous manner. You can store Bitcoins in a fashion that no Gov can oversee or control. Its really a freedom I think. Still, I don't have my entire nest egg sitting in coins.

I am cautiously optimistic about the future of Bitcoins.

 

Bitcoin catches on in tech-savvy Romania
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/28/us-romania-bitcoin-idUSKBN0FX0VQ20140728

 

Overstock’s Radical Plan to Reinvent the Stock Market With Bitcoin.

-- Tom