Bitcoin News
Daily diary of what's happening with Bitcoin.
Forbes contributor and Bitcoin Foundation board member Jon Matonis (@JonMatonis)’s latest blog post makes an argument defending the need for cash to remain as a way to pay. Excerpts:
“Let’s not kid ourselves, because the end of money, as we know it, really means the beginning of the transactional surveillance State, which makes this a serious debate about the boundaries of State power and the dignity of an individual.”
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“With ultimate tracking capabilities, how does Wolman decide when a government’s ‘right’ becomes a wrong?”
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“Privacy, especially user-defined privacy, sits on a sliding scale that is defined by the individual. One person’s idea of privacy may be anonymity from all and another person’s idea of sufficient privacy may be privacy from aggressive marketing companies and governments but perhaps not from banks. The point being that it is the prerogative of the individual, not book authors or digital money consultants, to determine where one sits on that personal sliding scale.”
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“As Web anthropologist Stowe Boyd proclaims, anonymous cash equals freedom and we should rejoice in that.”
- http://onforb.es/YoqjgY
- http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=146661.0 (Further discussion of the post.)
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Marc Hochstein (@MarcHochstein), executive editor of American Banker, describes how Bitcoin is setting a bar that banks may be hard pressed to meet. Excerpts:
“In addition to being a store of value, [Bitcoin is] also a means of exchange, a payment system that can perform many of the same functions as banks and as financial services companies like Western Union, PayPal and Visa. And its efficiency as such is arguably a more important reason for bankers to pay attention to it.”
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“A few restaurants and bars take it. You can even donate bitcoins to WikiLeaks. But you can’t spend bitcoins at Amazon or Wal-Mart or McDonald’s or pay your electricity bill with them.”
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“Linking [Bitcoin] to a prepaid card, [Bradley Leimer] says, is ‘a little bit of a game-changer,’ since it’s ‘a much more mainstream way to move the value within your bitcoin collection’.”
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“I didn’t have to give my name, much less show ID, throughout the whole process [of buying bitcoins through BitInsant].”
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“Transacting off the [banking system] grid should remain an option even after we phase out paper bills and metal coins.”
- http://bit.ly/R7QvHd
- http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=103048.0 (Further discussion of the article)
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A post on Bitcoin Money blog (@BitcoinMoney) describes how the impact of RBS’s bank systems left its customers in a situation they were not prepared for. The post takes the opportunity to highlight some topics regarding the preparation for the contingency that the banks and others no longer can serve as we might assume they will. Excerpts:
“‘How do you know that this is just a computer glitch and not something more serious, like, for example, the bank being actually bust?’ writes Karl Denninger.”
“If your bank had a problem where suddenly no ATM debit card transactions were possible (or worse), how much of an impact would that have on you and your family?”
‘Regardless of your bank’s solvency, they simply do not and cannot prepare for a surge in the amount of cash withdrawals.”
“We share the idiosyncratic belief that once we start to smell smoke that somehow we will be the lucky ones who can make it out the exit a step ahead before the crowd that might trample us. We can envision the steps for how we would proceed in such a scenario but we have never really practiced the methods to have even a clue if the steps might actually succeed.”
“Does your bank serve requests for larger cash withdrawals or will they take the opportunity to educate you on some policy that they have instituted where even a $2,500 USD withdrawal request will not be honored in full?”
- http://www.bitcoinmoney.com/post/26014446677
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A post on Bitcoin Money blog (@BitcoinMoney) describes how Bitcoin as payment method can be used by merchants for competitive advantage. Excerpts:
“For every $100 worth of credit card transactions, the merchant gets only an amount in the range of $97. The difference is withheld from the merchant and become fees paid to the payment processor.”
“Bitcoin transaction fees are ridiculously low (usually under a penny, regardless of the amount being sent).”
“Additional savings to the merchant comes from the fact that with Bitcoin, there is no concept of a chargeback.”
“Bitcoin payments have another big advantage — fast settlement.Bitcoin payments received by a merchant can be used for spending within minutes.”
“The first merchants to start offering discounts for bitcoin payments are starting to arrive, however. Tangible Cryptography has begun offering prepaid wireless refills at a discount.”
Professional poker player Bryan Micon (@DonkDown) created a 5-minute “Bitcoin School” which describes how Bitcoin can be used for playinig online poker.
A post on Bitcoin Money (@BitcoinMoney) describes methods those in the U.S., Canada and Australia have available for getting funds to an exchange by depositing cash at a local bank.
A blog post on the Bitcoin Money blog describes a new law in the State of Louisiana that, taken literally, makes it illegal to purchase used goods using cash. Excerpts:
“The government’s assault on economic freedom have been expanding further with new laws including a new one from the bought and paid-for politicians from the State of Louisiana.”
“[Applies to those who] buy, sell, trade in or otherwise acquire used or secondhand property more frequently than once per month from any other person.”
- http://www.bitcoinmoney.com/post/11656504219
- http://bit.ly/njSG6s (Louisiana HB 195 / Act 389)
- http://dl.dropbox.com/u/696520/2011act389.pdf (Act 389 pdf)
- http://ackelandassociates.com/cash-transactions-banned-by-louisiana
Those in the U.S. wishing to add funds to Mt. Gox using cash now have the ability to deposit cash at any Chase Bank location.
“Simply walk into any Chase branch and fill out a Chase deposit slip” is one step described in the exchange’s announcement of this funding method.
The Bitcoin Money blog includes additional information regarding the funding method.
- https://mtgox.com/press_release_20111017.html
- http://www.bitcoinmoney.com/post/11573758925
Michael Hendricks (@mndrix), a Bitcoin pioneer (who still has the arrows to prove it), writes on how Bitcoins can indeed be acquired and used anonymously. Excerpts:
“Sentiment has swung the other direction toward thinking that Bitcoin anonymity is very difficult to attain. […] we should think about security and anonymity practically”.
“[Even with these steps though] high power forensics and digital surveillance might be able to pierce the anonymity veil”.
GoWest, author of Bitcoin-Trader blog interviews David Sterry of ExchB. Excerpts:
“There are people who get the Bitcoin concept and who are not willing to sell Bitcoin for under $1,000. They’ve bought as much as they can and they would buy more if they could. Unfortunately, they don’t influence the price of Bitcoin much”.
“By eliminating credit card transaction fees, gas station owners could double their profits”.
