Monthly Archives: November 2014

Bitcoin Billionaire - The Most Addictive Tap Game
NBA All Net FREEBIES! http://pre.nbaallnet.com I STREAM ON TWITCH DAILY 4PM - 7PM Central Follow on Twitch http://www.twitch.tv/phonecats Sub on Youtube http://bit.ly/1clicksub...

By: phonecatss

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Bitcoin Billionaire - The Most Addictive Tap Game - Video

Cryptoanarchist vs Austrian School Origin of Money Roundable, part 6
This week #39;s topic is why Bitcoin has value. Recommended reading: Bitcoin Whitepaper: http://nakamotoinstitute.org/bitcoin/

By: Texas Bitcoin Frontier

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Cryptoanarchist vs Austrian School Origin of Money Roundable, part 6 - Video

Bitcoin Currency Gains in Popularity
Jan. 21, 2014. - There is cash, credit, checks and now Bitcoin. The new currency is being accepted at more and more businesses around Los Angeles. But how exactly does it work and is it safe?...

By: The Internet of Money

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Bitcoin Currency Gains in Popularity - Video

Mark Karpeles t-shirt couldnt be more ironic.

I dont always test my code, it reads, but when I do, I do it in production.

The former head of Mt. Gox, once the worlds biggest Bitcoin exchange, saw his company collapse because its code was exploited by hackers.

A source close to the firm said in March that Mt. Goxs code was a spaghetti mess, possibly containing vulnerabilities that allowed hackers to pilfer millions of dollars worth of the digital currency. Japanese police are probing that possibility.

Karpeles has kept a low profile since Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy on Feb. 28 and disclosed that roughly 750,000 customer bitcoins and 100,000 of its own had vanished, apparently stolen by hackers. That amounted to roughly US$474 million based on the valuation of the volatile cryptocurrency at the time of the filing.

But as Mt. Gox undergoes liquidation under the supervision of the Tokyo District Court, Karpeles has recently emerged from the shadows, posting messages on Twitter and answering emails from media. He agreed to talk to IDG News Service on the condition that he would not discuss other than in general terms what happened at the company, the police investigation into it and other litigation involving him. The latest lawsuit was filed last month in Tokyo by three Mt. Gox clients who are each seeking about 10 million ($87,000) over lost bitcoins, according to his lawyer.

Karpeles is still leading Mt. Goxs parent company Tibanne, a small IT development firm located in Tokyos youth mecca of Shibuya. Its office building is no longer the site of protests by Mt. Gox clients who lost their bitcoin and the security guard hired by the landlord is long gone.

Tibanne now has 13 employees and still does Web and server hosting as well as Web and mobile application development. Tibannes graphics editing software subsidiary Shade3D, meanwhile, has about 10 staff.

Ive been trying to keep Tibanne and Shade3D running well so we can maybe assist with the Mt. Gox bankruptcy, Karpeles said.

He added that contrary to rumor, he hasnt left Japan since February and has had to stay in the country as part of the bankruptcy process. He spends his down time taking care of his aging cat Tibanne (the inspiration for the name of his company) and pursuing his passion for baking apple pies.

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Despite Mt. Gox fiasco, Karpeles still has Bitcoin plans

Early adopters of Bitcoin and true believers in the virtual currency face a dilemma, and it is one that will be familiar to many of us of a certain age and with a love of rock music. In the days before the internet brought easy ubiquity, finding a great new band was a thrill that filled people with the fervor of a convert. In 1980, for example, I went to see Talking Heads at the Hammersmith Palais in London and stumbled upon the support band at that gig, U2.

I ran around telling everybody how great they were and insisting that everybody listen. Gradually, not because of my efforts but just because they were good and their time had come, they gained in popularity. I, of course, started to resent their success. I saw them as having lost their edge and, the worst crime imaginable, as having sold out. Many Bitcoin enthusiasts are at that stage right now.

It is only natural that those that understand and embrace the concept of a virtual currency would wish to get out there and preach. They want to see Bitcoin fulfill its potential. The problem, of course, is that it is hard for anything that started out challenging the status quo to gain general acceptance without it, to some degree, being tainted by the popularity.

Unlike with a rock band, however, the potential problems that Bitcoin faces as it gains in popularity are not to do with staying edgy, in touch and relevant. They are issues that go to the very core of the currency. The financial system that Bitcoin originally challenged is increasingly embracing the once ostracized digital currency. At the very least, as Steven Lord puts it in an article at Futuresmag.com, the days of Wall Street dismissing Bitcoin out of hand are rapidly becoming history.

This is inevitable given the kind of volatility that gets traders excited and the increasing availability of derivatives such as futures and swaps, but is it desirable? What these products do is to give traders a way to trade BTC without actually owning the currency and for many that is the problem. It means that traders can easily short BTC and dont have to lend any price support by funding an account before starting to trade.

Most Bitcoin supporters have sufficient faith in free markets to accept this, and to understand that if BTC is to really survive it must take such things in its stride. If fiat currencies with their built in tendency to devalue over time can be freely traded, then BTC, with an inbuilt tendency to appreciate, should benefit from the same conditions.

That is true in the long term, but increased trading activity, particularly from institutions, does represent a problem in the short term. Instead of the value of BTC being about its worth as a finite commodity, and one with a decreasing rate of supply and increasing adoption, it becomes a function of sentiment. I can assure you as somebody who made a living in dealing rooms around the world for nearly twenty years, that trader sentiment is a fickle beast.

What those invested, emotionally, financially or both, in the Bitcoin market must understand is that as acceptance of the currency grows the volatility that we have seen this year is likely to continue, but it has no bearing on the ultimate value of the currency. I dont think well see the kind of massive run up and collapse that we saw at the end of last year, but there will be volatility within a trading band.

Currently that band looks to be around $300-$700, but that could change as it is still forming. If anything the trading band could move a little lower as new institutional traders come in. A 1 year chart such as that below would suggest downside potential, so testing the lows may be a tempting trade for newcomers with no exposure to the currency.

That doesnt mean, however, that those who have embraced Bitcoin should worry. They may wish to trade the moves to some extent, but if the world is ready for a currency based on a deflationary model, then the ultimate market pressures of decreasing supply and increasing demand will work their magic whatever traders do.

Excerpt from:
Bitcoin's Increasing Acceptance By Traders Brings Problems

One of the interesting aspects of any early stage innovation is that it is incredibly difficult to distinguish a breakthrough idea from a dud. At one point Twitter (TWTR) was considered a mere Internet curiosity, while the Segway was expected to revolutionize urban transportation. The proposed Bitcoin ETF is a classic case in point: If successful, it could make virtual currency trading more mainstream, which would be a breakthrough development. However, that success is currently not assured.

Nevertheless, the Bitcoin ETF is an important concept, so rather than speculating on its potential adoption, this article focuses on understanding the product itself. We address five fundamental questions about the proposed Bitcoin ETF:

1. What is the asset underlying the ETF?

Bitcoin is a virtual currency that can be stored and traded electronically. It is stored in a digital wallet and can be traded using a downloadable software (Bitcoin client) or through a third party provider. It is important to distinguish Bitcoin from payment systems like Paypal (EBAY) or Apple Pay (AAPL), which are ways to transfer a traditional currency (such as the US Dollar) electronically.

An important reason for the adoption for Bitcoin is that it is decentralized i.e. there is no central Bitcoin issuing or monitoring authority. Instead, every time a Bitcoin transaction is initiated, it must be validated by a Bitcoin miner. These miners are entities within the Bitcoin network that validate the transaction by solving a mathematical proof. Once the transaction is validated, the miner adds it to the record of previous Bitcoin transactions. This updated chain of completed Bitcoin transactions is called a Blockchain, which is publicly transmitted across the entire Bitcoin network. This system prevents double counting of existing Bitcoins and enables record keeping of all Bitcoin transactions.

In return for validating transactions, miners are rewarded with a transaction fee and new Bitcoins. So miners are effectively performing a dual function: they are validating transactions and facilitating the creation of new Bitcoins in a systematic manner. (A detailed explanation of Bitcoin mechanics is available on the Khan academy website)

The goal of the proposed ETF is to provide exposure to this asset and reflect Bitcoin price changes.

2. Who is launching the ETF and what is the current status?

Link:
Understanding The Proposed Bitcoin ETF: 5 Key Questions