How Bitcoin Will Achieve Mass Acceptance: Through Community (Op-Ed)

By Johan Lundqvist

According to Bitcoinobituries.com, bitcoin has already been declared dead 40 times in its short life. This can't be seen as an impressive track-record for a piece of technology that's also widely regarded as a game-changing financial tool, one capable of altering the way we handle money forever.

This attitude, however, is a good demonstration of the greatest hindrance that digital currencies face today. It also points towards the solution of bitcoin’s problem with gaining mass acceptance. The disbelief shown by most of the traditional media, financial institutions, and governmental bodies, that bitcoin could be a viable force to alter the financial landscape, is for now the biggest hurdle in bitcoin's widespread implementation.

So far, the only time these pundits and social commentators have really come into contact with the nascent digital currency is when they hear about the Silk Road trial, Mt. Gox and the currency's infamous price swings.

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Only Crypto-Businesses Survive

By Miklos Kadar

According to an Accenture slogan from 2014:

...every business is a digital business...

and it is very hard to argue with that statement. Now how does it sound if I say that in the very near future...

...every business will be a crypto-asset business...?

Few years ago there was a young gentleman who, intentionally or unintentionally hard to tell, but changed online content management forever. He made a whole generation to become photo-reporter, editor and publisher in one. He was Mark Zuckerberg and his tool for his accomplishment was Facebook.

What if I told you that in few years from now everybody will be his or her own Central Bank, investment bank and equity broker in one? The crypto/blockchain 2.0 technology for such a change is just as ready today as all web 2.0 tech was ready on Feb 4, 2004 (the day of Facebook's official and humble launch).

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'The Age of Cryptocurrency' Recorded on Blockchain

By Tanaya Macheel

The Age of CryptoCurrency, the recently released book by Wall Street Journal reporter Paul Vigna and senior columnist Michael J Casey, has been permanently recorded on bitcoin's public ledger, the blockchain.

The book is the first by a major publisher with its exposure and interest to have a time-stamped digest recorded in the blockchain, actively demonstrating the technology beyond just the subject of the book.

Digital Currency Council (DCC) director of curriculum Dan McArdle copied the book into Block 341705 using the firm’s Blockchain Recordation Toolbox, which allows DCC professionals access to blockchain recordkeeping for clients. The process used open source platform Proof of Existence.

McArdle said:

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Coinkite API Unlocks Potential for Bitcoin Developers, Merchants and Users

By Connie

Coinkite is a bitcoin company with a focus on security mixed with ease-of-use. They have an intense passion for multi-signature wallet technology, along with API services for developers, enterprises and users to integrate into their businesses or applications.

But what can truly be done with Coinkite’s API? Seeing as the company is known for their secure wallet services, they’ve turned their vault into one of those.

Also read: Coinkite Goes Free! Offers Privacy and Multi-Signature Wallets at No Cost

As stated in their API documentation,

Coinkite is a cryptobank which can serve all your needs for holding and managing cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Litecoin or Blackcoin.

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How Bitcoin Compares to Fiat Currency’s House of Cards

By TUUR DEMEESTER

Double standards are like mosquitoes to me: after hearing their buzz for a while, I want nothing more than to shine a flashlight their way and swat them down mercilessly. One such double standard is the harsh way in which economists and commentators criticize Bitcoin technology, while at the same time taking for granted the financial system that they live under every day.

Yes, the value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is very volatile still, and the ecosystem that develops around them has been a Wild West so far. But in the six years of Bitcoin’s existence, the underlying technology—decentralized and open source in nature—has proven itself to be extremely robust and constantly evolving. Bad computer code is replaced over time by good code (or at least by a stable workaround), and likewise, bad companies are forced by the market to make way for better ones. Creative destruction rules the cloud.

Bitclub Network

People around the world are joining Bitclub Network to earn passive income with virtual currencies.

Virtual currencies are not a fad, or a ponzi scheme.  The US government states it's an asset.  It can be used to acquire goods and services.  It can be donated to non-profits or government campaigns.

This is the time to learn more about it.

http://BitcoinPools.us

A brief attempt at explaining the madness of cryptocurrency

By Mariella Moon

Cryptocurrency may as well be called "cryptic currency," because it's nowhere near as easy to figure out as typical money. For one, while most of them (and yes, there's more than one) have names that end with "-coin," they don't usually come in physical form. Yes, they do represent money in digital form, but using them is a bit more complicated than digital payment services like, say, PayPal or Google Wallet. Also, unlike banks and online services, they're decentralized, with no single governing body overseeing and verifying transactions -- there's a reason why bitcoin was (is?) the currency of choice for black market regulars.

Bitcoin ("BTC") isn't only recognized as the first cryptocurrency; it's also the basis for every other crypto-coin that's popped up since it was formally introduced in 2009. "Satoshi Nakamoto" (the pseudonym used by the person or the group of people who created bitcoin) designed it as a peer-to-peer system that relies on users to keep working. Also, all transactions are recorded on a public ledger (called "block chain"), so even though no name or email address is associated with an account, the system's not entirely anonymous.

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How The Cryptoconomy Will Be Created

By William Mougayar

What Bitcoin started is metamorphosing into something bigger: a “crypto-tech” driven economy with its own value creation, not unlike the Web’s own economy. Welcome to the cryptoconomy.

Contrary to what appears today, this cryptoconomy will not be born by attempting to take over the current financial services system, nor by waiting for consumers to transfer fiat money into cryptocurrency wallets; rather it will emerge by creating its own wealth, via new types of services and businesses that extend beyond money transactions.

The cryptoconomy is a serious event. It is the next phase of the Internet’s evolution – the decentralization era. Its genesis is Bitcoin’s backbone technology: the “blockchain”, a new term with applicability outside of just Bitcoin. The blockchain is like a new type of database ledger whose data is stored via a cryptographically secured, semi-public, semi-private way. That kind of openness ushers a path for point-to-point value exchanges, without trusted intermediaries or central parties.

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Bitcoin Startup Coinbase Raises $75 Million From DFJ, the NYSE and Two Banks

By Jason Del Rey

Coinbase, a software company that allows people to buy bitcoin and enables businesses to accept it as payment, has closed a giant $75 million investment. In real U.S. dollars.

The round is by far the biggest investment in a bitcoin company to date. Beyond its size, the funding is sure to make waves in financial services thanks to the participation of three industry investors: the New York Stock Exchange, USAA Bank, and BBVA, a multinational bank with a large presence in Spain and Mexico. Former Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit also personally invested in the company.

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BitOasis Aims to Change how People Transact in the Middle East Using Bitcoin

By Diana Ngo

Bitcoin can offer many solutions to the Middle East, from fostering youth entrepreneurship to enabling farmers to receive loans in the digital currency, says BitOasis' Ola Doudin.

BitOasis, a Bitcoin exchange and multi-sig wallet dedicated to the Middle East, is working on bringing Bitcoin to the region. Its founder, Ola Doudin, a former Ernest & Young associate, believes the technology has the potential to address the many challenges encountered in the region and foster social development, reported PSFK.

According to Doudin, Bitcoin can offer many solutions across the Middle East and significantly boost the e-commerce industry. She explained:

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How Emirati Start-ups Are Embracing Bitcoin

By Plus Aziz 

While companies like DinarCoin are responding to the dramatic collapse of Iraq’s currency, others like BitOasis, which is based between Dubai and California, are responding to environments where a healthy financial infrastructure is in place but out of sync with digitally-enriched lifestyles. We interviewed Ola Doudin of BitOasis

Although it is quite unpredictable how digital currency (and Bitcoin in particular) will play out on the Middle East’s regional stage, there are clear cultural implications that we can start thinking about. BitOasis is a start-up founded by Ola Doudin working to bring Bitcoin technology to Middle East consumers. Her expertise draws on insightful knowledge and data points that underline the need for financial services to address the digital transformation re-shaping how consumers shop, work, and carry out monetary transactions:

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The Federal Reserve Publishes Another Paper on Bitcoin

By  Carlo Caraluzzo

The Federal Reserve Bank in Washington, D.C. has issued a report entitled Bitcoin: Technical Background and Data Analysis. The recently released report, dated October 7, is a technical analysis of Bitcoin and the Bitcoin protocol. While mostly accurate, it contains a number of assumptions and self-serving statements suggesting that, despite a great deal of empirical research and terabytes of data, the Federal Reserve lacks a fundamental understanding of Bitcoin.

Lack of Understanding

One of the first indications of their lack of understanding can be found in section two, entitled “Bitcoin: an Overview,” by researchers Anton Badev and Matthew Chen. In defining Bitcoin, they say:

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Is Bitcoin fully virtual and immaterial?

Bitcoin is as virtual as the credit cards and online banking networks people use everyday. Bitcoin can be used to pay online and in physical stores just like any other form of money. 

Bitcoins can also be exchanged in physical form such as the Casascius coins, but paying with a mobile phone usually remains more convenient. Bitcoin balances are stored in a large distributed network, and they cannot be fraudulently altered by anybody. In other words, Bitcoin users have exclusive control over their funds and bitcoins cannot vanish just because they are virtual.

What are the advantages of Bitcoin?

The Advantages of Bitcoin

• Payment freedom - It is possible to send and receive any amount of money instantly anywhere in the world at any time. No bank holidays. No borders. No imposed limits. Bitcoin allows its users to be in full control of their money.
• Very low fees - Bitcoin payments are currently processed with either no fees or extremely small fees. Users may include fees with transactions to receive priority processing, which results in faster confirmation of transactions by the network. Additionally, merchant processors exist to assist merchants in processing transactions, converting bitcoins to fiat currency and depositing funds directly into merchants' bank accounts daily. As these services are based on Bitcoin, they can be offered for much lower fees than with PayPal or credit card networks.
• Fewer risks for merchants - Bitcoin transactions are secure, irreversible, and do not contain customers’ sensitive or personal information. This protects merchants from losses caused by fraud or fraudulent chargebacks, and there is no need for PCI compliance. Merchants can easily expand to new markets where either credit cards are not available or fraud rates are unacceptably high. The net results are lower fees, larger markets, and fewer administrative costs.
• Security and control - Bitcoin users are in full control of their transactions; it is impossible for merchants to force unwanted or unnoticed charges as can happen with other payment methods. Bitcoin payments can be made without personal information tied to the transaction. This offers strong protection against identity theft. Bitcoin users can also protect their money with backup and encryption.
• Transparent and neutral - All information concerning the Bitcoin money supply itself is readily available on the block chain for anybody to verify and use in real-time. No individual or organization can control or manipulate the Bitcoin protocol because it is cryptographically secure. This allows the core of Bitcoin to be trusted for being completely neutral, transparent and predictable.

What is Bitcoin Mining?

Mining is the process of spending computing power to process transactions, secure the network, and keep everyone in the system synchronized together. It can be perceived like the Bitcoin data center except that it has been designed to be fully decentralized with miners operating in all countries and no individual having control over the network. 

This process is referred to as "mining" as an analogy to gold mining because it is also a temporary mechanism used to issue new bitcoins. Unlike gold mining, however, Bitcoin mining provides a reward in exchange for useful services required to operate a secure payment network. Mining will still be required after the last bitcoin is issued.

Reference:  bitcoin.org

Is Bitcoin a Ponzi Scheme?

A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to its investors from their own money, or the money paid by subsequent investors, instead of from profit earned by the individuals running the business. Ponzi schemes are designed to collapse at the expense of the last investors when there is not enough new participants.

Bitcoin is a free software project with no central authority. Consequently, no one is in a position to make fraudulent representations about investment returns. Like other major currencies such as gold, United States dollar, euro, yen, etc. there is no guaranteed purchasing power and the exchange rate floats freely. This leads to volatility where owners of bitcoins can unpredictably make or lose money. Beyond speculation, Bitcoin is also a payment system with useful and competitive attributes that are being used by thousands of users and businesses.

The Theory Behind Bitcoin in a Nutshell: Based on Satoshi Nakamoto's White Paper

Bitcoin is a Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.

What does a peer-to-peer electronic cash system allow?   A peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one person to another without going through financial institutions. (ex. banks).

A digital signature provides a solution to online payments, but the benefits would be lost if a trusted third party is needed to prevent double-spending.  A solution to this double-spending is a peer-to-peer network.

The network timestamps the transactions by hashing them into an ongoing chain of hash-based proof of work, which forms a record that cannot be changed without redoing the initial proof of work. 

What exactly is hashing?  It is the transformation of a string of characters into a usually shorter fixed-length value or key that represents the original string. It is used to index and retrieve items in a database because it is faster to find the item using the shorter hashed key than to find it using the original value.

The longest chain serves as proof of the sequence of events shown on the chain, it shows that it came from the largest pool of CPU power.  The CPU power controlled by the nodes (miners); not attacking the network, generate the longest chain and outruns any potential attackers to the chain.

The peer-to-peer network does not require a lot of structure.

Work done by the nodes (miners) are broadcasted on the chain.  Nodes join and leave the network at will.  The hash they leave behind is proof of their work.

Based on my interpretation of Satoshi Nakamoto's White Paper.

The 5 Phases of Bitcoin Adoption

By John Mauldin

The 5 Phases of Bitcoin Adoption

What will it take for Bitcoin to gain broad adoption and become the foundation of a new global financial system?

Worth Wray sat down with Barry Silbert, founder of the Bitcoin Investment Trust, to discuss. As one the most active venture capitalists in the industry (with investments in over 30 Bitcoin-related portfolio companies through the Bitcoin Opportunity Corp.), Barry has gone all-in on Bitcoin and Bitcoin-related businesses.

He believes the rise of Bitcoin from 2009 to 2014 is just the beginning… and the virtual payment system may be approaching a big inflection point as Wall Street takes the baton from Silicon Valley.

Silbert thinks about Bitcoin adoption in five general phases.

(1) Experimentation Phase. (2009–2010)

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How To Donate Bitcoin To Charity And Get A Big Tax Deduction

By Bryan Clontz

Virtual currencies have been much in the news the last few years,  with Bitcoin getting by far the most attention.  That’s partly because of its incredible growth in value, going from less than $1 in early 2011 to nearly $1,000 at the end of 2013, before dropping into the mid-hundreds throughout 2014.

A virtual currency functions much like traditional (or “fiat”) currency, but all transactions occur online, and it is not regulated by any government. Bitcoins are created through the process known as “mining,” which involves verifying all Bitcoin transactions as they occur, and hence limits the supply of the currency. 

People obtain Bitcoins by creating digital “wallets,” which allow them to deposit fiat currency and then transmit it to other wallets in exchange for virtual currency. Wallets are the primary method of transmittal for consumers, and each user has a unique key they share to send or receive Bitcoins.

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Filipinos Can Now Withdraw Money from 450 Bank ATMs, Thanks to Bitcoin Firm

By  Carlo Caraluzzo

The Philippines has more overseas workers than nearly any country in the world, and remittances reached an all-time high of $25.1 billion in 2013. But the cost of sending money home to family has historically been high. That is changing, thanks to the Philippines Bitcoin exchange and remittance service Coins.ph. The company has a new service that allows recipients to instantly withdraw money from a bank ATM.

The company is releasing a mobile app that allows their customers to deposit funds anywhere in the world through a Bitcoin ATM and send it to someone in the Philippines. They are also able to deposit from a Bitcoin balance being held in a Coins.ph online wallet.

Coin.ph has said that this might be the first service of its type, but this is not quite accurate. Wall of Coins, for instance, allows users to deposit funds that recipients can withdraw from hundreds of bank ATMs in the United States and Canada, and another company is planning to offer the same service in Mexico, set to be launched in February of 2015. There is also a local competitor, Rebit.ph, that is trying to open Bitcoin services to residents.

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