Yearly Archives: 2013

What do influential people think about bitcoin?

"Just like any other movement, bitcoin needs people who can be symbolic leaders. Specific examples are people like Gavin Andresen, bitcoin’s chief scientist, who works as the lead developer on the Bitcoin protocol. Another one is Patrick Murck, the Bitcoin Foundation’s general counsel, who has been busy helping to forge a path forward for regulatory compliance. These are people that are well qualified for their specific duties. Yet bitcoin needs influencers beyond that. It needs global leaders outside of cryptocurrency circles and people of some renown to speak out about it. So who has done this? Let’s take a look." Continue reading →

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Vancouver to see first Bitcoin ATMs installed

"According to The Canadian Press, Vancouver-based Bitcoiniacs is one of the first to pre-order five US$20,000 RoboCoin Bitcoin ATMs. The ATMs work by asking the user for a Bitcoin wallet identifier, usually in the form of a QR barcode. Money is then deposited into the machine, and after deducting a nominal transaction fee, the wallet is credited in Bitcoin. Bitcoiniacs' brick-and-mortar shop already deals with cash to Bitcoin transfers, but so far requires appointments to be booked to conduct such transactions. RoboCoin is competing directly with New Hampshire entrepreneurs Zach Harvey and Matt Whitlock, who are already accepting pre-orders for their own $5,000 Bitcoin ATM." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVancouver to see first Bitcoin ATMs installed

Vancouver to see first Bitcoin ATMs installed

"According to The Canadian Press, Vancouver-based Bitcoiniacs is one of the first to pre-order five US$20,000 RoboCoin Bitcoin ATMs. The ATMs work by asking the user for a Bitcoin wallet identifier, usually in the form of a QR barcode. Money is then deposited into the machine, and after deducting a nominal transaction fee, the wallet is credited in Bitcoin. Bitcoiniacs' brick-and-mortar shop already deals with cash to Bitcoin transfers, but so far requires appointments to be booked to conduct such transactions. RoboCoin is competing directly with New Hampshire entrepreneurs Zach Harvey and Matt Whitlock, who are already accepting pre-orders for their own $5,000 Bitcoin ATM." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVancouver to see first Bitcoin ATMs installed

Satoshi Forest, Nine-Acre Sanctuary for the Homeless

"The location at 1999 Massachusetts Ave, Pensacola, FL encompasses nine acres of wooded land that will now become, as Jason King describes it, 'a homeless sanctuary, a place where the downtrodden can find respite from the ‘crime’ of being simply being poor.' The property cost $89,000 to purchase, which, King writes, 'for acreage within the developed part of greater Pensacola, is dirt cheap.' The mortgage on the property, valued at $600 per month, will be paid entirely in Bitcoin. Once housing construction is well underway, they also intend to add a large kitchen for preparing food, and then begin organic farming operations which he later intends to expand to aquaculture." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSatoshi Forest, Nine-Acre Sanctuary for the Homeless

Satoshi Forest, Nine-Acre Sanctuary for the Homeless

"The location at 1999 Massachusetts Ave, Pensacola, FL encompasses nine acres of wooded land that will now become, as Jason King describes it, 'a homeless sanctuary, a place where the downtrodden can find respite from the ‘crime’ of being simply being poor.' The property cost $89,000 to purchase, which, King writes, 'for acreage within the developed part of greater Pensacola, is dirt cheap.' The mortgage on the property, valued at $600 per month, will be paid entirely in Bitcoin. Once housing construction is well underway, they also intend to add a large kitchen for preparing food, and then begin organic farming operations which he later intends to expand to aquaculture." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSatoshi Forest, Nine-Acre Sanctuary for the Homeless

Poland Confiscates Half Of Private Pensions To “Cut” Sovereign Debt Load

"Well, once you nationalize private assets, the public debt will lindeed appear lower than it was before confiscation: we give them that much. End result: 'The Polish pension funds' organisation said the changes may be unconstitutional because the government is taking private assets away from them without offering any compensation.... 'This may lead to the private pension systems shutting down,' said Rafal Benecki of ING Bank Slaski.' But best of all, in the aftermath of Cyprus, we now know what the two most recent European blueprints for preserving the myth of solvency are: bail-ins, which confiscate deposits, and pension fund 'overhauls', which confiscate, well, pension funds." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPoland Confiscates Half Of Private Pensions To “Cut” Sovereign Debt Load

Rebalance To Buffer Crises?

"Sovereigns may save themselves at the expense of citizens. Poland has withdrawn $37 billion in government holdings from national pension funds to pay down sovereign debt. Its markets dropped 4.8% the day the news hit. Given relative GDP size, a similar take here would be north of $1 trillion and laws have been prepared to bail-in major banks. Many cities already are bankrupt and pension funds are at risk as pensioneers and bond holders battle over the remains. Those who buy the official narrative are riding in a ticker-tape parade on which Central Banks are showering confetti. When the dreamers awake, they will be looking at a demonic jack-o-lantern." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRebalance To Buffer Crises?

The feds pay for 60 percent of Tor’s development. Can users trust it?

"The NSA’s sustained attempt to get around encryption calls into question many of the technologies people have come to rely on to avoid surveillance. One indispensable tool is Tor, the anonymizing service that takes a user’s Internet traffic and spits it out from some other place on the Web so that its origin is obscured. So far there’s no hard evidence that the government has compromised the anonymity of Tor traffic. But some on a Tor-related e-mail list recently pointed out that a substantial chunk of the Tor Project’s 2012 operating budget came from the Department of Defense, which houses the NSA." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe feds pay for 60 percent of Tor’s development. Can users trust it?

Let us count the ways: How the feds (legally, technically) get our data

"It’s worth considering the various vectors of technical and legal data-gathering that high-level adversaries in America and Britain (and likely other countries, at least in the 'Five Eyes' group of anglophone allies) are likely using in parallel to go after a given target. So far, the possibilities include: A company volunteers to help (and gets paid for it). Spies copy the traffic directly off the fiber. A company complies under legal duress. Spies infiltrate a company. Spies coerce upstream companies to weaken crypto in their products/install backdoors. Spies brute force the crypto. Spies compromise a digital certificate. Spies hack a target computer directly, stealing keys and/or data, sabotage." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLet us count the ways: How the feds (legally, technically) get our data

Gold And Silver Safe Haven Status Displayed

"The era of stable bond prices and stable income disappeared six years ago and is unlikely soon to return. Another storm-maker is the debate on the debt-ceiling which like many things is now hidden by the cloud of dust the government has chosen to make over Syria. Only four years ago the Secretary of State dined amicably with the latest 'Hitler,' Bashir Assad and his wife. That datum is pertinent to markets because it indicates the often irrational and shifting agendas of our diplomatic - financial echelons. Recognizing this allows one to adopt a defensive position and select growth areas." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGold And Silver Safe Haven Status Displayed