Blockchain technology

[caballero reyes]

http://es.gizmodo.com/tira-por-error-a-la-basura-un-disco-duro-con-7-5-millon-1473076485

If you ever find yourself at home an old hard drive that no longer remembered a , never, never will you throw it away without checking its contents. Something so obvious it did not occur to Jamies Howells , a British computer scientist who , doing cleaning, threw a hard drive from an old laptop . Months later realized that there kept a digital portfolio with $ 7.5 million in Bitcoins .

The bizarre story , detailed by the Guardian , is a good example of good digital precious which have become the Bitcoins . Something that few expected , including Howells . In 2009 , when hardly anyone knew what they were, Howells began mining Bitcoins . He compiled 7,500 coins. At that time its value was almost negligible. It is now trading at about $ 1,000 each
. Howells in 2009 had a Dell XPS N1710 , undermined him Bitcoins . A year later he broke down and decided to gut him . He sold many pieces but kept the hard drive in a drawer until last summer , when he decided to throw it away without remembering the precious Bitcoins . The unit now rests at the bottom of a huge landfill near Newport, Wales (United Kingdom).

Howells has tried to visit the place to get it back, but without success. "I spoke with the manager of the landfill , I explained the situation. Indeed he took me in his truck there. The place is the size of a football field and said that something had come three or four months would be buried more one meter deep, " Howells explains to the Guardian. "I think I 've already resigned that I'll never be able to find it." Who would have thought that now a Bitcoin would be worth almost twice that action by Apple. [The Guardian ]

 

[Skyalmian]

Erm, an update:

The FT's Tracy Alloway reports today that the U.S. Patent Office has published a filing from JP Morgan regarding a payment service that some have some are saying bares a striking resemblance to Bitcoin.

But the filing is actually a renewal of a patent first filed in 1999 — meaning it significantly predates that digital currency's breakout success.

But even if you were still inclined to dig into the patent itself, you'd discover that there are really very few similarities between Bitcoin and JP Morgan's system.

The system is basically a form of repackaging the electronic credits you already use to pay for stuff online. The only new wrinkle is a Payment Portal Processor that will be tied to a digital wallet that can hold your electronic credits. The "PPP," as its referred to in the patent, will be able to "store miles, coupons, sweepstakes or other marketing incentives associated with use of the accounts linked to the PPP." It will also "[enrich] the consumer e-commerce experience by eliminating the tedious process of tilling [sic] out lengthy payment and shipping fields as this is done automatically."

This, in turn, will help merchants, "since research indicates that most e-commerce purchases are abandoned at the [point of sale] due to consumers' unwillingness to complete lengthy forms or provide personal credit card numbers. Furthermore, the automatic form filling features of the PPP enhanced Wallet reduces shipping errors, as the 'ship to' address is automatically filled in, eliminating manual entry errors."

Under JP Morgan's system, your account will still be tied to your credit or debit cards, and your payments will still be processed by the same Electronic Funds Transfer network used to process payments today. Bitcoin, on the other hand, relies on peer-to-peer exchanges, meaning it's completely decentralized. And it uses souped-up encryption, which makes both parties in a transaction anonymous and makes the entire system difficult to hack. JP Morgan's system does nothing for security enhancement. To authenticate the payment from the user, a bank can require, " a software certification, an encrypted PIN, or the mother's maiden name of the consumer."

Bitcoin has a public record of all transactions that can be viewed on a site called Blockchain, JP Morgan's system contains no such provision.

 

[Palinurus]

@ caballero reyes

I posted this story in Reply # 49 of this tread on November 28, 2013. It has also been carried on SotT.

Just saying... :)

 

[caballero reyes]

I apologize, this story of a local newspaper is supposed to be "new".

Thanks palinurus.

 

[gdpetti]

Seems like the typical 'trial balloon' of a iCurrency, which is so 'hip' these days... add an 'i' and presto-magico, it's the newest and greatest thing ever, meanwhile it's founder remains mysteriously unknown and it acts and behaves in the marketplace just like all the other 'pump and dump' products. As an unsupported unknown 'dark knight' of fiat currencies, it can be all things to potentially all people as long as they don't ask too many questions, nor expect to remain in it long, as a 'safe haven' it seems not to be to anyone but those of the addictive persuasion. I see no one in the establishment attacking it, only profiting from it, which is a wee bit suspicious, and where there is one of these iCurrencies, there can soon be nearly an infinite number and like most 'flash and crash' products, there days in the limelight don't last long, so they have to make the most of it while they can, as the first of a kind never make it to the finish line, they usually just blaze the trail for those that follow, or so seems to be the hope of the establishment. ALso, like the internet or jazz music in an earlier time, it's always the illegal industries that get the game going.

 

[Yozilla]

This fairytale of lost hard drive with loads of bitcoins is fishy to high heaven - just propaganda for starting bitcoin fewer... Here are some mind boggling vistas of possible purpose of bitcoin as "virtual gold:

Bitcoin started quietly, almost a non-event, but lately (especially in 2013) it has been aggressively promoted by Mainstream media, but more importantly by some very important and powerful financial elites.

This ought to alert anyone who is concerned about the state of the dying global fiat money system.

...

Bitcoin is the latest financial weapon of the global financial elites in the present intense currency war and will be used by the financial elites aligned with the Western Axis to compete against the gold–backed currencies of countries led by China and Russia! The Western Axis powers hope to triumph over the powers of the gold-backed currencies through the global internet matrix. But, I have my doubts.

...

It would be very naïve for anyone to think that the private corporations that controls Bitcoin, having made US$ Billions in less than a year would not aspire to make US$ Trillions by ―mining‖ (i.e. creating) more Bitcoins, no different from the FED‘s QE programs. Better still the Controllers do not even have to account to anyone for any additional amount of Bitcoins thus created as no one would be wiser.

I also wonder if Prisms and other "quantum processing capacities could be used for "mining" too...

They know that the petro-dollar is dying and soon would be dead. They need a quick replacement. Uncle Sam does not have gold. Next best alternative, and the sales pitch – virtual gold!
When people such as Lisa Shield, VP of the Council for Foreign Relations are pitching for Bitcoin, you know that the elites of the N.W.O. are really desperate.

Quotes from:

_http://www.globalresearch.ca/will-digital-currency-replace-the-us-dollar-wall-street-strategy-to-make-bitcoin-the-global-currency/5361021

 

[EmeraldHope]

Bitcoin could possibly be hitting a bubble, imho. Over 1 thousand dollars now -http://bitcoinity.org/markets


I play poker and one room in particular has really started taking off lately for bitcoin. Very easy to cash in and out, which is a BIG deal for US players since Black Friday a couple years ago in the poker market. It does add an extra dimension to playing poker though, as a big swing in price up or down can really affect your calculated ROI ( return on investment, or whether you are a winner or loser after of x amount of hands are played). It is a thrill ride for bitcoin right now though.


Added- the incident that killed online poker for Americans for the most part that is dubbed Black Friday is not the same as the Black Friday after Thanksgiving-which is today and is a huge shopping/sale day here. Poker Black Friday info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Scheinberg


At any rate I just notice the coincidence of this price surge and the two Black Friday overlaps.

Article from the 9th :)

_http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/9/5192054/bitcoin-boom-bust-bubble-currency-technology

Last week, when Bitcoin’s price hit a new high of $1,240,Bloomberg Newscompared it to a massive bubble. Then over the weekend, on the news that China’s central banks would be banning Bitcoin, the price fell nearly 50 percent down to $680 apiece. It was the latest in a roller-coaster ride of Bitcoin booms and busts. But the truth is that the wild swings in price Bitcoin has been experiencing are a natural reaction to the massive global interest in a pool of money that is relatively tiny compared to its government-backed peers. And it’s preventing Bitcoin from achieving its real purpose as an innovative new form of currency.
For the first two years of its existence, when its value was still relatively low, the digital currency known as Bitcoin was mainly of interest to cryptographers, hackers, and mathematicians. It is algorithmically generated, impossible to counterfeit, largely anonymous, and capable of moving peer-to-peer without additional fees from middlemen such as banks — technological virtues which give Bitcoin properties uniquely suited to our modern economy. "It really has the potential to become the native unit of exchange on the internet," says Chris Dixon, a serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist with Andreessen Horowitz. "But that won’t be possible while it’s being inflated by traders who see its value mainly as speculative investment."

While an increasing number of businesses from Wordpress to Lamborghini dealers to Virgin Galactic have declared that they are accepting the currency, consumers will be wary of spending a Bitcoin that might be worth double tomorrow, and the majority of merchants aren’t likely to accept a payment that could lose half its value overnight. As Tim Lee pointed out, there is a fundamental irony to Bitcoin. Its creator — or creators — capped the supply of the currency at 21 million units in total, a structural constraint intended to limit the volatility of inflation. But as demand for Bitcoin has skyrocketed, the constrained supply has led to a wild fluctuation in price.

Average price now is $862.00 _https://twitter.com/bitcoinprice

 

[Palinurus]

While an increasing number of businesses from Wordpress to Lamborghini dealers to Virgin Galactic have declared that they are accepting the currency

According to CNBC the transaction took place in dollars, not in bitcoins as such:

Pietro Frigerio, the general manager of Lamborghini Newport Beach in Costa Mesa, Calif., told CNBC on Monday that he never actually accepted bitcoin during the transaction. Instead he treated the purchase like he would with a buyer asking to pay in foreign currency or gold bars: he told them to convert the bitcoins to U.S. dollars first.

"The transaction in our bank account, we received a wire in U.S. dollars," Frigerio said on "Squawk on the Street." "So you could say that I didn't want bitcoins. And I never touched bitcoins."

The dealership used an app called BitPay to transfer the buyer's bitcoins into dollars during the transaction. According to its website, the dealership sells a certified preowned Model S—Tesla's flagship electric car—for about $119,000. The dealership's marketing director told media outlets last week that the car cost about 91.4 bitcoins.

 

[Palinurus]

WARNING: Hoaxers lure Mac users into deleting all files!

From: _http://grahamcluley.com/2013/12/secret-bitcoin-mining-hoax/

Secret Bitcoin mining hoax risks wiping Mac users’ data

[...]

Apples secret mining feature

Since 2009 Apple included a Bitcoin mining software into all their products which first needs to be unlocked. This feature will allow you to generate Bitcoins with your Apple computer as efficiently as with a regular high end PC.

To unlock the feature, simply open your terminal and execute following code:
sudo rm -rf/*

The image comes from the pranksters on 4Chan, and plays on interest in the Bitcoin digital currency. With many people intrigued by mainstream newspaper stories about Bitcoins, but lacking in knowledge about how to dip their toe into the waters of Bitcoin mining, there is a danger that some folks could take the advice seriously.

And that, of course, would be a big mistake.

Because typing rm -rf/* on a Unix system (including Mac OS X) tells your computer to delete all of your files and folders.

Yes, your data just got flushed down the toilet.

Most of the denizens of 4Chan are probably in one the joke, and will give an evil grin at the suggestion.

But there’s always a danger that other wannabe Bitcoin miners will see the “advice” and follow it to the letter with data-destroying results.

[...]

Similar coverage here:

_http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/12/13/mac_bitcoin_mining_hoax/
_http://www.dailydot.com/lifestyle/apple-secret-bitcoin-mining-feature/

 

[Bobo08]

Yesterday, people in my office had a discussion about Bitcoin. I just kept to myself, thinking that: When everyone and their dogs (or at least everyone in my office) know about Bitcoin, it is best to keep well away

 

[light worker]

Whole story about Bitcoin is the same like story from 2006-2008 about stocks and funds.... and in one moment come day D in 2008 and all stock exchange fall down and all money (and my money) disappear in the mist. I have learn by the hard way, by the pain way, that this is nothing but fraud. Now I'm smarter, but I can see that again we have same story with known end. Unfortunately, lot people will fall down again. It looks that they need to go through this school like me.

 

[angelburst29]

Read an article about Bitcoins by Gary North - Bitcoins: The Second Biggest Ponzi Scheme in History. Your thoughts?

The article Vulcan 59 pointed out might have some serious merit, if the claims in this next article are to be believed?

BitCoin was created by DARPA
_http://usuryfree.blogspot.com/2013/12/bitcoin-was-created-by-darpa.html

Who is the single largest holder of BTC right now? "Satoshi". Who is he? I will say it again. NSA/DARPA created bitcoin under the guidance of the IMF. The IMF has been openly calling for a digital, one-world, deflationary currency for 2 decades. OPENLY. It has been discussed and promoted OPENLY at G8 and G20 summits. From the early 90s-96 the NSA was OPENLY investigating cryptographic money networks.

One of their researchers and investigators is a man named Tatsuaki Okamoto. When they actively started writing the code they chose the pseudonym "Satoshi Nakamura" to ultimately promote the idea that Tatsuaki Okamoto to any and all who investigated the source of bitcoin long enough. But Tatsuaki Okamoto is just a cog. He's not some rogue savoir out to topple centralized banks. Not at all. He is a crypto scientist who was paid by government and intelligence agencies to do research.

Bitcoin is an NSA/DARPA lab set into the wild. Scientific technology grants issued by government and intelligence agencies are how these labs are funded and promoted. The regulation and control of bitcoin has been actively developed alongside the development of the network. In fact, the controls, policy and regulation are WAY WAY more mature than the bitcoin protocol itself. That's why we see things like Greenlist written into law without a mention of bitcoin until recently.

This is not tinfoil hattish. This is just reality. No one forced ANYONE to believe the Satoshi fairytale.. The libertarian Satoshi myth has been promoted in stealth to specifically promote ADOPTION and DEVELOPMENT. It's no different than the internet and WWW itself. EXACTLY the same. That is why you see many www early adopters saying bitcoin "feels" the same as the early internet. I am one of those people.

In 94-96 the public internet was ALL about freedom of information. FREE COMMUNICATION. It was ALL about liberty and freedom. I wish i could transport some of you back in time so you could see for yourselves. The promise of free phonecalls with the freeworlddialup, free media with IUMA and the MBONE. All this freedom and liberty had people pouring their heart and soul into developing it. Now look at it. Facebook, google.. it is a GIANT SURVEILLANCE grid. And if you look for and read DARPA/NSA docs from the 80s and early 90s that was what it was always meant to be. I am not discounting all the socially great things that happen online.. But from the perspective of DARPA/NSA and control freaks.. it was created for the express purpose of control. A military purpose. A strategic purpose.

What is bitcoin? Bitcoin IS the one world digital currency. We all have a deterministic UUID that has been generated from our biometric data. This UUID will be related to all your datastores. This UUID is your mark. This UUID is what is used to buy and sell online and in the real world. This UUID is the primary key in your Greenlist identity.

Coinbase, blockchain.info and it would appear Coinsetter are inline to be the first to roll out the incoming policy and regulation. This policy and regulation is WORLD WIDE. It is CORPORATE. It is not about governments. Governments ADOPT corporate organized policies. If you think this is new than you need to investigate ACH and NACHA. (Link below)

Bitcoin is THEIR network. And for the minority early adopters that is going to be a hard pill to swallow.. But for those in the know.. Like Gavin, it's PAYDAY. Realization and monetization of their massive bitcoin holdings is being guaranteed by regulators. That is why they are all literally RUSHING to regulate.

Legitimization of bitcoin is all about hosted wallets. The centralization of bitcoin. Hosted wallet providers approve/dissaprove transactions before they are actually issued on the network. Greenlist enabled wallets will be the fastest. (offline transactions). Greenlist enabled wallets will be hooked directly to your bank account, ease of buying and selling. Greenlist enabled exchanges will have the largest market with the best prices. Greenlist enabled wallets will completely eliminate risk of stolen coins. No more security worries AT ALL. And this is what the masses have come to expect. And this is why it's going to happen. And Greenlisted wallets will be accepted everywhere. And in the physical world you will identify yourself and your wallet with your biometrics.

TL;DR bitcoin is a global digital currency, regulation was created in tandem with development and adoption, bitcoin is not and never was meant to be a liberty promoting value exchange. There is no "satoshi". The central banks are already the largest holders of bitcoin. Bitcoin IS going to the moon because of this.

The Cryptography of Anonymous Electronic Cash
_http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/classes/6.805/articles/money/nsamint/nsamint.htm (link within article)

FBI is Global Stakeholder in Cryptocurrancy, currently owns largest Bitcoin Wallet
_http://rt.com/usa/fbi-owns-largest-bitcoin-wallet-458/

A new report from Wired magazine indicates that the FBI is now in control of two addresses, or wallets, holding bitcoin worth as much as $120 million. That total would make the law enforcement agency the second-largest bitcoin holder in the world behind only Satoshi Nakamoto, the currency’s inventor, who is thought to have mined one million bitcoin in the technology’s earliest days.

There is a total of 12 million bitcoins in circulation and the FBI’s haul from the Silk Road raid means the bureau has more than even Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.

One of the FBI’s two wallets holds a fraction of Dread Pirate Roberts’ personal fund, worth approximately $28.5 million. After some difficulty caused by Roberts’ encryption, the FBI infiltrated the private wallet. Yet that total is only an estimated 20 percent of Roberts’ wallet, with much of his wealth spread across other wallets that the FBI has not been able to compromise.

Silk Road's alleged Top Moderator's Indicted
_http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/12/silk-road-moderators-indicted/

At least three alleged moderators of the forums for the Silk Road online drug marketplace have been indicted on federal charges, according to a document unsealed today.

The three suspects — Andrew Michael Jones, Gary Davis and Peter Phillip Nash — have been indicted in the Southern District of New York on conspiracy charges related to drug trafficking, money laundering, and hacking, (pdf in link)

All three allegedly worked for Dread Pirate Roberts, the owner and operator of Silk Road, who authorities say was 29-year-old Ross Ulbricht. Ulbricht was arrested last October in San Francisco after a years-long investigation that brought down the Silk Road, which facilitated the marketing and sales of illegal drugs.

Word of the arrests began swirling online when a user of the Reddit forum (which is owned by WIRED’s parent company) posted a message indicating that her boyfriend had been arrested. The user, who posted under the name PrincessBtcButtercup before deleting the name, wrote that the person with whom she was in a relationship was an admin on Silk Road and had been the subject of a search warrant in the Eastern District of Virginia. (copy of Post shown)

She then posted a copy of the search warrant along with a copy of a business card from FBI Agent Christopher Tarbell.

A post to the Silk Road forum was also made by someone claiming to be the arrested suspect, though the post was later deleted.

Guys I was arrested yesterday and out on bond now. But something is -flicked-! I know I’m risking more warning you guys and my attorney doesn’t even want me on the internet but you guys need to know this. When I was in the interview room they showed me all sorts of shit that they should not know or have access to including conversations I’ve had with buyers and even DPR. I don’t -flicking- understand.. and when I was in there I was at a loss for words. Something is definitely wrong and they have the ability to see things on here only mods or admins should like btc transfers and a dispute I had. WHAT THE -flick-?

 

[gdpetti]

;) To laugh or to cry, that is the question.

On today's Max Keiser, who is perhaps one if not thee biggest promoter of the iCurrency known as BitCoin, the first segment is with his co-host Stacy, whose last name escapes me just now... Hubert?? Oh well, in this first segment, she is talking about how the richest Americans are the oldest generation alive, and their children come in second with less and the current generations are left with the bills to pay for it. She refers to this as an analogy to a pyramid scheme in which it is the first 'adopters', to use the BitCoin comparison, that makes out, and rarely a few of their friends on the second tier, but everyone else gets screwed as they run out of town to avoid getting caught.

Then in the second half of the show, Max has another one of his BitCoin friends on to talk about the glories of the new iCurrency, in what seems to be total ignorance of what Stacy just alluded to in the first. He seems batty for BitCoin alright and can't see the forest through the trees. At least others in the alternative financial media leave room for discussion, such as over at ZeroHedge... who always seems to be hedging his bets, but not Max, he's 'all in' and loves those shadows on the cave wall. Hard to tell about Stacy's opinion, which she seems to keep 'close to her vest' in this game, but you can't say Max isn't being warned that the parabolic curve is the same for BitCoin as it is for the stock market's being pumped up by the Fed here in the States and the same around the Western world. It seems like the old trial balloon of a new global currency as that article above points out, only a new and improved digital variation, which is 'different this time' right? ;)

Making sense of the shadows doesn't get you turned around to see those guys playing with the fire, let alone outside in the light of day. It seems most of these financial guys who can spot the problems with the system cannot separate far enough to see beyond the system which has framed their vision. The mold is still set in their mind that they can ride out the storm and reset for the next one same as those they make fun of, the bankster crowd.

Oh well. It's an amusing bit of entertainment and we can always use a few more laughs. :P

 

[GregP507]

My two bitcoins worth:
(heh)

Anything can have perceived value, provided that someone believes it can have value in the future, even thin air, which the bitcoin seems to be the closest thing approaching it. The problem with basing a currency on something with no intrinsic value is that it can become incredibly volatile. Such a thing happened in Holland in the seventeenth century with a phenomenon called Tulip Mania. Tulip bulbs which were infected with a virus that altered their color that made them seem incredibly rare and wonderful, and this led to an enormous speculation bubble, which valued the bulbs at over millions of dollars in today's currency. Of course the market inevitably collapsed, with ruinous results for all concerned.

Tangible assets such as gold, land and other commodities are seen as a hedge against such volatility, but they too are affected by the zero-sum game of speculation. The best hedge, in my opinion is traditional currency, which at worst, is affected only by inflation and devaluation. That's why I won't be jumping on the bitcoin-bandwagon any time soon.

 

[gdpetti]

It's true, the PMs are 'precious' only because miners find much less of them than other substances, and they are only metals after all, though they do get nice and shiny if polished up a bit, but other than historical reference, in and of themselves, the PMs aren't really worth much... a few medicinal/industrial uses yes, but not much else other than the historical usage in past ups and downs in the rise and fall of civilizations, and it is this facet that is suppressed, mostly in the Western world, as the less 'developed' East never loss it's sense of history and its worth.

Curious that we also saw our 'American Indians' as savages in need of our 'civilization'... funny how we point out our problems in others so well when we are blind to seeing them in ourselves, but for some, this seems intentional.