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World’s First Company Incorporated in Bitcoin; Interview with Founder
Company Incorporates in Bitcoin Blockchain
First Blockchain is the first company to be incorporated in the Bitcoin blockchain, bypassing the need for state regulation.
There’s a lot more to Bitcoin than most people think. Beyond being a digital currency that can be bought and sold, every Bitcoin transaction can be annotated with metadata and scripting. This allows for concepts like Proof of Existence, a kind of digital notary service which creates an irrefutable timestamp and digital signature. With this approach, you can submit a scan of a signed document to the Bitcoin blockchain and have proof that your document was signed at a certain point in time.
JB Allen used this same method to incorporate a company in Bitcoin. He authored and signed his articles of incorporation and then submitted them to the blockchain. He funded his company with 1 Bitcoin. Allen did not submit his articles to the Secretary of State or any governing body. He simply published them in Bitcoin.
Go to firstblockchain.com to read more about his company.
Interview with First Blockchain Founder
So, is it a valid company? We sat down with JB Allen to learn more.
On Bitcoin: Tell us how about the original inspiration for this idea. What pieces needed to come together to enable you to incorporate in the Blockchain?
JB Allen: As a nomadic laptop entrepreneur for more than 10 years, I have usually worked under my own name or using a simple “DBA” type set up in whatever location I happen to be in at the time. Very simple, but of course this approach does not provide the protections and benefits a corporate structure would – as I understand them. As I met more and more people like myself – folks who move from country to country with their own global online businesses – I always wondered why there wasn’t a corporate structure that would be easy to set up, took into account the borderless nature of these new types of businesses and actually took advantage of the same types of technology WE were using to innovate and create new businesses with to make the process of creating a company simple.
And then bitcoin comes along! Here’s a new innovation that provides a way for digital entrepreneurs to trade their product and services worldwide without going through different currencies or needing to deal with multiple centralized payment processors. A new type of money that matches the new type of people who needed it. Suddenly, we’re one step closer to the future – a technology that replaces an archaic form of a very useful tool.
As I began to use and study bitcoin, I would occasionally hear references to other possibilities with the protocol besides just the “money” feature. But it wasn’t until I spoke with Roger Ver at the Bitcoin Singapore 2013 conference that I began to understand just how many other possibilities there were.He introduced me to ProofOfExistence.com and also the “Colored Coins” project. During the same week of the conference, I was also looking into setting up a corporation in Singapore for a new business. I was stunned by the amount of time, paperwork and money it would take to set up. It was then it dawned on me I should at least explore the idea of incorporating using the blockchain as a future possibility.
When I returned home, another friend in an online bitcoin group gave me a personal introduction to Manuel Araoz, the creator of ProofOfExistence.com which uses the blockchain to validate and verify the creation and existence of documents. After sketching out my proof-of-concept idea for a bitcoin validated company called “First Blockchain Incorporated”, I quickly wrote up a brief set of articles of incorporation just using a generic online template and with Manuel’s help, used his service to permanently embed a digest validating and verifying the document into the blockchain. I then put up the site FirstBlockchain.com explaining my ideas behind this and began sharing it to start getting a conversation going.
On Bitcoin: Have you incorporated other companies before? If so, how do you compare the process you went through to incorporate in Bitcoin?
JB Allen: I began the process recently – but decided to hold off after seeing the amount of time and money it would take to start, and also the yearly requirements. Great for large multiple employee business models with physical products – but for solo-entrepreneurs and bootstrapping lean startups with digital products as services? There has to be a better way.
On Bitcoin: Many people will jump to critiques and concerns about government intervention, taxes, and so on. Putting those aside, what kind of companies do you think could be incorporated and operate in the Blockchain in the next few years?
JB Allen: If there can be a legal structure in place to “defend” the legitimacy of such corporate entities and give them the same benefits traditional nation or state corporations have, they would be extremely useful for tech startups, small teams of bootstrapping entrepreneurs and of course location-independent entrepreneurs who operate digital businesses. The internet IS our home, bitcoin IS the money of our future – we should be able to incorporate with the simplicity these new technologies provide.
I certainly don’t have a full grasp of all the legal ramifications of this though – which is another reason I put this out there. I figured with “First Blockchain Incorporated” I could at least show an experimental proof-of-concept, introduce people to other possibilities with the blockchain such as ProofOfExistence.com are making available, and maybe get some of the brighter folks working on a workable solution. If I can motivate others to make the world more like how I want it – great!
Bitcoin Black Friday Boasts Over 300 Merchants for Holiday Shopping Event
“I hope that more merchants will look at Bitcoin and think about accepting it, especially when they see all the other retailers we’re listing and the (hopefully) awesome amount of stuff Bitcoiners buy on the day of. This has truly been the year of the Bitcoin. It’s grown, it’s gotten easier, and it’s ready for mainstream adoption. This event will hopefully push Bitcoin, and all her merchants, closer to the mainstream.” — Jon Holmquist, Bitcoin Black Friday organizer
Energized by positive Senate hearings that focused on the many legitimate uses of Bitcoin, supporters of the digital currency are rallying the Internet to solidify Bitcoin’s place in the the most mainstream sphere: the holiday shopping season.
Hundreds of online businesses and charities are teaming up to launch Bitcoin Black Friday on November 29th.
It’s a one day extravaganza of deals for Bitcoin users that will allow tech-savvy shoppers to get all their holiday gifts purchased without spending a dime. Instead, they can spend their bitcoins, which have surged in value recently as they have become more and more widely adopted.
Full details about the day are at http://BitcoinBlackFriday.com
There are over 320 confirmed participants including:
- OK Cupid – popular dating site will offer discount to Bitcoin users for their premium service
- Reddit – offering discounted Reddit gold to Bitcoin users
- GSM Nation – major seller of unlocked smartphones will start accepting BTC on Nov 29
- CheapAir.com – deals on plane tickets for bitcoin customers
- Namecheap – offering even cheaper domains and hosting when you pay with bitcoins
- Private Internet Access – top rated VPN service sponsoring Bitcoin Black Friday
- Humble Bundle — pay what you want, get awesome games, support charity, with bitcoin
- Gyft – discounts on gift cards to major retailers, and you can pay with bitcoin
- AdaFruit – open source hardware company that has just begun accepting BTC
- Bitbrew – organic coffee you can buy with bitcoin
- ChristmasTre.es – you can buy your X-mas tree with bitcoin, and get free lights
- GOOD Magazine – offering $5 off subscriptions when you pay with Bitcoin
- Internet Archive – discounts on merch from this venerable Internet institution
- Beni Ouarain – authentic Moroccan rugs from the Beni Ouarain tribe, paid in BTC
- Shave like Dad – bundled shaving gear, lower prices with bitcoins
- Exohosting – 35% off web hosting when you pay with bitcoin
- BitKidz – bitcoin business and book series run by three sisters under the age 13
- CityWineCellar – first liquor store to accept Bitcoin offering deals on Black Friday
- TorGuard – VPN privacy software, 75% off on Black Friday for bitcoin users
- BuyReggae – offering 10% off all reggae vynyl if you pay in Bitcoin
Bitcoin Black Friday grew out of last year’s Bitcoin Friday event, organized by Bitcoin evangelist Jon Holmquist. Over 75 merchants participated, helping gain much needed attention and legitimacy for Bitcoin.
This year, Holmquist co-organized with viral Internet freedom activists Fight for the Future to throw the event. Fight for the Future are best known for organizing the first protest against SOPA, and creating vibrant online campaigns in defense of the Internet and basic rights.
“Bitcoin Black Friday is an awesome way to bring the whole Internet community together at a time when Bitcoin needs as much mainstream attention as possible,” said Holmes Wilson, co-founder of Fight for the Future, “Even though it seems like Bitcoin is going strong, it won’t be politically safe until it’s widely used by average Internet users — that’s already happening, but we’re speeding things up with Bitcoin Black Friday, and making it fun in the process.”
“Whenever you use a bank account, credit card, or Paypal there are hidden fees. Lots of the time you don’t see them, but sellers do. They’re invisibly making everything more expensive,” said Tiffiniy Cheng of Fight for the Future, “Financial services get a cut of everything, for doing no work.”
“With everything we’ve learned about government surveillance in the last few months, it’s easy to understand why more people and businesses are turning to Bitcoin,” Cheng noted, “It makes it a lot harder to profile you based on your purchases… it’s more like cash. Because of that, Bitcoin is more than just money, it supports free speech and social change.”
Many feel that Bitcoin disrupts some of the exploitation of the financial services industry: “When workers send money home to family abroad, Western Union takes a huge cut– even though these remittances are the lifeblood of many poor countries,” said Holmes Wilson, “Financial services charge the biggest fees to those who can least afford it. But Bitcoin levels the playing field and brings fees to almost zero.”
The Bitcoin Black Friday website has an FAQ for people who are new to Bitcoin, and explains how easy it is to get some of the digital currency so average internet users can access the Bitcoin Black Friday deals. The wide range of merchants ensures that visitors can buy all sorts of things with Bitcoin including airline tickets, organic coffee, diamond jewelry, web hosting, tax preparation services, clothing, gift cards to major retailers, and even christmas trees.
Amidst the shopping craze, visitors to the Bitcoin Black Friday site will also have the opportunity to donate their bitcoins to a variety of worthy charities and non-profits including Sea Sheperd (as seen in Whale Wars on AnimalPlanet), Sean’s Outpost, Songs of Love, and the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Monica. The BitGive Foundation — a new non-profit that collects bitcoins and distributes them to public health and environmental charities — will be accepting Bitcoin donations on behalf of Save the Children to aid in disaster relief efforts in the Philippines.
Madeline Finch, Board Member and Secretary of the Foundation says, “We are excited to be a part of Bitcoin Black Friday and to bring a charitable aspect to this already alternative event. And Save the Children and their relief efforts in the Philippines is exactly where we want to see our donation drive make a big difference.”
“Bitcoin is a great tool for merchants at every level,” says Jon Holmquist, who organized last year’s Bitcoin Friday event, ”because it is decentralized (making it nearly free to send and receive money) the deals merchants can offer are a lot lower than any deals they’ve been able to offer before.”
Bitcoin Black Friday is backed by a solid circle of Bitcoin believers including the Bitcoin Investment Fund, Silicon Valley Angel, and Ribbit Capital. It is sponsored by merchants Private Internet Access, Gyft, BitDazzle, and the Bitcoin payment processors BitPay and Coinbase.
Learn more at bitcoinblackfriday.com
Venture Capitalist Brad Feld On Bitcoin: Likes the Platform, Not the Currency
Brad Feld has been an early stage investor and entrepreneur since 1987. Prior to co-founding Foundry Group, he co-founded Mobius Venture Capital and, prior to that, founded Intensity Ventures. Brad is also a co-founder of TechStars.
His investments include successful exits like Zynga, MakerBot, and AdMeld, as well as hot startups like Fitbit, 3D Robotics, and Moz.
In a blog post on his personal site, Feld shared his current thoughts about Bitcoin. “I think bitcoin is interesting on several levels, including as a real-life experiment with a semi-decentralized currency,” he said.
Feld explained that he has concerns with the concept of Bitcoin as a currency to displace fiat currencies like the dollar, because, he feels, Bitcoin is inherently deflationary and that is “bad” if you were to ask an economist.
On the other hand, Feld was optimistic of Bitcoin as a protocol, albeit only a few years old.
As a software person, I think of this as a platform. A new electronic payment platform that may have significant advantages over most of the existing ones. To get broad adoption, platforms need killer apps. So far, there aren’t killer apps for bitcoin. But there are some possible raw materials for killer apps. Cheaper international payments. Completely anonymous electronic payments. But the great thing about platforms is that it’s often quite hard to predict early on what the killer apps might be. Particularly for the really disruptive ones.
Feld said in the comments to his post that he owns 10 Bitcoin as an experiment.
This public statement by Feld follows other seasoned venture capitalists who are publishing their own thoughts on the currency. Recently, Fred Wilson from Union Square Ventures stated that he owned 7.39 Bitcoin, but has purchased 175 over time and given most away.
CC image by Rocky Mountain Joe.
Bitcoin Week: Senate Hearings, Richard Branson, Newegg, Trading, Tax
Bitcoin Week
Here is a roundup of the top Bitcoin news from last week.
Senator Tom Carper held a committee hearing in Washington D.C. to learn more about Bitcoin from business owners and law enforcement representatives. The tone was positive and the dialog open. We provided a full summary of the hearing.
Billionaire Richard Branson announced that you can now book tickets with Virgin Galactic using Bitcoin. The first person to buy a ticket with Bitcoin was a stewardess who was an early investor in the crypto-currency.
Bitcoin saw increased trading activity and some exchanges could not hold up, preventing investors from capitalizing on the gains and falls of the currency.
Tax is an increasingly important issue. Tyler S. Robbins, Esq. authored a whitepaper outlining the considerations for taxation, disclosure, and penalties when operating in Bitcoin.
E-commerce giant Newegg hinted that they may accept Bitcoin soon.
And much more!
All News
Monday, November 18
Tuesday, November 19
Wednesday, November 20
Thursday, November 21
Friday, November 22
Saturday, November 23
Newegg Hints at Accepting Bitcoin for Consumer Electronics
In a tweet, consumer electronics powerhouse Newegg hinted that it is exploring the option of accepting Bitcoin.
It’s a possibility, #staytuned :)RT @thedatascape: @Newegg Do you have any plans to add Bitcoin as one of your payment methods?
— Newegg (Official) (@Newegg) November 23, 2013
If this was to happen, Newegg would be the latest in a string of online and physical merchants to accept the digital currency.
Just last week, it was discovered that some Subway restaurants are allowing payments in Bitcoin. In Seattle, you can buy a grilled cheese sandwich with the cryptocurrency, and in Palo Alto you can pay for your coffee with Bitcoin.
