Category Archives: News
Bitcoins Can’t Pay Your Real World Expenses, Forbes Learns
Bitcoin Real World Expenses
Forbes reporter Kashmir Hill took the challenge of living on Bitcoin for a week. The result? She couldn’t pay the rent but she did negotiate a rate with a hostel.
Paying the Rent, or Not
My landlord didn’t want to take Bitcoin for rent. Understandably. I think she’d be similarly put off if I offered to pay the rent in Starbucks gift cards or in the form of a week’s supply of succulents (which are all the planting rage in San Francisco).
Visiting the Arts
When asked if she can pay in Bitcoins, the Supervisor at the DeYoung Art Museum in San Francisco responds, “I don’t know what that is, but I will look into it if it’s something people want to give us.”
At a Hostel
We agree on a rate of 1 BTC for my stay. I am one of four people currently paying in Bitcoin, says Jered. He pops up a QR code on his phone; I scan it and transfer 1 BTC (valued at $114 USD at the time) to him.
Read the full story at Forbes.
CC Image by Peter Gene.
Ashton Kutcher Calls Bitcoin Technology Disruptive for Mass Good
Ashton Kutcher and Bitcoin
At the TechCrunch Disrupt NY Conference, celebrity tech investor Ashton Kutcher raised Bitcoin as an example of technology disruption for potential mass good.
“I think bitcoins are obviously becoming more and more relevant,” said the actor, who is also founder of the A-Grade venture firm.
“The fact that people are hacking bitcoins really hard, it almost hearkens back to when banks first started and they didn’t have safe safes and people were going into the banks and just robbing money out of the safe. It actually validates the value of the money itself,” he said. “I think the fact that you can buy drugs and ammo with it is actually (a) validator of the currency itself.”
“The bigger thing with bitcoin is not bitcoin itself, but what does that decentralized technology really do?” Kutcher said. “The same infrastructure that built out bitcoin could be used in the security industry for mass good.”
Via CNBC.
CC Image by jdlasica.
2016 Presidential Candidate Accepting Bitcoins for Donations
Darryl W. Perry, a 2016 Presidential Candidate from the Libertarian party, has openly announced that he will accept political donations in Bitcoins. Below is a copy of his announcement in an open letter to the FEC.
To whom it may concern,
This letter is being sent on behalf of the Darryl W. Perry for President (2016) campaign.
I would like to inform you that on behalf of the campaign, the FEC will not be receiving a Statement of Organization, Statement of Candidacy, any financial reports, etc.
As you know, current federal campaign reporting rules want a candidate (or committee) to begin filing with the FEC after collecting or spending $5,000 dollars towards a campaign; an amount virtually unchanged since the 1970′s.
As a libertarian, I do not believe the Federal Election Commission has legitimate authority to regulate the fundraising of candidates or donations of those giving to candidates or their campaigns. In fact, as you are likely aware, the 1974 amendments to the FECA were challenged in the case of Buckley v. Valeo. It was argued in Buckley, “Restrictions on campaign contributions and spending… constitute restrictions on speech as surely as would a statute directly prohibiting an individual from speaking… The mediating factor that turns money into votes is speech. More money leads to more communications supporting the candidate. More communications supporting the candidate leads to additional votes… Advocacy cannot be proscribed simply because it may be effective.”1 In a per curiam decision, “[t]he Court upheld contribution limits because they served the government’s interest…”2 That is the absolute worst reason to uphold legislation that limits an individual’s right to association and speech.
The Darryl W. Perry for President (2016) campaign will not be accepting donations in currencies recognized by the federal legal tender laws, instead the campaign will only accept Bitcoin, Litecoin and precious metals. The campaign will not accept any donations via cash, credit/debit card, check or money order.
The campaign will be using one Bitcoin wallet (Bitcoin wallet id: 1DWP16K2oeZEsX5z6vPWsZJ7GB5ajtgcb4) and one Litecoin wallet (Litecoin wallet id: LbuXfKMzNiEq5fP8cZ616EYEg3hD3wbTJU), so that all Bitcoin & Litecoin donations will be as transparent as possible without governmental involvement. For the sake of my donors, I will attempt to make my expenses and donations of precious metals transparent, all without government oversight or involvement.
I intend this to be the last communication I have with this commission as part of my campaign.
In Peace, Freedom, Love & Liberty,
Darryl W. Perry1 Brief of United States p. 53, Buckley v. Valeo, p. 1, cited in Mutch, p. 56
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa238.html2 Appendix 4
The Federal Election Campaign Laws:A Short History
http://www.fec.gov/info/appfour.htm
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Bitcoins in Argentina: New Short Film Show Impact of Currency
Bitcoins in Argentina
A short film shows the impact of Bitcoin in Argentina. In the film, Diego uses Bitcoin to avoid the skyrocketing inflation and monetary restrictions of the Argentinian Peso. More at BitcoinFilm.org or @Bitcoinfilm.
From the filmmakers:
In Argentina we met Diego who works for a technology company and lives a normal life in Buenos Aires. He would like to save up the pesos he earns in order to travel, invest, and plan for his retirement, just like the rest of us. However because of the economic situation in Argentina Diego does not know how much his money is worth tomorrow. The Argentinian Peso that Diego uses is volatile and has seen everything from total collapse, to about 25-30% inflation, which is the case today. On top of this, because of monetary restrictions Diego cannot change his Pesos into Dollars or Euros within the established system. That means that he and his fellow Argentinians can’t save up for their children’s education, travel or retirement. But luckily for Diego, he found a solution. By changing Pesos into Bitcoins Diego can move his savings across international borders or he can decided to keep his savings in Bitcoins. Since this situation is the same in dozens of other countries, we feel that Diego’s story, and the way he uses Bitcoins, needs to be told.
Bitcoin Exchange VirtEx Shut Down by Royal Bank of Canada
Bitcoin Exchange VirtEx
VirtEx is a Bitcoin exchange based in Calgary, Canada, formed by Joseph David with over $13.2 million traded. From their website:
VirtEx stands for Virtual Exchange. We are Canada’s first Bitcoin (BTC) trading market that allows you to buy and sell Bitcoins with Canadian Dollars. We are continuously researching new fund transfer options for faster, easier deposits, and withdrawals with minimal fees. We hold and verifying funds before orders are allowed to be placed. If you see an order to buy or sell Bitcoins on our site, you can be assured that the funds have been verified and you can accept to buy or sell at the price and quantities specified.
As the National Post reports, VirtEx has run into a snag.
Earlier this month Royal Bank of Canada quietly informed Mr. David that it would no longer do business with his company.
“They shut down our account without any reason,” said Mr. David, an ebullient entrepreneur with a background in technology companies. “They just said we have the right to refuse service to whomever we wish.”
For whatever reason, many in Canada’s small but fast growing Bitcoin community are suddenly dealing with the same problem: The banks have decided they don’t like the cryptocurrency and they’re shutting down some of the accounts of businesses that deal in it.
Read the full article at the National Post.
