With MtGox effectively dead, Bitcoin can now enter the third stage of evolution, explains BitGo CEO Will O'Brien in an extensive essay. More »

Erik Voorhees, a respected Bitcoin entrepreneur who created SatoshiDice and now runs Coinapult, shares his views about MtGox and the future of Bitcoin. More »

Hollywood could learn a lot from Silk Road 2 about heightening stakes and creating suspense in this epic whodunnit thriller where 4000 bitcoins were stolen! More »

In this extensive video, Bitcoin Leah interviews Brock Pierce, Alan Meckler, Sam Cole, and companies including BitGo, GoCoin, Lamassu and more. More »

 

Goxxed? New Altcoin MtGoxCoin Hopes to Give Back What Was Lost

There’s a new altcoin in town, and it’s inspired by the collapse of MtGox. It’s called MtGoxCoin.

We don’t exactly know what happened at Mt.Gox,” explained the creator of MtGoxCoin.”But they screwed over hundreds of thousands of people who put trust in them. We’re pissed and we want to make it good.”

The concept is to introduce a new altcoin based on Litecoin and dedicated to relieve the pain the crypto community suffered from Mt.Gox closing down. The unit is labeled GOX.

MtGoxCoin logo

The creators have designed incentives to get miners and the community on board, giving away coins to people who help create the infrastructure and promote the coin. They write on the MtGoxCoin website:

We pre-mined the coin to be able to compensate every person who lost coins on Mt.Gox. We want to give every person as many MtGox Coins as their last balance was on Mt.Gox when they closed shop. But of course it can not be guaranteed we will reach this goal within a reasonable time frame. We are working on getting the coin on as most exchanges as possible so everyone can trade early and safely. But first, we will give donations to all who help us grow the coin in some way or another.

There has been resounding support from the community on the Bitcointalk forum, and several mining pools signed up right away, including hardcoreminers, Coins for Everyone, RobMoneyPool, crypto-hamsters, Sumpool, OkayPool, WTFPool, and Mine Big.

Popular alt-coin exchange NXT-E enabled trading of MtGoxCoin, and it looks like Crypto Rush will be adding MtGoxCoin to its list of altcoins today after a popular vote placed GOX above other altcoins.

CryptoRush MtGoxCoin

Want to learn more or get involved? Check out mtgoxcoin.com

Mondo Cellars Becomes First Winery to Produce Wine with Bitcoins

Where Wine Goes So Goes The World

Mondo Cellars, a winery based in Paso Robles, CA, is the first winery to fully embrace Bitcoin in all aspects of wine-making.

Acting as négociants in creating two red blends, the 2011 Mistress and 2011 La Rocca, they have become the first winery in the world to produce wine using Bitcoin to pay all the vendors.

The vendors include an impressive list of international and local names providing the wine, cork, labels, foil, glass, processing and bottling.  This undertaking has become each vendor’s first Bitcoin transaction but it paves the way for wine to become a primary cornerstone in the Bitcoin economy.

Mondo Cellars Bitcoin Winery

While the road to creating the wines with only Bitcoin took a lot of educating  “there seems to be a strong desire for vendors to participate once a customer has a legitimate need for their products or services and are requesting to pay in Bitcoin” says Doug Mondo.

Mondo explains his reasoning for creating the wines “In creating the first Bitcoin wines it became very apparent to us that forging new niche Bitcoin ecosystems is viable at this time despite volatility”

The 2011 La Rocca is a smooth, velvety red Rhone blend of 39% Syrah, 36% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre and 5% Petite Sirah. This wine is very approachable now, but worthy of aging for years to come. Cherry, berry, currant and cocoa with a hint of spice make this blend very, very nice. La Rocca has a smooth silky finish.

While the other blend is The 2011 Mistress. This bold blend is beautifully balanced with 40% Merlot, 24% Zinfandel, 21% Mourvedre and 15% Petite Sirah. Deep ruby in hue, the Mistress will seduce you upon first glance and further draw you in with rich aromas of black cherry, toasty oak and vanilla.  She continues to flirt with your senses with her silky, supple tannins that leave a lingering finish.

In December of 2013, Mondo Cellars became the first winery in the world to offer ownership interest for Bitcoin. The success of the first Bitcoin wines lends credibility to Mondo Cellars continued Bitcoin investor/partner program and expanded ecosystem model.  The investment opportunity shows a continued commitment to cryptocurrency by  not being tethered to a fiat dollar amount and by keeping a minimum of 75% in Bitcoin.

This delivers Bitcoin holders a unique and powerful combination of diversification while capturing Bitcoin upside and expanding the Bitcoin Ecosystem.

“It also provides the necessary Bitcoin holdings to solidly support the creation of larger and stronger niche Bitcoin ecosystems, no better place to start than the worldwide wine markets.” says Mondo.

Check out the photo gallery below from the winery.

Visit www.mondocellars.com to learn more about the winery and how to visit. Don’t forget to pay in Bitcoin!

Bitcoin Week: Satoshi Nakamoto Found, Dollar Ban Proposed, Jimmy Wales

Wow, what a week. We had some of the biggest stories in the history of Bitcoin. Let’s start at the top.

Satoshi Nakamoto is found! Or so Newsweek would have us believe. The aging media publication went “all in” on this story, bringing their physical magazine publication back from the dead for an exclusive. Journalist Leah McGrath Goodman spent two months searching for Satoshi and found a Japanese man in California named … Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto.

Newsweek Satoshi Nakamoto

There was an uproar in response to Goodman’s article because the reporter shared personal details about Dorian Nakamoto, including photos of his residence and car, and names of his family members. Further, many asserted the evidence used in the article was circumstantial.

Gavin Andresen, chief scientist at the Bitcoin foundation, penned an open letter to Goodman, saying he was “disappointed [Newsweek] chose to publish enough personal information that people can easily find Dorian and his family.”

It was a feeding frenzy by the mainstream media. Dorian was taken out to lunch the Associated Press, and a band of reporters chased the duo through the streets of LA hoping for a quote or photograph.

Later that day, as if things could not get any more exciting in the Bitcoin world, the REAL Satoshi Nakamoto purported came out of hiding to clear Dorian’s name. He replied to his original 2008 thread where he had published the Bitcoin whitepaper to say, simply: “I am not Dorian Nakamoto.”

Satoshi Statement

While the world was still trying to process the discovery, or false discovery, of Satoshi Nakamoto, large amounts of Bitcoin began moving on the Blockchain. 200,000 Bitcoin, or more than $120 million, was moved in a single block, then moved again. Some online sleuths connected these funds to MtGox causing a variety of allegations and suspicions.

Outside of the Satoshi news, there were other exciting developments in Bitcoin this past week.

Senator Joe Manchin (D-W. Va) called on regulators to ban Bitcoin, saying it was “disruptive to our economy.” This legislator is an exception in what has generally been a spirit of understanding and discussion among federal and state authorities.

In response, Congressman Jared Polis from Colorado wrote a tongue-and-cheek letter calling on the government to ban the U.S. Dollar, citing greater levels of economic disruption and illicit activity using dollars.

Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, created a personal Bitcoin wallet and was inundated with gifts that will find their way to the Wikimedia foundation. He discussed the topic on Reddit.

If you wanted to buy a cup of coffee with bitcoins today, the point-of-sale register would quote a price of 0.0027760 BTC. For early adopters of Bitcoin, that’s easy enough to understand. But what about normal consumers? A new proposal, called BitNote, is looking to solve this through a new currency symbol and a mathematical formula to make that cup of coffee seem more affordable.

Bitnote Cup of Coffee

Popular iPhone app Fancy removed Bitcoin payments due to Apple’s request.

And finally, the “Snowden Phone,” an phone designed for ultra privacy was launched. FreedomPop, makers of the phone, allow you to pay for it in Bitcoin.

 

While the World Chases Fake Satoshi, 200,000 MtGox Bitcoins Move

[Editor's note: certain language in this post was modified to reduce the implications of money laundering of MtGox bitcoins]

Yesterday, the Bitcoin world woke up to a special report by Newsweek that claimed to reveal the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, creator of Bitcoin. The report went into extensive details about the man allegedly behind the cryptocurrency, named Dorian Nakamoto, exposing names of his family members and photos of his residence in a deep invasion of privacy.

Many people were astonished at the details shared by journalist Leah McGrath Goodman. Bitcoin Foundation chief scientist Gavin Andresen penned an open letter to Goodman, saying, “I am disappointed you (or your publishers) chose to publish enough personal information that people can easily find Dorian and his family.”

Dorian took lunch with the Associated Press, denying the claims that he is the father of Bitcoin. He and the AP reporter were chased around southern California by other reporters.

Then, in an incredible turn of events, the REAL Satoshi Nakamoto came out of hiding to clear Dorian’s name. He logged onto a forum he had posted the original Bitcoin whitepaper and said, simply: “I am not Dorian Nakamoto.” Newsweek has yet to retract their story.

So much for all of these printed editions!

Newsweek Satoshi Magazines

But that’s not the real story here. The real story is what started late in the evening (or early morning in Japan). 200,000 bitcoins started moving around the Blockchain.

Starting at about 9:30PM PT last night, some of the largest ever Bitcoin transactions started appearing on the Blockchain.

The first transaction, consolidated holdings worth 180,000 BTC from 5 addresses into a single address. And another transaction sent 20,000 to the same address, totaling 200,000. Then the bitcoins were sent out from that address and moved into other addresses. a process of “tumbling” began

Bitcoin Laundering Transaction

Tumbling is the act of laundering digital currency by splitting up balances and combining with other sources. Eventually, after a few cycles, it’s not really possible to know where the original bitcoins went.

[Editor's note: we have retracted the implications that this is money laundering. Instead, we are reporting that this is simply a large amount of bitcoins being moved.]

It was a late night for sleuths trying to track these transactions and identify the source. Was it the REAL Satoshi proving his existence? Was it Mark Karpeles, CEO of embattled Bitcoin exchange MtGox? Was it the thieves who reportedly stole 750,000 BTC from MtGox?

One user on Reddit posted his analysis:

Guys, I just followed the transactions of one of the coins. I don’t think it’s Satoshi. It’s Mtgox. Follow the largest transactions in both of these addresses back (these are two out of the 4 inputs for the 180k move). Eventually you will get to the 424242.424242 Mtgox proof of ownership transaction Marky Mark did in 2011.

https://blockchain.info/address/158jzBkJFZJz8soep4RR1WALnVgvMD1STr

https://blockchain.info/address/1EbrY6PP6cRijrtDfyyLLR1WXsyU7Q3LQV

What if the theories of Mtgox loosing control of it’s stash of Bitcoins by loss of the private keys are right? This means Mark FINALLY just managed to recover a chunk of them that haven’t been moved since 2011 when he moved them to prove ownership. If they had gotten stolen, we wouldn’t be seeing this many bitcoin days destroyed.

These events just go to show that Bitcoin never sleeps! In 24 hours, we went from being told by Newsweek that they had found Satoshi to seeing a message from the REAL Satoshi to witnessing one of the largest movement of bitcoins in history.

What a day!

Satoshi Nakamoto Comes Out of Hiding to Clear Dorian’s Name

This morning the Bitcoin world woke up to a report by Newsweek that purportedly revealed the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, creator of Bitcoin. The report went into extensive details about the man, Dorian Nakamoto, his family and residence in a deep invasion of privacy.

In an amazing turn of events, tonight the REAL Satoshi Nakamoto came out of hiding and replied to his original 2008 thread on Bitcoin to say, simply:

I am not Dorian Nakamoto.

Satoshi Statement

 

Welcome back, Satoshi!

[Update] What will Newsweek do with all of these printed magazines now??

Newsweek Satoshi Magazines