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 »
Why Bitcoin Excitement is Staying Higher After Crash
After the Bitcoin Crash
Although Bitcoin crashed hard last month, there are reasons to keep excited about Bitcoin, as GigaOm reports:
- Bitcoin is becoming more liquid
Gift card site Gyft has started accepting Bitcoin as payment.
- Real investors are starting to take Bitcoin seriously
This week, the WSJ reported that Fred Wilson’s Union Square Ventures is investing $5 million in Coinbase, a service that provides an online wallet and easy conversion between BitCoin and traditional currencies.
- Bitcoin is getting easier to understand
Forbes reporter Kash Hill kept a day to day diary of how she lived on BitCoin (albeit with difficulty) in San Francisco for a week.
- The government wants a piece of Bitcoin
Commissioner Bart Chilton of the CFTC — the agency that regulates futures contracts – says he’s thinking of regulating BitCoin.
Read the full report at GigaOm.
Top Bitcoin News Last Week: Media, Disruption, Ashton Kutcher, more
Bitcoin News
A roundup of the top Bitcoin news from May 1 to May 11:
Wednesday, May 1
Saturday, May 4
Tuesday, May 7
Saturday, May 11
CC Image by jdlasica.
Arguments Why Bitcoin Will Survive Amidst Negative Media Attention
Bitcoin Media Attention
At a time when much of the media is saying Bitcoin’s best days are in the past, Barry Randall, a contributor for MarketWatch, presents a few arguments why Bitcoin will succeed.
Bitcoin screw-ups have resulted in fewer Bitcoins but never more of them
Despite huge profit motives (both legal and otherwise) the supply of Bitcoins is stable, growing in accordance with the algorithms that define the currency, and outside the control or influence of third parties.
The opportunity cost of Bitcoin is negative
Bitcoin only costs roughly the price of the transaction necessary to convert existing currency and which has appreciated considerably in the four years of its existence. In other words, instead of being penalized for being an early adopter, you’ve thus far been rewarded.
Some observers have complained that this anti-inflationary dynamic encourages hoarding, which in turn reduces Bitcoin’s ability to serve as a “medium of exchange,” one of the necessary attributes of any form of money. But this same dynamic cuts in both directions: in our new world where even the ultra-conservative Japanese feel the need to debase their own currency, there is huge utility in adopting a currency that by design can’t be debased.
Read the full commentary at MarketWatch.
CC image by zcopley.
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.
