"IN bitcoin," Austin Craig repeated to the young woman behind the counter at the Lean Crust Pizza parlour in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. "Can we pay in bitcoin?"
"In what?" came the reply.
Mr Craig, 30, was struggling to convince Nadia Alamgir of the existence of the virtual currency that has gained traction across the world, and whose value - after months of wild swings - on Wednesday reached records around $US400 per bitcoin {Inpixel's Note: trading at about $1,150 today http://www.bitcoinaverage.com }
It was midway through a tricontinental odyssey taken with his wife, Beccy Bingham-Craig, 29, and a film crew documenting their travails, which started in Provo, Utah. Their mission: to live on bitcoin alone.
"It's been consistently inconvenient and occasionally frustrating," Mr Craig said outside Lean Crust, "but never impossible." Lean Crust advertised itself as bitcoin-friendly but hadn't seen much virtual foot traffic. Ms Alamgir eventually contacted the store's owner, who arrived and processed the transaction, allowing Mr Craig to munch on several slices.
@whynot_31 ahh yes, the Tide black market... is one of my favorite black market economic stories.
But didn't you get the memo? With the closure of Silk Road, Bitcoin went legit. There was some uncertainty whether or not the bitcoin ecosystem could sustain itself without a black market. The reality the black market use of bitcoin is pale in comparison to that of the U.S. Dollar... and I suspect that of Tide!
Another thought...if the black market doesn't want to use a currency... there is probably something inherently wrong with that currency.
Returning to the apartment, can I sign a lease in Bitcoin? If I sign a lease that stipulates that I pay 4.26 bitcoin, I don't want them giving me any BS if the value of bitcoin falls to $12.
Bitcoin would need to stabilize before any sane person would sign a contract in BTC. --To avoid any confusion this is independent of the bitcoin price...
Read an item in the magazine The Week yesterday that told about some guy from Britain who bought 7500 bitcoins back in 2009 when they weren't worth anything. He didn't really think about it until they hit $1000. But, he was cleaning his apartment and tossed the hard drive that had the digital unlock key to his account so he's now out $7.5 million. He went to the dump to try and retrieve it but they said it was probably under a huge pile of garbage and it's lost forever. So, the question is...now that they can't be replaced does the algorithm issue new coins to make up for the shortfall or are they gone forever making what's left worth a little more.
Hi @PragmaticGuy my favorite novelty bitcoin story as of late is "Hi Mom! Send More Bitcoins!"---Fan holding up sign on TV on ESPN racks up over $24,000 in Bitcoin ...
Well, with all the new phone apps around all people have to do is email real money right to a person's account. So Bitcoins have no advantage there. And with such a limited supply I would think there's not enough to go around for everyone who might want some so the only good thing I can see coming out of this is that according to the laws of supply and demand I would think they can only appreciate in value. But not because of their worth but because of their novelty.
Actually, I heard a report the other day that Bitcoin is just as traceable as other money because it leaves a digital trail that cannot be erased. The key of course is to find the trail but it's what the government did to get Silk Road closed down. So, you're wrong on that. In addition, many people are trading Bitcoins just as they would other commodities and if you think that there's not going to be some kind of capital gains tax imposed on that I would think you're mistaken. Because in the end....they still have to get real money for them.
since you don't have to link your identity to an address its is somewhat pseudononymous.
You would have to be a security expert / hacker type running everything on Tor and knowing exactly what the heck you are doing if you want to be Anonymous.
So for example we know that Satoshi Nakamoto the creator of Bitcoin has not been able to be identified (its a pseudonym).
If you are not a supergenius (I don't claim to be), chances are if someone really, really wanted to figure out the person behind the address... they will figure it out.
If you publicly post your identity with a particular wallet address you are giving the world the ability to see transactions with that address tied to you. A charity might want to do this for example in order to give more visibility and accountability to their funds.
---you can create as many addresses as you like. so you could make some public and make some private.
for those of you familiar with my 12 Days of Bitcoin'' experiment'' on BTV, you may have heard i called in sick yesterday, on Day 5. it wasn't cance...
Lean Crust Pizza of Ft. Greene makes the Wall Street Journal....AGAIN.See.. here's the thing .. if a store owner is afraid of the volatility of Bitcoin... it will surely be more than compensated for in free advertising
The decision of the Sacramento Kings basketball team to let its fans use BITCOIN to buy tickets, jerseys, hot dogs and other team products may go down as a key moment in the digital currency's coming of age.
The operators of two exchanges for the virtual currency Bitcoin have been arrested in the US.The Department of Justice said Robert Faiella, known as BTCKing, and Charlie Shrem from BitInstant.com have both been charged with money laundering.The authorities said the pair were engaged in a scheme to sell more than $1m (£603,000) in bitcoins to users of online drug marketplace the Silk Road.The site was shut down last year and its alleged owner was arrested.Mr Shrem, 24, was arrested on Sunday at New York's JFK airport. He was expected to appear in court on Monday, prosecutors said.Mr Faiella, 52, was arrested on Monday at his home in Cape Coral, Florida.
"It is unfortunate Silk Road continues to make the headlines in association with Bitcoin - this is the dark side of Bitcoin, which the vast majority of digital currency users have no association with."
BitInstant has been defunct for 6 months.However, this could be a hit to the local BTC scene as Shrem was owner of EVR bar in NYC that accepted Bitcoin
Comments
Wall Street Journal
11/20/2013
"IN bitcoin," Austin Craig repeated to the young woman behind the counter at the Lean Crust Pizza parlour in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. "Can we pay in bitcoin?"
"In what?" came the reply.
Mr Craig, 30, was struggling to convince Nadia Alamgir of the existence of the virtual currency that has gained traction across the world, and whose value - after months of wild swings - on Wednesday reached records around $US400 per bitcoin {Inpixel's Note: trading at about $1,150 today http://www.bitcoinaverage.com }
It was midway through a tricontinental odyssey taken with his wife, Beccy Bingham-Craig, 29, and a film crew documenting their travails, which started in Provo, Utah. Their mission: to live on bitcoin alone.
"It's been consistently inconvenient and occasionally frustrating," Mr Craig said outside Lean Crust, "but never impossible." Lean Crust advertised itself as bitcoin-friendly but hadn't seen much virtual foot traffic. Ms Alamgir eventually contacted the store's owner, who arrived and processed the transaction, allowing Mr Craig to munch on several slices.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303789604579196171277465460
Barter seems easier.
For example, just about everyone has a use for Tide.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/03/tide_detergent_has_become_hot.html
@whynot_31 ahh yes, the Tide black market... is one of my favorite black market economic stories.
But didn't you get the memo? With the closure of Silk Road, Bitcoin went legit. There was some uncertainty whether or not the bitcoin ecosystem could sustain itself without a black market. The reality the black market use of bitcoin is pale in comparison to that of the U.S. Dollar... and I suspect that of Tide!
Another thought...if the black market doesn't want to use a currency... there is probably something inherently wrong with that currency.
Trading Tide certificates seems preferable to trading actual Tide.
Especially for large purchases.
@whynot_31 I have all my bitcoin tied (Tide?) up in Trans-Alaskan Gopher Company
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2976/can-gophers-be-trained-to-find-gold
Is bitcoin the future of money?
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3120/is-bitcoin-the-future-of-money
I already like gophers that can dance. I'd love one that could find gold
This all reminds me of that very inexpensive, easy to use device that was supposed to find explosives
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22267468
This all reminds me of a very inexpensive, easy to use device that *does* find explosives
Silly String Is Shipped Off to Iraq
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/nyregion/16string.html?_r=0
That article is missing a "donate now" button.
Returning to the apartment, can I sign a lease in Bitcoin? If I sign a lease that stipulates that I pay 4.26 bitcoin, I don't want them giving me any BS if the value of bitcoin falls to $12.
...approximately $50 a month.
Since Bitcoin is programmable money you can actually create a contract on the public ledger called the blockchain
here is an early implementation of this concept
http://www.proofofexistence.com/about
you know the old "poor man's patent"
http://www.simplepatents.com/general-information/the-poor-mans-patent-is-a-myth/
well Bitcoin just made this a reality
Bitcoin would need to stabilize before any sane person would sign a contract in BTC. --To avoid any confusion this is independent of the bitcoin price...
P.S. Marcelle Shriver
c/o St. Luke's Church
55 Warwick Rd.
Stratford, N.J. 08084
http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1567672,00.html
assuming address is current
One can now buy wine on Staten Island with Bitcoin
http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20131203/new-springville/staten-island-wine-store-takes-bitcoin-for-online-orders
Bullish article:
http://www.inc.com/john-brandon/is-there-a-bitcoin-transaction-in-your-future.html?fb_action_ids=10202222200067860
Read an item in the magazine The Week yesterday that told about some guy from Britain who bought 7500 bitcoins back in 2009 when they weren't worth anything. He didn't really think about it until they hit $1000. But, he was cleaning his apartment and tossed the hard drive that had the digital unlock key to his account so he's now out $7.5 million. He went to the dump to try and retrieve it but they said it was probably under a huge pile of garbage and it's lost forever. So, the question is...now that they can't be replaced does the algorithm issue new coins to make up for the shortfall or are they gone forever making what's left worth a little more.
Hi @PragmaticGuy my favorite novelty bitcoin story as of late is "Hi Mom! Send More Bitcoins!"---Fan holding up sign on TV on ESPN racks up over $24,000 in Bitcoin ...
http://bitcoinmagazine.com/8720/hi-mom-send-more-bitcoins/
How do you do that with USD?
that's what you call frictionless
Today's news brings us this
Fidelity now allows clients to put bitcoins in IRAs
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/12/11/fidelity-now-allows-clients-to-put-bitcoins-in-iras/
Well, with all the new phone apps around all people have to do is email real money right to a person's account. So Bitcoins have no advantage there. And with such a limited supply I would think there's not enough to go around for everyone who might want some so the only good thing I can see coming out of this is that according to the laws of supply and demand I would think they can only appreciate in value. But not because of their worth but because of their novelty.
psst
Real money is traceable and therefore taxable.
Bitcoins are not.
Actually, I heard a report the other day that Bitcoin is just as traceable as other money because it leaves a digital trail that cannot be erased. The key of course is to find the trail but it's what the government did to get Silk Road closed down. So, you're wrong on that. In addition, many people are trading Bitcoins just as they would other commodities and if you think that there's not going to be some kind of capital gains tax imposed on that I would think you're mistaken. Because in the end....they still have to get real money for them.
The government will definitely find a way to catch up.
...I believe part of the appeal of the bitcoins is that the government is behind the curve.
They haven't YET figured out a way to trace them or tax them.
You are right: They WILL.
Bitcoin uses the "Blockchain", which is a public ledger of every transaction ever made going back to the genesis of Bitcoin (i.e. the genesis block).
You can trace wallets/transactions here
http://www.blockchain.info
since you don't have to link your identity to an address its is somewhat pseudononymous.
You would have to be a security expert / hacker type running everything on Tor and knowing exactly what the heck you are doing if you want to be Anonymous.
So for example we know that Satoshi Nakamoto the creator of Bitcoin has not been able to be identified (its a pseudonym).
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=311216.0 ...
and yet has transactions on this public ledger.
If you are not a supergenius (I don't claim to be), chances are if someone really, really wanted to figure out the person behind the address... they will figure it out.
If you publicly post your identity with a particular wallet address you are giving the world the ability to see transactions with that address tied to you. A charity might want to do this for example in order to give more visibility and accountability to their funds.
---you can create as many addresses as you like. so you could make some public and make some private.
P.S. an interesting fact that many seem to miss is that Tor has received grants from the federal government https://www.torproject.org/about/sponsors.html.en
Article on Bloomberg.com they stated that Bloomberg did a national poll on bitcoins and the results were thus...
6% of the people thought bitcoins was an Xbox game
6% thought it was an iPhone app
42% had no idea what they were.
I guess most Americans don't give a crap about watching or reading the news. It's frightening.
Most of America is concerned only with God, Guns, and Gays.
Hopefully, NYC residents are unlike them.
12 Days of Bitcoin'' experiment'' on BTV, you may have heard i called in sick yesterday, on Day 5. it wasn't cance...Meanwhile, a NYT reporter took a trip to the great white north, to watch how Bitcoins are mined.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/dealbook/2013/12/21/into-the-bitcoin-mines/?_r=0
Mining doesn't sound as bad of a profession as it once was.
http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/08/investing/bitcoin-bar-new-york-city/
Bitcoin Kingpin Admits Everyone's Money Is Gone
http://valleywag.gawker.com/bitcoin-kingpin-admits-everyones-money-is-gone-1533315083
Holland’s Bitcoin Boulevard Celebrates Two Successful Months