Happy Friday, Idiots!
Today’s Daily Bit marks the 100th (!!!) I’ve written since I started sending the first digests to a smattering of my most tolerant friends in November. It’s another milestone which follows my 1500th email/blog subscriber and 3,000th twitter follower last week. Thank you all for reading some or all of my rants on Bitcoin.
Today, a reflection and a shameless plug: if you’ve enjoyed my content, please consider taking 60 seconds to nominate me for “most insightful journalist” as part of the first ever “Blockchain Awards” next month. The awards will be handed out at Bitcoin 2014 in Amsterdam, and you can make a nomination here. I’d love to finish in the top three at least.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a collector of shiny badges, and turned down a lot of free publicity I could have received following the Mt. Gox fiasco because it just didn’t feel right. However, this award sparked my interest; I have to admit I would relish in the opportunity to accept an award from Peter Vessenes for my “journalism” creds after the BTC Foundation fiasco from last month. Poetic justice.
So let this 100th Bit be both a recap of my best posts to date (for new readers) and of my journalistic bona fides.
In November, I kicked off the Daily Bit by covering the Senate Bitcoin hearings where I said “the Senate hearings don’t matter. What does matter is currently taking place behind the scenes at agencies like the SEC (securities regs), IRS (tax treatment) and CFTC (commodities regs)," and I followed up shortly thereafter with a post outlining the likely challenges taxation would pose for Bitcoin.
Sure enough, the March guidance released by the IRS sent shockwaves through the industry, and I broke it all down for you—in terms of your personal tax reporting, what it meant for miners, and what its impact would be on the broader industry.
I gave you insight into the inner workings of most of the major Bitcoin ventures as well as an in-depth look at the leading individual personalities in the industry.
I wrote a full-length piece on Coinbase’s financial profile (which a representative called “almost spot-on”), an analysis of Circle’s pre-launch plans, and an exclusive in-depth interview with Roger Ver where he talked about how Blockchain.info would “continue to dominate Bitcoin.” I introduced you to Bitcoin ATM upstart BitAccess and student bitcoin advocate College CryptoCurrency Network, and told you about the formation of Fortress Group / Pantera Capital’s Bitcoin fund. And I painted a picture of Ben Lawsky, the centerpiece of potential BitLicense legislation/regulation, listed the movers and shakers of the industry and even gave you a glimpse of the average Joe and Jane Bitcoin that make Bitcoin tick.
It wasn’t always “to the moon!” content either.
In terms of scandals, I exposed Mt. Gox's plans to defraud investors and hide their insolvency from the public, which ultimately led to their bankruptcy and, more importantly, the accelerated announcement from Barry Silbert and the Bitcoin Investment Trust about their plans to create a fully-licensed exchange of their own. I “exposed the rot at the Bitcoin Foundation" (Andreas Antonopoulos’ words), and gave you an inside look at the internal conversations that preceded Charlie Shrem’s resignation following his arrest. And I wrote skeptically about the threats that Bitcoin faces from regulators capable of halting Bitcoin’s momentum and stealth sovereign entities capable of executing 51% attacks on the block chain.
It’s been a while ride so far, and I have no intention of scaling back the content because I love writing for this audience.
If you love me back, please consider nominating me for “most insightful journalist.” Here’s the link once again:
https://blog.blockchain.com/2014/04/16/the-first-annual-blockchain-awards/
Now for Today’s Tid Bits:
SaveGox
http://www.savegox.com/
Following the news that Mt. Gox would opt to liquidate themselves, the consortium that had originally planned to save Mt. Gox is launching a last ditch effort to convince the Japanese bankruptcy court that their plan to revitalize the defunct exchange is the best one. I believe that their plan is infinitely better than the liquidation plan. The website details why their plan was better and what they would bring to shareholders. If you’re a Mt. Gox creditor, put down your information with the website. If you’re not, still put your information down to stay in the loop with what’s going on. The better the Mt. Gox situation is, the better the overall Bitcoin ecosystem will be.
U.S. Fed’s Kocherlakota says interested in Bitcoin
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/16/us-usa-fed-kocherlakota-bitcoin-idUSBREA3F03120140416
Narayana Kocherlakota, head of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, at a town hall at North Dakota State University, said that he is interested in the tecnology behind Bitcoin. However, he laughed at the thought of Bitcoin as a currency, saying that it would never replace the dollar.
UK Consumers Not Friendly to Bitcoin
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/04/17/bitbeat-whats-in-a-name-a-lot-if-its-bitcoin-com/
The study by e-commerce services provider Venda also found that 43% of consumers in the UK said they do not trust virtual currency, and a majority of people still do not understand how the digital currency works. However, it is one of the first surveys to not ask the question “have you heard of Bitcoin”. The question now is how much has the negative publicity about Bitcoin has affected people’s perception of the digital currency.
A History of Cryptocurrencies
http://bitcoinmagazine.com/12241/quick-history-cryptocurrencies-bbtc-bitcoin/
Written by Ian Grigg and republished by Bitcoin Magazine, Grigg recounts the history of cryptocurrencies. The article starts with digital currency’s beginnings in the Netherlands to more web based currencies such as e-gold. Given that many of those within the Bitcoin community don’t know too much about digital currency pre-financial crisis, its a great read to learn about the history of cryptocurrencies.
Texas Gubernatorial Candidate Greg Abbott Turns to Bitcoin Donations
http://newsbtc.com/2014/04/17/texas-gubernatorial-candidate-greg-abbott-turns-bitcoin-donations/
Greg Abbott’s Website: http://www.gregabbott.com/
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott will be accepting Bitcoin for his run for Texas Governor. Some think its interesting given Abbott’s profession, but its always exciting to see someone start accepting Bitcoin. “The spirit of Bitcoin embodies the free market principles that make Texas a leader in innovation and entrepreneurship,” Abbott said. “We welcome the Bitcoin community to join our team.”
Ron Paul’s View on Bitcoin
http://newsbtc.com/2014/04/17/ron-paul-doesnt-believe-bitcoin-true-money/
Quora Post: http://www.quora.com/Bitcoin/Why-does-Ron-Paul-think-Bitcoin-does-not-fit-the-definition-of-money
Ron Paul has been pretty active on Quora, and recently answered a question about his views on Bitcoin. Although he doesn’t believe that Bitcoin isn’t “real money”, he believes that Bitcoin should be free from taxes and restrictions. For only way for that to happen, he says that the government has to stay out of the internet as well. Although many would disagree with his comments that Bitcoin isn’t real money, the rest of his statements go with how the libertarian community views Bitcoin.
Crunching the Numbers on Bitcoin Mining
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/04/16/bitbeat-doing-math-on-mining/
The WSJ asked HashPlex, which offers hosting services for miners in cheap-power locales, to figure out the breakeven rate based on their fees. The capacity to profit depends on the mining rig’s computational power, relative to that of the entire network, its rate of power consumption, the cost of electricity and, most importantly, the price of Bitcoin. Long story short, althought difficult, mining is still profitable… although a bump in the prices never hurt anyone.
Coinfloor Comes Out With New Features
http://www.coindesk.com/coinfloor-become-first-publicly-auditable-bitcoin-exchange/
UK-based Bitcoin exchange Coinfloor announced a slew of new updates, including an over-the-counter (OTC) market for large, institutional Bitcoin traders and a “proof of solvency” audit process. Both announcements address big problems in the Bitcoin environment right now, namely lack of liquidity and security concerns. The OTC market is also a vote of confidence for what SecondMarket is doing, and it seems Bitcoin trading will be open to the public soon both here in the US and overseas.
Happy Easter weekend to everyone.
Cheers,
TBI
P.S. Don’t forget to patronize Gyft, a generous Daily Bit sponsor and amazing consumer application for bitcoin. You can earn 3% back for all of your bitcoin purchases at retailers like Amazon, Whole Foods, Target, etc.