Topic: 2013-04-05 Al Jazeera English - Inside Story : Cashing in on the Bitcoin boom (Read 3010 times)

Cause he lost 70%?

Good point. Thanks.

I think you share a popular misconception regarding what anarchy actually _is_. Most anarchists I know (and I do know a few - or at least a few that advocate anarchy as a societal organization) don't think it's a good thing to run around throwing molotov cocktails. Most seem to be firmly wedded to the principles of voluntaryism and non-aggression.

A state of anarchy that's gonna happen? I don't get it, I don't think bitcoin is gonna help cause Anarchy... he kind of contradicts himself, because he says technology empowers good people, why would good people cause Anarchy? Good people would declare their bitcoins and pay taxes on it.

Anyway, watched it all as per your recommendation. Not too bad.

you should watch it again.  this time the whole thing.

I stopped watching after 7 minutes, I thought he was way over the top with his bitcoin enthusiasm. Whenever asked a question he would not even answer, just ramble on again. :S

I dunno... I'm new to spending effort looking into news characterizations of this movement. But while I really appreciate the buttoned down approach of a Trace Mayer, I think Amir comported himself well here. The 'talking over' was kind of jarring, but he came of as knowledgeable, articulate, and concerned about what he convincingly put forth as the evil of central banks.

The first time I've seen him in a long format, and the first time he didn't come of as vacuous. Indeed, it changed my impression of him to the better.

I don't know why the news agencies are coalescing around a handful of go-to bitcoin peeps. But in all honesty we cold do worse.

New catchphrase.

seemingly unaware of reality though 

Yeah, that's the Jewish guy though. 

From their Wikipedia page:
Chromeo is composed of P-Thugg (real name Patrick Gemayel, born in Lebanon, July 31, 1979) on keyboards, synthesizers, and talk box, and Dave 1 (real name David Macklovitch, b. June 7, 1978) on guitar and lead vocals. The two childhood friends jokingly describe themselves as "the only successful Arab/Jewish partnership since the dawn of human culture."

Great music BTW

left guy being equipped with Arafat sunglasses 

Ever hear of these guys?

ya bitcoin: where Iranians and jews are united! LOL

I appreciated Amir's passion. People who truly understand how f'd up the world financial situation is and how fiat currencies have empowered kleptocrats should be mad as heck. Bitcoin is a game changer; a tool that the disenfranchised can use to even the playing field. Everyone should be as angry as Amir, at least on the inside.

I also love Bitcoin's "big tent". The fact that the supporters span from guys like Trace Mayer, a Caucasian American from the Midwest with his neatly coiffured hair, tailored suits, and calm demeanor to Amir Taaki, an outspoken no holds barred Brit of Iranian ancestry with a mohawk, is a beautiful thing!

Bitcoin-- If you can't beat 'em, change the rules!

guy looks as if he got a haircut in Cyprus 

I don't really want to go into that, but saying Amir caused the loss of BTC 60,000 is probably not correct. If shit went like I think it went (I didn't get into the details too deeply back then so please correct me if I'm wrong), then the main mistake was not with Amir but with the guy(s) who thought it was a good idea to misuse a mtgox API key (which was intended to be stored on a publicly accessible server) as password for a lastpass account which contained the mtgox credentials and to the guy(s) who decided it wasn't necessary to use 2nd-factor authentication on such a valuable account. Just because "if he hadn't released the source code, the theft wouldn't have happened" doesn't mean there aren't a lot of other things that could've led to the prevention of the theft (a crass and probably controversy-provoking example: users not putting money onto bitcoinica, a platform known to have bad security)

It's quite interesting he even kind-of brought this up (not as though anyone in the round made the connection).

Amir doesn't represent the whole of the Bitcoin community. Neither does Gavin. Neither does Satoshi. He represents a part of it and I think an important part of it. Incidentally I think the ideas he argues for are what kept bitcoin growing in the early days when probably most of the people complaining about him now thought of bitcoin as some penny-stock or crypto-brain-fart that would never work.

Now that it works and bitcoin indeed supports a thriving global "economy of the people", these kinds of views are still held by a large portion of the Bitcoin community and they will not go away.

I also think there's nothing wrong with "declaring war" on the current fiat regime and (to a degree) the nationstates feeding off it. That's just being honest, because frankly what will the result of widespread use of bitcoin be? Of course: bankers can't print money and governments can only spend what they receive in taxes. What's not to like about that?

I think all of the guests made good comments and raised important issues. I loved the indian guy, not only for his accent but also for saying stuff like "There are a thousand problems yet to be solved" and "We're only at chapter 1/10 in the bitcoin book".

None of the guests was really opposed to bitcoin. Amir answered to most of their concerns... not necessarily to their satisfaction, though.

In all: A good discussion.

I agree it wouldn't hurt his image and effectiveness if Amir acted a little less like Max Keiser and a little more like Trace Mayer. I think it's just a result of the fact that he speaks from his heart and burns inside for the freedom of the people.

Hoody, mohawk ... he's really just a big, cuddly teddy bear, what's not to love?

Kind of spooky those cyber-crimes goons were waiting for him when he got off the ferry ... wonder who's pulling their strings?

Edit: Good job Amir, keep it up and please make your bitcoin address public so we can contribute for you awesome work.

Oh noes  


+1

He could of least had a wash.

Al Jazeera does it again!

I loved this coverage. Amir was great but I wish he wouldn't interrupt as much - still he managed to get a lot of good points through. Only thing he didn't managed is how easy it is to make an impossibly safe offline wallet on a usb stick...can't be hacked if it's offline.

Still Al Jazeera is still the first major major major news network to give Bitcoin such a serious coverage.

The main thing I get from this is how seriously it is treated. Truly groundbreaking.

Thank you Al Jazeera!

This guy caused losses and theft of more than 60 000 bitcoins.

i hear Amir and Gavin are brothers.

Actually, I think Amir did well.

Passionate. Check.
Coherent. Check.
Mohawk hairstyle. Check!

Taaki again?!!!

you know what?  i spoke before i watched.  bad mistake.

Amir killed that interview!  he hit on all the right elements and did it with passion.  i think it helped him that he was part of a debate and could "respond" with counterpoints to what was being said.  also, it gave him time to formulate his thoughts and express them in a coherent manner.

WAY TO GO AMIR!!!!

Taaki again?!!!

how the hell this scammer got on TV?

Why cant they contact a members of bitcoin foundation for fucks sake?

Stupid media.

To defend Amir, I think it's OK for people to see his image.  His arguments are good, and while his appearance isn't exactly "attractive" and "comforting" to the common man, his views do reflect the sentiment of a strong part of our (increasingly diverse) bitcoin culture.

What is good for people to see, is a "hacker" arguing passionately about the inherent good of people.  If you were the common layman and took a second to "listen to the wacko", you would hear his passions for a healthy and vibrant world economy, freedom from banks, a need for a system that is safe from identity thieves, etc.  It helps to quell the stereotype that "those guys" are only interested in creating a cryptic-currency to go buy drugs.  And I see that as a positive thing.

Also, the audience of Al Jazeera is more diversity-aware than the typical American audience.

(I thought the Indian guy did a good job, but his accent was a little thick ).

What we need is for Taaki to keep his mouth shut, or at the very least for the rest of the Bitcoin community to successfully divorce ourselves from him. I doubt it will happen, though, but here's hoping.

The guy from the Spectator was developing some really good questions about the implications of Bitcoin. We need to engage those kinds of questions thoughtfully, rather than responding like some crazed evangelist.

Amir should really tone it down a couple of notches. He is making Bitcoin look like some kindergarden plan to overtake the world.

　

 Amir Taaki is totally over the top in this interview. I like his arguments, however declaring war on international banking and governments on a sat channel is counter productive.

He gives an excuse for government intervention!!: Forget about finding Satoshi we can just pick up Amir dig up some smudge from his past and extradite him to the US on terrorism charges. He is going to be hotter than Assange and Bradly combined!

Serious business is neither interested in participating in a crusade against their administrators of property rights , their governments.....

Agreed, the entire conversation between Trace and Amir should go like this.

Trace: From now on, I will talk about Bitcoin, if a journalist contacts you, give them my number.
Amir: OK.

Or not.  Amir's history with bitcoin (i.e. the bitcoinica consultancy debacle) is a huge scar on his reputation and I'm baffled that that isn't dug up by the reporters interviewing him.  His active incompetence helped along the loss of tens of thousands of bitcoins.

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2013/04/20134572639241668.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8ZQXJ5i7F0


Amir. Again.