Topic: [ANN][NOTE]DNotes - Celebrating DNotes 3rd Birthday - Forum Now Open - page 47. (Read 814539 times)

Bitcoin Weekly Recap 3-4-2016

Japanese Lawmaker Seeks Bitcoin Consumption Tax Exemption
British Central Bank Deputy: Electronic Sterling Would Endanger Banks
BidorBuy Accepting Bitcoin
HashFast Bankruptcy Recovery Claims Could Be Helped by Court Ruling
Coinbase Launches Product to Enable Bitcoin Purchases with Debit Card
NH: No Tax Payments Using Bitcoin

http://dcebrief.com/bitcoin-weekly-recap-3-4-2016/

This is a really interesting article from Pew Research on how concerned people are with the privacy of their personal information. I wonder if they are aware of how much of this information comes from the current financial system?


The state of privacy in America: What we learned

1. Fully 91% of adults agree or strongly agree that consumers have lost control of how personal information is collected and used by companies.

2. Americans express a consistent lack of confidence about the security of everyday communication channels and the organizations that control them.

3. For most Americans who are making decisions about sharing their information in return for a product, service or other benefit, the context and conditions of the transactions matter.

4. Some 74% say it is “very important” to them that they be in control of who can get information about them, and 65% say it is “very important” to them to control what information is collected about them.

5. Some 86% of internet users have taken steps online to remove or mask their digital footprints, but many say they would like to do more or are unaware of tools they could use.

6. Many Americans struggle to understand the nature and scope of data collected about them.

7. Young adults generally are more focused than their elders when it comes to online privacy.

8. Americans are divided when it comes to their level of concern about surveillance programs.

9. A majority of the U.S. public believes changes in law could make a difference in protecting privacy – especially when it comes to policies on retention of their data.

10. Many technology experts predict that few individuals will have the energy or resources to protect themselves from “dataveillance” in the coming years

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/01/20/the-state-of-privacy-in-america/

Thanks, RJF.

Understood. The cover concept is attractive, ads a little mystery, makes you want take another look. Nice.

Thanks, RJF, I will take a look.

Edit: That is just a temporary text placement. The final version will be very different.

The book is looking very good. It has taken a little longer and a lot more efforts, but well worth it. Consistent with our philosophy, we want it to be the "Best In Class". It will open many new doors for DNotes, with great awareness and credibility. We have a whole team working very hard behind the scene. They are doing an awesome job and I am very appreciative of their contributions. That is another DNotes' strength that may not be so obvious.

Here is another interesting article. Essentially, if you are willing to pay the extra toll fees you can take the fast route. That may not help mass acceptance of Bitcoin any time soon.

"We are paying more fees and the transactions are taking more time to deliver," Bitex chief marketing officer Manu Beaudroit told CoinDesk. "For deposits it's taking up to one day and we are paying five [times] more of the [average] fee."

At press time, data from 21.co indicates that users paying the standard wallet fee of 10 satoshis per byte would have to wait between five and 67 blocks for transactions to confirm, a process it estimates could take as many as 13 hours


For more expedient transaction times, 21's service recommends a fee of 0.0023 BTC, or about 97 cents, a 2,200% increase from the default fee.”



Bitcoin's Capacity Issues No 'Nightmare', But Higher Fees May Be New Reality
Stan Higgins | Published on March 3, 2016 at 18:29 GMT


While bitcoin may not be facing a "nightmare" scenario as indicated by the media, digital currency users are now paying higher-than-average fees and waiting longer for transactions to confirm due to an unknown disruptive network user.

The incident has sparked a flurry of questions about the nature of the increased transaction load on the network as it comes amid the ongoing debate over scaling the bitcoin network.

Known as the "block size debate", the issue has fragmented the bitcoin community into two camps:Bitcoin Core, the network’s volunteer developers, who are seeking to change to how signatures are stored, thus increasing capacity as early as April of this year; and Bitcoin Classic, a contingent of developers and enthusiasts who have launched software that would more quickly force an update to the 1 MB cap on transactions they believe is an impediment to user adoption.

At issue, is that when a user sends a bitcoin transaction, an extra cost is attached in the form of a fee. Effectively, bitcoin transaction fees serve as a way for users to bid to be included in a block, with that cost rising or falling with demand for space.

Adding to the current problems is that a number of bitcoin wallets use a hard-coded fee amount: 0.0001 BTC (about 4 cents). Fees determine the priority that a transaction will receive as miners bundle them into the latest block. The higher the fee, the more priority it typically receives.

Signs suggest that the commonly used amount, at least for the time being, may not be enough, which in turn is affecting wallets that are still using standard fees.

The result is that some transactions with low priority remain unprocessed, which in turn is putting added pressure on users and businesses.

Services like South American bitcoin exchange Bitex.la and peer-to-peer bitcion trading platform BitQuick are paying more in transaction fees, and observers are pointing to the situation as the scenario for the bitcoin network.

Read More:  
http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-capacity-nightmare-fees-reality/

Makes sense, we can probably shorten that but deliver the same message while making it stand out more.

I like it all with one exception:

“Imagine that you are creating a complete and functioning system with a multitude of
subsystems and component parts. Now imagine that this system you’re creating is somehow
disordered to the point where some of those components are not working properly, causing
those subsystems to fail to work in harmony with one another"

Needs to be shortened, perhaps limited to 20 words or less. IMO
 

Thanks Bergman, that is what we are going for.

Good mock-up. Would be interesting to see what the designer comes up with. Professional and eye catching is what I would suggest.

Would like to see 50% by the end of 2016. The competition for bitcoin will be good so people begin to realize it is not the only viable option.

Going to have a designer work on the cover for the book. For your reference, here is the mock design. We have changed a few things since, like the title Improve Your Odds: The Four Pillars of Business Success. If anyone has any ideas, or is interested in participating in the design, now would be a good time. We are getting closer by the day, so we want to get everything ready.

http://dcebrief.com/blockchain-technology-continues-to-gain-interest/

RJF, I wish I can say that you are wrong. Unfortunately, we have been seeing too much of that.

It is looking more promising, Mark. As a group, Alt-cap-to Btc-Cap has been slowly gaining ground.

Alt-cap-to-Btc-cap ratio just topped 18%.

Deep breath, everyone. Yeh okay, that capital may not be pouring into your crypto at this second; but what we're seeing here is the transition from all-cryptos-are-tied-to-Bitcoin's-apron-strings to capital-flowing-more-and-more-so-directly-into-individual-altcoins.

And the fiat price of cryptos is rising steadily. And all indications are that the economic realities driving those prices higher aren't going away.

Mark (IndiaMikeZulu), Australia

"When a new technology enters the mainstream, policymakers are often eager to regulate it in an effort to ensure fair use, consumer protection and accountability. The problem arises when multiple agencies, each with their own definitions of the technology and its uses, create broad based regulations that overlap or conflict with one another."

Personally, from what I've seen on the other side of these agencies, regulation is driven by much more basic human emotions, greed & control. I've listened to senior level administrators justify sweeping changes in regulations with justification at the level "because I can"

When regulation kicks in, so do the fees, charges, budget increases, new personnel and good old fashioned power along with every other way possible for a government to squeeze money from the new technology. And, there is also, quite simply, the need to control and dominate, a very basic human failing I'm afraid. Sorry to be cynical but, that's the way I see it in most cases.

Excellent article. Perianne Boring did a great job in clearly stating the case. Hope the right people are listening.

Good article, they really need to make up their minds about what digital currency is.

"Fortunately, next month these parties are coming together at the DC Blockchain Summit, an event that brings a cross section of government agencies and lawmakers together with industry leaders to have a holistic discussion about the future of blockchain technology. Look out for Wall Street powerhouses and industry experts like former JP Morgan executive and CEO of Digital Asset Holdings Blythe Masters – who will share their knowledge and engage in an open conversation with policymakers, paving the way for consistent, effective regulation." - Hopefully there will be good representation for our industry.

Great article written by Perianne Boring:


What the Internet was for your parents, the blockchain will be for you

When the Internet became mainstream in the mid-1990s, it was difficult to fully grasp the impact the transformative technology would have on society. Policymakers didn’t know how to regulate it, partly because they didn’t understand what it was capable of. At its onset, if a flurry of conflicting regulations from different government agencies had been imposed on this burgeoning technology, the Internet as we know it today might not exist.  Instead, we have this extraordinary source of information and a vessel of global commerce that is an essential aspect of everyday life for so many of us...

...When a new technology enters the mainstream, policymakers are often eager to regulate it in an effort to ensure fair use, consumer protection and accountability. The problem arises when multiple agencies, each with their own definitions of the technology and its uses, create broad based regulations that overlap or conflict with one another.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has classified bitcoin as a commodity, while the Security Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking at it through the lens of a security. The Internal Revenue Service treats virtual currency as property, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network regulates it as currency. This patchwork of incompatible rules can cause gridlock in the industry and stifle innovation, potentially forcing companies to domicile and innovate elsewhere.

In addition, there are lawmakers and regulators on Capitol Hill who have little working knowledge of digital currencies or blockchain technology, making it even more difficult to successfully regulate. Regulation is a process that requires a dialogue between government agencies, lawmakers and industry leaders who have a deep understanding of how the technology works.

Full article: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/technology/271163-what-the-internet-was-for-your-parents-the-blockchain-will-be