Kudos to BitPay CEO. The rest didn't seem so knowledgeable. FinCEN representative did well and was honest. OMG that redhead was ----.
No one mentioned how the handle the taxation in Germany, which could have been interesting. I may be wrong, but I believe for private affairs it's considered like barter and companies must register to use it.
Topic: Bitcoin at the US Senate - page 3. (Read 67168 times)
Hearings are archived on c-span:
Senate Hearing: http://c-spanvideo.org/program/DigitalCu
Joint House/Senate Hearing: http://www.c-span.org/flvPop.aspx?id=10737442693
Senate Hearing: http://c-spanvideo.org/program/DigitalCu
Joint House/Senate Hearing: http://www.c-span.org/flvPop.aspx?id=10737442693
I sense a Ripple effect to BTC
deepceleron: Your avatar is the stuff of my nightmares.
what i dont get is the market reaction to today v yesterday. imo yesterday went a lot better than today and the markets seem to think the oposite. grr wheres my 1000$btc! 
It was kind of funny when that opening senator guy ended with pondering on how to strike the right balance with this whole thing.
I was thinking "Welcome to the club, its open source you know"
I was thinking "Welcome to the club, its open source you know"
Did she stand in for Ripple CEO Chris Larsen?
She at least did mention Ripple with sparkles in her eyes during the hearing.
Did she stand in for Ripple CEO Chris Larsen?
She at least did mention Ripple with sparkles in her eyes during the hearing.Was an issue on my end, apparently.
If anyone else was wondering about Tunstall:
https://twitter.com/jerrybrito/status/402918026968039425
https://twitter.com/jerrybrito/status/402918026968039425
That would explain a lot. This is why she was saying Bitcoin needs to do things which are impossible. It was simply a way to advocate for Ripple the centralized alternative.
Did she stand in for Ripple CEO Chris Larsen?
If anyone else was wondering about Tunstall:
https://twitter.com/jerrybrito/status/402918026968039425
https://twitter.com/jerrybrito/status/402918026968039425
That would explain a lot. This is why she was saying Bitcoin needs to do things which are impossible. It was simply a way to advocate for Ripple the centralized alternative.
If anyone else was wondering about Tunstall:
https://twitter.com/jerrybrito/status/402918026968039425
https://twitter.com/jerrybrito/status/402918026968039425
This might have already been answered in one of the threads on this topic, and I apologize if so, but can anyone tell me how they selected the panels representants?
What they aren't saying is that Bitcoin is completely different than any centrally-controlled money or anything else called "virtual currency". Fake points in games, Apple store or xbox points, gift cards, Google wallet and payment processors, and such, are centrally controlled by a company who can go out of business or print their own.
That is a "meta concept" that is going to take a while to sink it. It is so far out of the box. Tunstall by the wording of your statements, "Bitcoin will need to this" or "Bitcoin going gain traction unless they change it to do that" likely doesn't fully get the idea that there is no Bitcoin, Inc. There is no central authority which runs the whole network. Even if they have seen the word "decentralized" or "p2p" they dont' really understand it yet.
This is really a paradigm change thing and it will take some people years if not decades to fully grasp what it means. I think many on the panel (both senators and witnesses) think of Bitcoin as PayPal 2.0 or Linden Dollars you can use in the real world.
And Jinyoung Lee Englund jumps on Mercedes... Hope she slaps her once the cam is off.
What they aren't saying is that Bitcoin is completely different than any centrally-controlled money or anything else called "virtual currency". Fake points in games, Apple store or xbox points, gift cards, Google wallet and payment processors, and such, are centrally controlled by a company who can go out of business or print their own.
Bitcoin has no central bank or authority. It won't go out of business. It can't be counterfeited (like US dollars are counterfeited when the Fed adds another digit to their balance and sends it to banks). I can send directly to another user with no interference. It is too good to fail.
I can be defrauded by giving dollars to a guy selling speakers out of his truck, who doesn't pay sales tax. So laws?
Why is Tunstall even there, she is from a law firm, and says Bitcoin won't succeed because it can't be regulated, transactions need to be tagged and not anonymous, and other bizarre stuff. Thinly-veiled banker?
The only interesting question was from Heitkamp, who asked about taxes and such, but in an "I already have my mind made up" statement way.
Bitcoin has no central bank or authority. It won't go out of business. It can't be counterfeited (like US dollars are counterfeited when the Fed adds another digit to their balance and sends it to banks). I can send directly to another user with no interference. It is too good to fail.
I can be defrauded by giving dollars to a guy selling speakers out of his truck, who doesn't pay sales tax. So laws?
Why is Tunstall even there, she is from a law firm, and says Bitcoin won't succeed because it can't be regulated, transactions need to be tagged and not anonymous, and other bizarre stuff. Thinly-veiled banker?
The only interesting question was from Heitkamp, who asked about taxes and such, but in an "I already have my mind made up" statement way.
You can see the senator's mind turning. "wow, you can get 0.1% transaction fees?" (in his mind)
Yeah it was almost like he believed it but couldn't believe it can be that cheap. Likely what he was really thinking was "WTF? The banks & CC companies have been raping the businesses in my district for decades"
Some think ... "wow, how much are the banking lobbyists going to donate to me to shut this thing down."
Bingo!
Bitcoin is basically transaction free, and they pay miners etc etc etc
Credit card companies make up their own proprietary networks, and approve all the transactions themselves, and 2% or so is a number they pull out of their ass because there is no alternative.
Visa and MC have to be scared to death of BTC going main stream.
"Maybe we should just leave it alone"
Senator Hietkamp FOR THE WIN.
Senator Hietkamp FOR THE WIN.
Oh my gosh! Who the fuck is Mercedes Kelley Tunstall and what is she doing in this hearing? Of all speakers I have seen now she is the person who dislikes the most.
Loved how the senator was fascinated by Bitpays fees.
Gallippi is doing a pretty good job. Luckily Roger Ver wasn't interviewed by Schumer. This would have been bad for Bitcoin.
Loved how the senator was fascinated by Bitpays fees.
Gallippi is doing a pretty good job. Luckily Roger Ver wasn't interviewed by Schumer. This would have been bad for Bitcoin.
You can see the senator's mind turning. "wow, you can get 0.1% transaction fees?" (in his mind)
Yeah it was almost like he believed it but couldn't believe it can be that cheap. Likely what he was really thinking was "WTF? The banks & CC companies have been raping the businesses in my district for decades"
Come on who the hell is this Sarah James Lady? I mean she is talking without saying anything.
Hilarious!!! She is totally clueless. This is what congress bases its action upon. Idiots. lol Taking stored value cards to Switzerland. hahahahahaha. Who does that?
That was a very interesting speculation.
The appropriate answer was, with bitcoin, you don't have to move them physically because they aren't physical. End of story. Wow. They should read up on bitcoin before they go testify about it.
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