My fist grand social experiment. I'm attending WWDC, and I will be acting as a bitcoin exchange. A human bitcoin ATM so to speak. I will tweet availability times and locations throughout the week, and I will buy or sell bitcoins for cash in $100 increments. If you need cash you can send me bitcoins and I will give you cash, if you want bitcoins I will sell them to you for cash. I will do this every day until supplies run out each day. I will charge a 5% commission on the bitcoin side of the transaction, and all rates will be based on up to the minute Mt GOX market rate.
Here's how it works:
You can do this after you've found me or before. I will tell you if I'm leaving the location soon.
To Get Cash:1) Tweet, or post here your name, or nickname.
2) Confirm rate, and availability of cash with me first.
(See Mt. Gox, or
http://oneminuteslow.com/bitcoin/180-240.png, for current rate)
3) Send $105 worth of bitcoins to my address (below)
4) Come to me once the transaction has been confirmed on the network (6 confirmations)
5) Tell me your name and confirm your bitcoin address.
6) I will give you $100.
To Get Bitcoins:1) Tweet, or post here you name, or nickname, AND your Bitcoin address.
2) Find me and give me $100, and confirm your address.
3) I will transfer $95 worth of bitcoins to your address.
(You are welcome to wait and chat while the transaction is confirmed).
Rules:
$100 (1 transaction) per person per hour transaction limit, so that one person doesn't just buy me out.
You do not have to be attending WWDC to participate, just in downtown SF.
I will not travel to you.
I will not do exchanges while in a WWDC session (I'm hear to learn).
Suplies of bitcoins and cash are limited, sorry if I run out, I may have more the next day.
I may stop for any reason at any time (I will complete or refund any pending transactions).
The Rules are subject to change.
Why am I doing this you ask?
First and foremost to meet cool new people, and learn more about bitcoins.
Secondly, as an experimental response to the argument that currency exchanges are a week point in the decentralization goal of bitcoin. Centralized exchanges such as Mt Gox are as easy a target for take down as a centralized currency (if not easier), but with bitcoin anyone can act as an exchange. So I will be a human bitcoin ATM for the duration of WWDC to see how well it works. Naturally I'm not influencing the market. How to set the market in a massively distributed exchange environment is an open question.
Thirdly, I want to see if this will make any money at all. Is it financially worth it?
My twitter handle for updates is @mister_joshua.
Even if you don't want to exchange, please feel free to stop by a chat. I'm looking forward to meeting you.
To kick it off I am now ready to exchange for the next few hours at the appropriately named Epicenter Cafe. (
http://epicentercafe.com/Epicenter_Cafe/Home.html)
-EDIT-Back on line and inline for the WWDC keynote!
MrJoshua
Address:
1BhgGjXvhgPpUW6YQtDuBs5B2hSUi2yibJ