Topic: Bitcoin Credit Union - page 2. (Read 9415 times)

I was going to ask the same.

So Sentry.... did you run off with all our funds?  I can't get to bitcoincu.org or the original url.  Hopefully you're just working on something.  Please give us a status update.

The way loans work here is that the members fund the loans by investing whatever amount seems fit to them. This way it is less of a risk to everyone involved. When someone requests a loan that persons "trust" rating is displayed, giving the investor a choice of what loan they feel comfortable investing in. Based on the amount they invest and the current interest rate set by the members determines the return to the investor.

Let's be honest here, bitcoins are a great idea and I support the cause and want to provide a service to give back to the community, but since bitcoins are not recognized as legal tender I am reluctant to call this a financial institution. This credit union plays the role of one, yes, but it is within the bitcoin community that I offer my services to. We may call it money, but we do so because it is simply a virtual good that has value given to it by the community and can be sold for legal currency. This credit union will never handle any legal currency and I prefer to stay away from that grey area.

The credit union makes money from votes cast by it's members to increase or decrease other bank fees like transfer fees and loan interest, votes can also determine the dividends that are paid out to members. It is in the interest of the credit union members not to make these fees go away because then the credit union has no income, thus there would be nothing to pay out to its members.

Currently the function of the savings account is a foundation for holding of funds with the intent to invest, but for now it simply serves a purpose by paying dividends to members based on the amount in their savings account. Remember though to put funds into the account you must transfer it there with the fee.

Hey thanks for this, it's very informative.

if you are going to put out loans.. (which are very risky buisness to begin with) I would suggest getting yourself setup as a financial institution in your country of choice, and abiding by those laws, and only taking loans from people who can be held to those laws.

otherwise you may find yourself in a bit of a hellish area.

as for the credit union itself.. id say give a variety of options for what people want to do with their money while its in savings.  whether they want to keep it there, put some of it in to your hands for low risk capital gains.... whatever.
as for transaction fees... what kind of transactions are you thinking about? like handling monitary transactions to other people in other currencies? or.. what?

also, what other ways do you intend to make money with the money that is being held?

Found this from a while back - "Estimated Start-up and Operating Costs in Chartering a Credit Union"

Obviously, this is for a "real" credit union, but the report has lots of useful information about structure and process which could help guide a bitcoin credit union.

http://www.ncua.gov/resources/credituniondevelopment/Files/AcrobatDocument6-26-09.pdf

The organization, NCUA.gov has many other goodies as well.

+1

Well it seems like our social entrepreneurial friend already picked up a good domain, so this whole conversation seems OT and moot... Additionally, if anyone else is thinking of starting a coop website, the .coop domain is available for that purpose

I can understand why you might feel that way about the term ass, but "troll" accurately describes your occupation, to the extent that it involves you extorting people for things you have no other use for.

Why would property-trolls hide their names? They have the authority to do what they do.

Don't get your panties in a bunch. I purchased the domain, along with a dozen others, because I thought their current market price of $11 on GoDaddy was lower than their true market price. This is called speculation, or arbitrage, or investment. I had no "unfair" or corrupt advantage in acquiring the domain - anyone could purchase it as easily as I. Nor do I have intentions of "gauging" anyone who needed the domain to operate their business. It's a generic name that I thought may be valuable, so I purchased it.

If that makes me a "cyber-squatter" then I'm also a stock-equity squatter, a car-squatter, a currency squatter, a business-squatter (since I've bought a small business on the same arbitraging principle) and a squatter in precious metals. I guess I'm a Bitcoin squatter as well. Of course the crucial definition of a "squatter" is someone who uses property not belonging to them.

Before you called me an "ass" for engaging in a voluntary market-based transaction which you didn't approve of, I was going to post here that I'll offer to do the brand identity design for the domain/credit union if someone was interested. I build brands professionally and usually charge much more than what amounts to 50 btc. However, I love the Bitcoin concept and am happy to work with others to help build it. I'm still happy to build the brand if approached for such.

But please don't call me an "ass" or a "troll," if for no other reason than that it degrades these forums. And do trolls typically use their real names or hide behind pseudonyms? My name is Erik Voorhees, I'm not an ass nor a troll, and if you'd like to discuss with my why purchasing domain names is illegitimate, please do so without devolving into personal insults.

As I said elsewhere:

Evoorhees isn't a squatter of any sort. He's a troll. This discussion belongs in the thread from which I quoted myself, but I thought I should bring it up here.

That.

50 x $7.20 = $360

dude, you are an ass. there is a guy on this forum raising capital for his company, the whole of which (including the domain name) he has valued at $490.

you really think that domain is worth 360 dollars? I certainly don't.

build something with it or give it to the dude for a nominal fee. I hate cybersquatters.

Shouldn't the lenders get credit for the lent shares?  Or do you intend for me to be able to borrow all the funds and get all the dividends?

Probably like 50 Bitcoins. I'd like to hold it a while but I'm cash-poor and needing-groceries-rich!

You can always pay it off early, though you do not gain much "trust" (credit) for doing so.


I believe this issue is resolved, feel free to make investments.

I really think you should have shorter term loans than the minimum 3 months. I would like to make a test loan like above of .1 btc but wouldn't like to wait three months to see how it worked out. these are fast times man!

You should know I found problem with my current formula for determining an investors return. This is high priority for me, I will post back once this is fixed.

I've requested a 3 month loan of 0.1 BTC for testing purposes.  If you want to make a tiny profit for a tiny investment, please fund me.  I will maintain a balance of 1 BTC with the credit union for the duration of the loan.

And what exactly is "the right amount of btc" to you ?

I'm very interested as well, and I think that any businesses that get into bitcoins will want to use a service similar to this.