Bitcoin Plaza: September 2014

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Inside Bitcoins Conference and Expo Headed to Las Vegas, October 5-7

Inside Bitcoins Las Vegas will be held October 5-7, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

KnCMiner Enters Cloud Mining Wars With $0.62 GH/s Price Point

KnCMiner is entering the cloud mining game, and they are coming with an extremely attractive price point.

The Mystery of the Missing 1,000,000 NXT

“When the destiny of a great fortune is at stake, men's greed spreads like a poison in the bloodstream.”

Coin Academy Teams Up with College Cryptocurrency Network to Fast-Track Digital Currency Education

Digital currency education site Coin Academy announces a partnership with college cryptocurrency clubs network the College Cryptocurrency Network to boost cryptocurrency education among American stude

CoinBlesk Brings POS To Areas With Poor Internet Connection Using NFC

Stores can now accept BTC without depending on the customer's internet connection using NFC, but the experience could use some polish.

“What We Are Building Hasn't Been Done Before” - Aeron Buchanan, Ethereum

Today we got a chance to chat with Aeron Buchanan, a developer who is part of the team working on the Ethereum project.

Belgium’s Zero-VAT and Inclusive Dialogue Reveal Refreshingly Progressive Stance

Belgian sentiment on Bitcoin is improving with the launch of the first Bitcoin ATM and confirmation by government that digital currency payments will not be subject to VAT.

Circle Opens To Everyone: An Unholy Marriage Of Banking And Crypto

One of the biggest selling points of Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin is that they allow you to become your own bank.

Op-Ed: The Biggest Problem Bitcoin has are bitcoins

Here’s a revolutionary technology and using it requires stepping on pebbles in a market with a 5 billion dollar capitalization but 1/500th the liquidity and depth of a stock with a similar market cap.

Monday, September 29, 2014

The Liberty Beat Partners with Genesis Communications Network

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: John Bush, Owner and Editor in Chief of The Liberty Beat

Phone: 512-773-6102 Email: JohnBush512@gmail.com

San Marcos, TX – The Liberty Beat, your daily source for liberty news and activist updates, is announcing a new partnership with the Genesis Communications Network that will greatly expand the reach of the program. The daily news service will also soon be producing three updated editions a day.

Since January of 2013, The Liberty Beat has provided daily top-of-the-hour news that could be heard on LRN.FM and up to 14 times per day on 90.1 FM in Austin, TX.

Now, you can hear the daily news service on the Genesis Communications Network and many of their AM and FM affiliates. The Liberty Beat will be included at the top of every hour during Free Talk Live, the Katherine Albrecht Show, the NutriMedical Report, and will also be downloadable via the GCN podcast feed.

The program has evolved from a one man hobby operation to a full fledged news service that contracts with writers and producers from their office in downtown San Marcos, Texas.

“We’ve come a long way in the quality and depth of our content,” said John Bush, founder of the Liberty Beat. “I used to exhaust myself running the program solo. Since bringing on Derrick Broze and Catherine Bleish as writers and Brian Hagen as our voice talent, we have been able to take it to the next level. With our new partnership with GCN, the sky is the limit!”

Every day The Liberty Beat announces the price of gold, silver and bitcoin, then provides a unique set of daily news topics including features on foreign policy, the rise of the police state, economics and alternative currencies, sustainable living, activist events and action, and more.

In the coming months, The Liberty Beat will be transitioning from a once a day format to delivering regular updates throughout the day in the form of three daily editions. You can contribute to the growth of the Liberty Beat by contacting John Bush to become a sponsor, or visiting http://ift.tt/1lnuHbe to contribute via PayPal, bitcoin, or other means.

The Liberty Beat Team is planning to celebrate this new partnership with a launch party at Brave New Books in late-October. An announcement will be posted when plans are finalized.

Read the news and join the community: http://ift.tt/Zlt7SS

Like us: http://ift.tt/Zlt898

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Crypto-Anarchists and Cryptoanarchists

The word “crypto” is Greek in origin (from kryptós) and means “hidden” or “secret.” Cryptozoology is the study of hidden and rare animals, cryptography is the study of hidden or secret writings, etc. In contemporary times, the use of crypto as a prefix usually designates a secret identification. While few today would declare their allegiance to the ideals of fascism, it is not uncommon to hear people referred to as “crypto-”fascists. The addition of crypto as a prefix in this case indicates a belief that someone is 1) secretly a fascist or 2) they act in ways to surreptitiously bring about fascism.

The double entrendre of “crypto as a prefix” can help us understand the role of crypto in the broader paradigm of achieving a liberal society. Crypto-Anarchists, I argue, are ideologically committed anarchists who recognize the superior efficacy of utilizing cryptographic means to achieve freedom. The population belonging to this group is, shall we say, narrow. These anarchists are “crypto” in the first sense of the word: they are anarchists who deliberately and intentionally want to recreate society on the basis of decentralized consensus, trustless networks, and strong encryption.

Cryptoanarchists, on the other hand, encompass the whole body of people who are using cryptographic tools without the understanding that they lead to anarchy. They embody the second sense of the word “crypto” – that is, that by using cryptographic tools as a function of their own self-interest, they are ignorantly and absentmindedly promoting an anarchist world. They are popularizing and normalizing tools of trade – such as Bitcoin or OpenBazaar – without any reference to society, politics, or economics. They are, usually, blissfully unaware of the goings-on at the Federal Reserve or the latest attempt by the Dept of Justice to regulate “intellectual property.” They care not for discussions of Internet freedom, and aside from the mass revolt against CISPA/SOPA, they generally do not foray into topics pertaining to digital property, privacy, political freedom and independence, and so on. They are mostly Muggles who, through natural processes of diffusion, have learned from others to use Bitcoin, TOR, TextSecure, GNU/Linux, or other various tools in the Crypto-Anarchist toolbox.

Both of these groups are absolutely vital to the success of crypto-anarchy as a movement. The field of intelligent specialists in cryptography, systems security, digital cash, and peer-to-peer networking is small. Though this group is few in numbers, they provide the much needed ideological zeal to inspire people to devote their time to create these products, often voluntarily. Computer scientists, IT specialists, and software geeks of all types are, like everyone, influenced by incentives. The work they perform is work like any other, and is usually purchased by various companies. Intelligent programmers are normally scooped up by large, centralized companies to tackle specific problems relating to server maintenance, communications, or other projects. Software giants today have little incentive – or perhaps disincentive – to spur their hired coders to create innovative, decentralized networks. Decentralized networks are anathema to the Microsofts and Apples of the world today. Hence, the majority of “software proficient” people find themselves working on puzzles for corporations – they are not geniuses who strike out and break the paradigm.

The ideologically committed Crypto-Anarchists are the ones putting fire in our hearts; they are the ones inspiring and encouraging others to pick up an encrypted weapon and join the fight. They spread anarchy through their natural means: coding. Crypto-Anarchists, like Cypherpunks before them, write code. While writing code, they also write prose that speaks to the souls of fellow programmers and software developers spending 40 hours a week to tweak Skype’s “calling” interface. When approached with dreams of independence and integrity, many devote their volunteer time to building anarchist tools. For all its ideology, Bitcoin is COOL. It is NEAT. It is innovative in ways that surpass economics, computer science, and law. It ushers in a new paradigm of communication and contracts. Bitcoin will do to money what BitTorrent did to information: release it. Money and contracts will no longer be the domain of bankers and lawyers. They are unnecessary, antiquated solutions to collective action problems that existed before decentralized consensus mechanisms were available. In the Bitcoin age, they are dinosaurs, unfit for the new future world. Describing and elaborating on this new world brings excitement. Anything is possible! Programmers now have a small side-interest in working on Bitcoin or Bitcoin-related projects. They saw the computer science implications long before economists saw the economic implications (lawyers have yet to be brought up to speed on the legal implications). The Crypto-Anarchist zealotry is hugely important; it shunts men and women out of their regular daily lives toiling away for centralized institutions and it creates a desire to free the world from software giants and telecom companies.

While they are the firebrand minority, most of the work to be done relies on the cryptoanarchists: the mass crowd of consumers who desire cool stuff. Once Bitcoin crosses the innovation chasm, and regular people realize they can use it in place of stuffy government money, they will become adherents and will support it simply for the amazing things it does: own and control money without tying it to a legal identity, send it to next door or across the world for five cents, and have perpetual access to your account. Of course, if they realize that it destabilizes fiat currencies and central banks, all the better. But that is the domain of Crypto-Anarchists, not cryptoanarchists. So long as they are using Bitcoin or TOR (to evade internet espionage) or Linux (to evade malware), they are promoting anarchy. The critical tie-in, for Crypto-Anarchists, is to create anarchist tools hidden within amazing consumer goods: Smartphones that are completely open-source, communication tools that are end-to-end encrypted, operating systems that leak no information! This is the key! Package the tools to anarchism nonchalantly in new technologies and watch the world transform.

Once consumers start chatting over lines that are end-to-end encrypted by default, dragnet surveillance is over. Once consumers start browsing the Internet through I2P or TOR, Internet espionage is over. Once consumers start using Bitcoin in their purchases, debt payment, remittances, savings, and investment assets, the monetary circus of inflating fiat currencies is over. Without control of money and information, the State itself withers. It cannot tax what it cannot surveil. By popularizing these crypto tools within “normal” consumer electronics, we make anarchy in everyone’s self-interest. No longer need they report their earnings to the IRS because their employer automatically sends a W-2 or a 1099; all earnings and expenditures are on cryptocurrency ledgers.

The Blockchain and other innovations will eradicate any ability for the State to prey on its people. Most advocates for liberty have taken the attitude that mass awareness is required, that without educating and informing people that they are slaves under a worldwide criminal apparatus, there will never be freedom – but this is not so! Simply give people the tools to protect themselves, wrap them in shiny user interfaces, and say nothing more. Let the intelligent users discover the lineage of cryptography and digital cash, and let the typical users enjoy their privacy. Nothing more is needed to undermine the State than mass disobedience through cryptography.

10 Reasons Why Bitcoin Is Continuing to Grow

The majority of people look at Bitcoin’s price to gauge its growth. The price has been sluggish and far from what people expect with all the good news circulating. Despite the sluggish price, here are

Anycoin Direct Makes Bitcoin Available All Over Europe in Under 5 Minutes

Anycoin Direct, a cryptocurrency trading platform that integrates with many of the continent’s payment systems to allow customers from all over Europe to buy and sell a variety of cryptocoins.

Sweden’s Bank Dismissive While World’s First BTC-Politician Elected

Sweden’s National Bank has stated that Bitcoin is having no tangible effect on Sweden’s economy, with the majority of traffic being from international and not domestic senders and recipients.

If We Can’t Use PayPal 100%, What Is the Purpose Then?” – Ronny Boesing, CEO CCEDK

We got a chance to ask Ronny CEO CCEDK about the recent launch of Nutbits, his forward-thinking approach to altcoins and 2.0 cryptocurrencies, and the state of Bitcoin in one of the most prosperous an

Are Advanced Trading Tools Causing the Price Drop? Exchanges, Experts Weigh In

Among the many theories behind Bitcoin’s recent price cold streak, one of the most prominent speculations is that of emerging trading tools causing downward pressure on the market.

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Bitcoin Analysis: Week of Sep 21 (Wealth Management Pt. II)

The 28 August's week Bitcoin Analysis by Tone Vays.

BlockCypher’s New API “Removes Dependence on Merchant Processors for Payments”

BlockCypher released their much-anticipated Payment API, which enables a quick and reliable way for users to accept payments

EBTM Is Building BTM Networks Across Europe, Co-Founder: “2-way BTMs Could Dramatically Cut Costs for Sending Money Abroad

David Boveington-Fauran is a Bitcoin entrepreneur based in Belgium, co-founder of the European Bitcoin Trading Machine (EBTM), a Bitcoin startup holding the ambition of a creating a network of BTMs ac

As the Fed's secrets are revealed, will the world turn to Bitcoin?

Today secret tapes of correspondence from Goldman Sachs and the Federal Reserve were released. The truth is not pretty and it may be even more shocking than you think.

UK Wraps Up Its First Major Digital Currency Festival

In a renowned tech-hub in London, people gathered to sip on alcohol, watch musical performance, and explore the world of digital currency.

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Weekend Roundup: PayPal Embraces Bitcoin, Spain Classifies BTC as a Payment System and the US Gov. Comes Down on Two Notorious Companies

Weekly Roundup by CoinTelegraph.

Altcoin Merchant Boost: ShapeShift Brings Litecoin into the Retail World

Users of the new and free ShapeShift platform can order any products or services from any company that accepts Bitcoin and use altcoins instead to pay.

Friday, September 26, 2014

What Are Digital Signatures?

You have heard of Digital Signatures, but what are they?

Netagio Partnership Secures European Banking Support, Evades UK Crackdown

UK Bitcoin, gold and sterling exchange Netagio has confirmed its continuation with new banking partners today, effectively escaping pressure from financial regulators earlier this month.

Diamond Circle Deploys World’s First Cashless Bitcoin ATM

Australian Bitcoin debit card operator Diamond Circle has announced the initial deployment of the world’s first cashless Bitcoin ATM.

GoCoin CEO Steve Beauregard: “The Isle of Man Offers Many Competitive Advantages Over the US, UK, Luxembourg and Singapore"

Nearly 200 entrepreneurs, enthusiasts, private sector representatives and governmental officials were convened last week for the Crypto Valley Summit 2014 in the Isle of Manю

Industrial-Scale Manufacturer Rolls Out 5GH/s ASIC Scrypt Miner, CEO: “There is Still Room for Increasing Hashpower”

We got the chance to speak with the CEO of Rhinoceros Labs, Hua Rongji and their lead engineer, Kelley Ethan about their recent foray into the crypto space.

Living Room of Satoshi Bill Paying Platform Stumps Banking Industry at “Startup Showdown”

A new bill paying cryptocurrency platform wins “Best Pitch” at Banking Industry “Startup Showdown”

Coinify Seals Multi-Million external Funding Backed by Danish Gov’t

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Nitrogensports Goes Public To Combat Extortion, Blackmail and Slander

Nitrogensports has been the victim of extortion, blackmail and slander. Today, they are fighting back against the hacker by going public.

New Film Uncovers Staunch Support of BTC in Argentina – and Not Just from Startups

ProtocolTV’s highly anticipated Bitcoin short film “Bitcoin: Buenos Aires” has come a long way and is finally available for public viewing – and its portrayal of Bitcoin in Argentina is inspiring.

Bitcoin Foundation Bangladesh Goes Dark after Bank Threats

Last week, the Central Bank of Bangladesh issued a statement that anyone caught using Bitcoin would be subject to a prison sentence of up to twelve years, essentially forcing the Bitcoin community und

The Strange Case of Bitcointalk’s Chinese Ban

In a move no less curious than its previous attempts, China has blocked a popular Bitcoin website from being accessed on its domestic servers – but why?

BitPay In Talks To Continue Bitcoin Payments In Tropicana Field After Bitcoin Bowl

When BitPay purchased the rights to the St. Petersburg bowl and named it the “Bitcoin Bowl” it was easy to assume.

Ripple Coming To U.S. Banks

The Ripple Protocol is coming to two U.S. Banks, one located in New Jersey and the other Kansas, according to an announcement released by Ripple Labs that included press releases from the banks themse

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne to Keynote Inside Bitcoins Las Vegas – Get 10% OFF

Inside Bitcoins Conference and Expo will be returning to Las Vegas on October 5-7! The event will feature 35 informational sessions, over 70 speakers, 4 keynotes, and a half day of workshops!

Taking place at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino, the conference will cover a wide range of topics including mainstream adoption, compliance, bitcoin startups, investing, mining, altcoins, equipment, and more. An impressive lineup of bitcoin experts and thought leaders will share their insights and knowledge on the implications of bitcoin, along with predictions on what lies ahead.

The first 300 paid attendees will receive US$50 in bitcoin.

New to Inside Bitcoins Las Vegas will be a half day of small classroom-style workshops taught by cryptocurrency leaders, which will provide attendees with an interactive, informative setting to learn about various facets of the bitcoin ecosystem.

Recently announced is a keynote by Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com, who will be leading a session titled, “Cryptosecurities: the Next Decentralized Frontier” on October 6 at 3:30pm. Byrne will also be making an exciting announcement at the event regarding Overstock’s latest development on the Bitcoin front.

Featured speakers include:

Patrick Byrne, CEO, Overstock.com

Bobby Lee, CEO, BTC China & Board Member, Bitcoin Foundation

Daniel Larimer, Founder, Bitshares.org

Perianne Boring, Founder & President, Chamber of Digital Commerce

And many more! See the full roster of speakers here.

Interested in attending? Enter code BMAG14 for 10% OFF Gold and Silver Passports. Register now!

CEX.IO announces halving of fees and rapid addition of fiat pairs

CEX.IO and Ghash.IO have announced several major upgrades including the ability for customers to make purchases using fiat currency for the first time.

XCurrency Plans to Launch Public Corporation, Currently ‘Bullet-Proofing’ Its Code

Less than two weeks after we reported on XCurrency’s trustless mixing service, the currency’s developers on Wednesday announced plans to form a corporation, sell shares and submit its code to outsider

Bitcoin Core Dev, Mike Hearn: Openness is Bitcoin’s Biggest Strength

Mike Hearn is one of Bitcoin’s most polarizing figures. I wanted to learn more about this core developer who has helped Bitcoin grow but still holds reservations about its future so I forwarded him a

Ditching the Dollar in Hawaii

How does one give up USD while living in the United States? Will I completely destroy my quality of life? Is it even possible?

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Butterfly Labs Finally Has Wings Clipped

One of the most notorious bitcoin companies around will finally be facing legal consequences.

US PayPal Merchants Can Accept Bitcoin Starting Today

The excitement around PayPal’s first foray into Bitcoin via Braintree is barely over, but now the company has announced its merchants will be able to opt to accept Bitcoin as payment – from today.

First Blockchain marriage will take place at Disney World Bitcoin Conference

Bitcoin conference “for the whole family” at Disney World Florida will play host to a one-of-a-kind event on October 5 – the world’s first blockchain marriage.

Network Visibility Product Incorporates Bitcoin Pooled Mining Detection

Bitcoin is gaining popularity. Although the price has declined, people are still asking about and joining the ‘mining frenzy’ with increasingly capable hardware. In fact, the current aggregate hashrate of the Bitcoin network is topping a staggering >200,000,000 GH/s.

Remember that the profitability of mining depends on not only the necessary investment in hardware, but, most importantly, in the recurring cost of the energy required to power mining rigs.

The world is full of people who are willing to game any system for an expected personal profit. Unsurprisingly, there is a trend of individuals engaging in what is called ‘illicit bitcoin mining’, which is, essentially, borrowing computing resources and stealing power to mine for bitcoin.

There are known cases of malware authors who install hidden miners in unsuspecting Internet-using computers all around the globe (see here and here).

Other individuals steal power or computing resources from their employers (see here and here).

How do we solve this problem?

The ultimate way to thwart illicit bitcoin mining in corporate infrastructures is by accounting for power consumption. However, Barcelona-based startup Network Polygraph offers a cloud-based network monitoring solution, which could offer an alternative solution.

Josep Sanjuas, CEO of the company that commercializes Network Polygraph, states: “Rather than focusing on power consumption, pooled bitcoin mining can be detected by checking for certain patterns in network traffic.”

Network Polygraph provides network visibility, which helps network managers understand what is happening in their network in order to better manage it. For example, it produces bandwidth usage charts, flags the IP addresses that generate most traffic, and detects network-based attacks.

As part of its core features, Network Polygraph determines which applications have generated network traffic by using complex machine-learning based methods. Its creators have recently incorporated Bitcoin mining detection to their product and it is already reporting illicit mining activities in customer networks.

“We were surprised when Network Polygraph started flagging mining activities in our customers’ networks,” explains Sanjuas. “We expected we would catch some bitcoin-related activity, but we ended up uncovering an illicit Bitcoin miner that had been operating for months,” he continues to explain.

“We are not allowed to disclose much about these cases for obvious reasons, but we expect illicit mining to become a greater problem as bitcoin keeps becoming more mainstream.”

Sanjuas explains that “to our best knowledge, [Network Polygraph] is the first network visibility product that features bitcoin mining detection.” He clarifies that bitcoin mining detection is not the main selling point of Network Polygraph’s product line, but “just another way [the company] can justify its cost, besides regular usage for network operations, troubleshooting or capacity planning.”

It is important to note that Network Polygraph supports bitcoin usage, and promises to “work out a solution” if customers wish to pay in bitcoin for their services.

For more information on Network Polygraph or to explore their business in more depth, please visit https://polygraph.io.