Email paywall system Mailman has won Coinbase’s second hackathon, which gave away $70,000 worth of bitcoin in prizes.
The system, which rewards consumers in bitcoin and uses the blockchain to filter spam messages, received a $10,000 prize in bitcoin and a place on Boost VC’s bitcoin accelerator class, reportedly worth $50,000.
Coming in second and receiving a prize of $5,000 was SatoshiPay, a bitcoin paywall for publishers.
Remittance aggregator Rebittance came third, receiving $3,000, while BlockchainME, a tool which creates verifiable IDs on the blockchain, came in fourth and received $1,500. BitcoinDial, a bitcoin mobile top-up service, was last, receiving $500.
Coinbase has announced details of its second hackathon competition, including $70,000 in bitcoin prizes and an all-star judging panel.
The company, which offers a number of developer tools, says it is seeking apps that will find new use cases for bitcoin and make it “more approachable”.
Prizes range from $10,000 (1st place) to $500 (5th place) in bitcoin at the time the awards are delivered.
Developers that make it into the judge’s top five will have a chance to compete for a place in Silicon Valley bitcoin accelerator Boost VC[5], run by Draper, which includes $50,000-worth of support, mentoring and accommodation.
Over 112 entries were received for last year’s event, with a geotagging app named CoinPlanter – which allows users to ‘dig’ or ‘plant’ bitcoin – scooping the $10,000 grand prize[6].
Coinbase previously stipulated that entrants should use its API. However, this time round developers are free to choose between Coinbase and other APIs like VC-backed Chain[7], Gem[8] and Boost VC alumni BlockCypher[9].
The hackathon is open to developers everywhere but applications must be filed before 19th May.
Bitcoin Foundation chief scientist Gavin Andresen has publicly voiced his support for the organisation’s plan to focus solely on core development.
In a new blog post[1], Andresen defended prior efforts to support core development and stated that the Bitcoin Foundation is just one of several organizations that provide funding for the oversight of the bitcoin protocol.
The statements follow the Bitcoin Foundation’s formal announcement[2] of the plan, which will find it shedding its education, public policy and outreach operations, as well as the healthy debate about the organization’s pivot that has played out over social media channels.
Andresen cited bitcoin payments processor BitPay[3] and sidechains developer Blockstream[4] as key sources of support, as well as bitcoin brokerage provider Trucoin[5], which gave direct support in 2012. Between the two companies and the Bitcoin Foundation, direct funding is provided to a group that includes Andresen, as well as developers Cory Fields, Gregory Maxwell, Jeff Garzik, Pieter Wuille and Wladimir van der Laan.
Andresen argued that such efforts keep bitcoin core development decentralized by maintaining separate sources of funding for maintaining and improving the reference code for bitcoin. Beyond this, he said, the funding enables the creation of new innovations for the protocol from both the funded core team and the scores of other volunteer bitcoin developers.
Andresen continued:
“Eliminating single points of failure is one of the key concepts that makes bitcoin such a reliable system, and I’m very happy that we have multiple, independent organizations supporting core development.”
Andresen said 259 developers have contributed work to the Core code – with nearly 7,400 commits between them all, according to GitHub[6] – and that the thousands of derivative projects from that source code are indicative of the decentralized nature of digital currency progression.
Call to arms
As part of its focus on bitcoin core development, the Bitcoin Foundation is hoping to provide funding to more developers to meet security and code assessment needs. Andresen suggested that the Bitcoin Foundation is preparing to hire a new development-focused security specialist, saying that it hopes to make such an announcement “very soon”.
Andresen said that the Bitcoin Foundation is in need of a developer with an interest in “deep, thorough testing of the core code”, explaining:
“Somebody [who] understands bitcoin deeply who will write test plans and then beg or bribe or hire people to run those tests. Ideally, somebody who can also write regression tests to automate testing.”
This echoes previous comments by Andresen, who in the past has said that a key weakness in core development is the lack of testing resources.
Noting that the Bitcoin Foundation can’t afford to make such a hire in the near-term, he urged those interested to get involved with code testing and added that “if you do a good job you’ll be the first person hired when we can”.
The Bitcoin Foundation’s chief scientist Gavin Andresen has given his opinions on a variety of issues at this year’s Web Summit – an annual event held in Dublin, Ireland, that attracted more than 20,000 attendees this year.
The summit[1] has established itself as an important date on the calendars of technology investors, startups and even rock stars, like U2 frontman Bono, who attends regularly.
Andresen gave a wide-ranging interview to the Wall Street Journal‘s Lisa Fleisher[2], at the event’s ‘Centre Stage’, discussing the centralisation in mining, regulation by governments and the future of digital currencies.
Cycles of centralisation
Creeping centralisation, particularly among miners, is likely to occur in “waves”, Andresen said, adding that this would mirror the pattern seen in computing in general.
He said:
“Centralisation of mining is going to go in waves. Now you see economies of scale for companies that create huge mining farms where electricity is inexpensive. Once those [ASIC] chips become commodities and inexpensive, you’ll see it decentralise again.”
Andresen likened the cycles of centralisation by miners to earlier computing technologies that saw rapid cost declines over the time, leading to reduced reliance on centralised structures.
“When I was in college in the 80s, we were at the cusp of going from mainframe computers to personal computers,” he said. “I worked in tech support, and the biggest wave of tech support requests happened around the time theses were due. People from campus would send their theses to this laser printer and then come and pick them up. That’s what computing used to be.”
Andresen added:
“It was very centralised, and then the PC revolution happened and everyone had a PC.”
Andresen graduated from Princeton University in 1988, majoring in computer science.
Nodes numbers not a concern
Andresen at the Q&A with journalists after his onstage appearance.
When asked about other weaknesses in decentralisation on the bitcoin network, such as the declining number of nodes, Andresen was similarly unbothered.
He told assembled journalists at a press conference after his onstage appearance:
“The technology is still so early … it doesn’t really concern me much. Right now we have 7,000 nodes. It’s a good number. If it was 700 or 70, I would be more worried. We’re still a couple of orders of magnitude away from where it would be a problem.”
He indicated that changes are underway on the technical side that would make it much easier to run a full node, but explained “we’ve simply had other priorities”.
Andresen also addressed the issue of regulation of digital currencies by governments, welcoming the attention that governments have given to cryptocurrencies in recent months and even expressing sympathy for regulators who have to grapple with the complexities of creating a framework for bitcoin.
“Regulators have a hard job,” he said. “They have to react to this new technology and try to fit it into laws that were passed 40, 50, or 100 years ago. It’s really a struggle for them.”
Need for balanced regulation
Andresen stressed that attention from regulators would be essential to bitcoin’s mass adoption. However, regulators will now have to be careful not to get heavy-handed with digital currency.
He said:
“Getting regulatory clarity is really important. In the last year, year and a half, we’ve seen more regulatory clarity. I think it’s been incredibly positive for bitcoin, but now we need regulation that isn’t going to kill innovation.”
Andresen singled out China and Russia as states that have approached bitcoin regulation too severely.
“Certain countries around the world take a much stricter approach … countries such as China[3] and Russia[4] have been really anti-bitcoin recently. Their first impulse is to ban something and, if they think it’s good, they’ll allow it,” he said.
Andresen highlighted BitX’s efforts to raise bitcoin donations[5] to combat the spread of ebola and bitcoin ATMs as worthy ways of increasing awareness around the digital currency.
“Bitcoin ATMs are a wonderful thing. I’d love to go to a bitcoin ATM here in Dublin and get some euros … I could really see that taking off and taking bitcoin mainstream because international use of bitcoin will be the first mainstream place where it happens,” he said.
Bitcoin Core developer Gavin Andresen took to Reddit today to engage the community in an ask-me-anything (AMA) session that tackled a variety of topics both silly and serious.
In his post kicking off the session, the 47-year-old chief scientist at the Bitcoin Foundation detailed his contributions to the bitcoin space so far.
These included the nine Bitcoin Improvement Protocols (BIPS) he has written, including multi-signature transaction support and the Payment Protocol, plus the thousands of lines of code he has added to Bitcoin Core.
The extended session, however, focused mostly on the future of bitcoin, with Reddit participants asking for Andresen’s insights on what they can do to help spread the use of bitcoin and what he sees as the biggest challenges that remain for the technology.
Here are some of the top questions and answers from the AMA session:
1: Noobies
Q: (Beaucoin) – What can the average noobie do to help spread adoption of this fantastic technology?[1]
A: Use it. Don’t be too pushy about talking about it, but do let people know that you’re enthusiastic about it. Think about who you’re talking to, and tailor your message to what you know they care about (low fees? put bankers out of business? take control of your own finances?)
2: Obstacles
Q: (Sorcery-Sorcery) – What is in your opinion the biggest obstacle for bitcoin at this moment? What do you think would be the most important factor in bringing bitcoin to the masses? Where do you see bitcoin is five years?[2]
A: Obstacle/factor: getting to where people are earning bitcoin directly, instead of having to jump through some hoop to trade the currency that they earn for BTC.
Bitcoin in five years: uhhh…. 2019…. I left my crystal ball in my other coat pocket. I think it’ll either disappear and become an under-the-covers ledger system that Joe-ordinary-consumer never sees. Or it will be the de-facto currency of the Internet (prices still quoted in your local currency, but payment in bitcoin always accepted).
3: Bitcoin ban
Q: (David722) – If a country were to “ban” Bitcoin, how could that be enforced? Is it possible for bitcoin internet traffic be blocked at the ISP level (or any other)?[3]
A: It would be enforced the same way banning any activity a government doesn’t like is enforced, with fines and jail sentences for anybody found doing the thing they don’t like.
They would probably start by making it very difficult to exchange bitcoin for the national currency via banks.
Unencrypted bitcoin traffic would be pretty easy to block at the ISP level, but it is also pretty easy to tunnel it through Tor, which is harder to block. But talk to the Tor folks about that, they know a whole lot more about blocking internet protocols than I do.
4: Hopes and fears
Q: (PaulCapestany) – What are you currently most excited about with regards to bitcoin development? And, conversely, what are you currently most worried about?[4]
A: I’m most excited about all of the non-currency uses of the block chain’s ledger-ordering ability. I have no idea which ones will turn out to be successful, but I’m glad all of that experimenting is happening. I’m most worried about scalability.
5: From experiment to established
Q: (Piper67) – You’ve long been a proponent of the “Bitcoin is an experiment” line of thinking. While that is technically true, so is “Gravity is just a theory”. What needs to happen for you to switch from “bitcoin is an experiment” to “bitcoin is established”?[5]
A: We need regulatory clarity, ease of use and no-single-point-of-failure security. I think we’re very close on all of those things.
6: Socks
Q: (bitcoinoisseur[6]) – What was the first physical thing you paid for with bitcoin?
A: First physical thing… uhh, it was either alpaca socks (the alpaca farmer is 10 miles away across the river from me here) or Red Sox tickets purchased from a friend.
7: Non-financial
Q: maraoz – What are your thoughts on non-financial transactions or uses of the bitcoin block chain? (e.g counterparty, colored coins, proof of existence, etc.)[7]
A: I’m excited about the possibilities. I think a lot of projects unnecessarily mix up the various services the block chain provides, and try to make it do things it is not good at doing (like storing data).
I think the best projects understand that they don’t need to invent a new currency. They don’t need to use the block chain as their long-term data storage solution. And they don’t need to use the peer-to-peer (p2p) network as their communication mechanism. They should use the block chain as the world’s most secure distributed ledger.
8: Hard fork
Q: (NedRadnad) – Do we really need to hard fork the chain to achieve scalability? When do you plan on making the fork?[8]
A: Yes, I think we do. There is still at least a month or two of work before I’d be willing to write a patch to increase the maximum block size, and then probably a month or two more of arguing. So, early next year at the earliest before even starting the hard-fork process (which must roll out to miners – they will control when the fork actually happens).
9: Bits
Q: (Aviathor) – The eight decimal spaces of bitcoin stand in the way of the “ease of use” in my humble opinion. What do you think? Thanks for your time!!! (sorry for bad english)[9]
A: I think everybody should switch to talking in “bits” (millionths of a bitcoin).
10: CIA
Q: (FreeMarketAnarchist) – Have you been in contact with the CIA at all since your famous meeting? Do you think Satoshi will ever make contact with you or the general public again? How do you feel about Andreas Antonopoulos, specifically his recent talk with the Canadian Senate[11]?[10]
A: No, I haven’t talked with the CIA or InQTel since my infamous talk. I don’t know if Satoshi will ever reappear. Andreas did a fantastic job at the Canadian Senate! He should do the TED talk.
11: Other projects
Q: (bubbasparse) – What are some of the most exciting code implementations/projects/companies that you’ve been keeping an eye on?[12]
A: I’m excited about the Trezor[13] (and hope the Mycelium[14] people get their hardware wallet working soon). And watching the spread of bitcoin ATMs[15], because getting BTC is still a bottleneck for ordinary people.
12 : New title
Q: (bitbeliever) – For how long will you stay on as chief scientist?[16]
A: I dunno. I’m starting to get tired of the title, maybe it should become “Head Cheese (Technology)”.
The Bitcoin Foundation has announced updates to its corporate governance structure, including stricter rules concerning terms for board members and suggestions for a new nomination process for elections.
According to a blog post[1], the new elections are part of the Foundation[2]‘s efforts to “instate a corporate governance structure that ensures consistency, stability and accurate representation of our membership for years to come.”
Two of the Foundation’s most prominent personalities will face re-election by members to their board positions in December: chairman Peter Vessenes for his founding seat, and Gavin Andresen for his individual seat.
Andresen’s position as chief scientist is separate and unaffected by the elections, meaning he would retain the position even if he chooses not to stand for re-election.
Changes to board rules
Post-December, the Bitcoin Foundation’s board will be almost fully elected. When the organization began, there were no members to vote and so its founding board seats were occupied by unelected volunteers.
Since then there have been efforts to improve governance by having members elect board members. The Foundation also voted in March to limit board members’ terms from three to two years and to stagger the terms, easing transitions and providing “continuity of institutional knowledge from one board member to the next.”
The Foundation is encouraging “healthy, dynamic, lively” member discussion of potential board candidates. To this end, it is also considering forming a member-led nominating committee independent of the election committee.
This would enable individual members to raise their voices on what ideal candidate characteristics would be for the open individual seat, and suggest candidates to nominate.
The blog post stressed that all committees and working groups are voluntary and member-led, saying:
“We need dedicated, experienced, and involved individuals with experience in corporate governance, finance, money services, compliance, cryptography and government affairs who are willing to put in the time and effort needed to effectively serve.”
Board rules
Under the Bitcoin Foundation’s bylaws[4], members of all classes are eligible to vote for board members. The board itself has seven seats, three of which are elected by corporate members and three by individual members. One seat, formerly reserved for founding members and elected by others, was reclassified two weeks ago[5] to a ‘chapter affiliate seat’ to represent international chapters’ interests.
The board also sets standards for its own members, and insists that board members be “in good standing”. They must pass a background check for any felony conviction and conduct their business openly and under their real identity. The board has always had the power to remove its own members and the general Foundation membership may request an individual’s removal.
The largest and most prominent organization representing bitcoin internationally, the Bitcoin Foundation engages in activities concerning standardization and protection of the technology, as well as outreach in the form of education and lobbying government and other regulatory bodies.
Bitcoin Foundation chief scientist Gavin Andresen has proposed increasing the number of transactions allowed on the bitcoin network by raising the maximum block size 50% per year.
Doing so would require a hard fork and “some risk”, Andresen conceded in a new Bitcoin Foundation blog post[1], but he concluded that such proposals are necessary for the long-term viability of bitcoin as a global payments system.
Entitled “A Scalability Roadmap”, the piece builds on Andresen’s past statements regarding how he believes the bitcoin network can be scaled to handle more transactions. While the near-term need to do so may not seem apparent, Andresen wrote, an opportunity to address the bitcoin network’s scalability needs shouldn’t be missed.
Andresen suggested that the bitcoin development community’s consensus-driven decision-making process might result in an alternative solution or even multiple fixes to scalabiilty. Still, he argued that the limit on bitcoin transactions has been identified in the past as a weakness in need of addressing.
Andresen wrote:
“Agreeing on exactly how to accomplish that goal is where people start to disagree – there are lots of possible solutions. Here is my current favorite: roll out a hard fork that increases the maximum block size, and implements a rule to increase that size over time, very similar to the rule that decreases the block reward over time.”
Andresen added that the development community has always intended to raise the block size, but that a long-term scalability fix has yet to take place.
Bigger blocks are better for bitcoin
The bitcoin network is currently experiencing 50,000–80,000 transactions per day, according to BitInfoCharts[2]. As Andresen noted, the data needs being placed on the bitcoin network aren’t huge, making the 1-megabyte block size sufficient for use today.
Long-term, however, this block size may lead to issues, Andresen wrote, arguing that the need to take action makes sense not only from a practical perspective but also an ideological one.
Andresen said that a hard fork to increase the block size is in line with the spirit of bitcoin, arguing:
“I think the maximum block size must be increased for the same reason the limit of 21 million coins must NEVER be increased: because people were told that the system would scale up to handle lots of transactions, just as they were told that there will only ever be 21 million bitcoins.”
Andresen suggested that the inflection point for the bitcoin block chain may come during a future price upswing, an event that has historically been associated with an increase in the number of bitcoin transactions.
Any fix needs time to develop
Acknowledging the challenges involved, Andresen conceded that the process won’t be easy. However, he said that such work is inevitable, noting:
“Getting there won’t be trivial, because writing solid, secure code takes time and because getting consensus is hard. Fortunately, technological progress marches on, and Nielsen’s Law of Internet Bandwidth and Moore’s Law make scaling up easier as time passes.”
Andresen posited that the 50% annual growth rate he suggested would enable the distributed network to facilitate as many as 400 million transactions per day if implemented now. After 12 years, the bitcoin network’s estimated transaction capacity would reach 56 billion transactions per day, according to Andresen’s initial calculations.
This, Andresen said, would put the bitcoin network in a position to serve as a truly global value exchange system.
“Even if everybody in the world switched entirely from cash to bitcoin in 20 years, broadcasting every transaction to every fully-validating node won’t be a problem,” he concluded.
Bitcoin brokerage provider Trucoin has announced the introduction of its first service offerings to customers in Florida, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Carolina and Texas.
Consumers in these eight US states can now receive instant access to the platform, which boasts social login integration for Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ as well as previously advertised[1] MasterCard and Visa payment options.
Speaking to CoinDesk, Trucoin president and cofounder Chris Brunner[2], suggested that company officials have been seeking to provide services to the US market for roughly three years, but that legal compliance requirements were a consistent roadblock.
However, Brunner indicated that Trucoin is now putting this challenge behind it with the goal of serving the US market more broadly, stating:
“We made the decision early on to do everything in a legal and compliant way and that’s what we’ve done. […] We’ve partnered with one licensed money transmitter and we operate as a delegate of those money transmitters. We will be adding 25 states in the next two months.”
Trucoin, backed by licensed money transmitters money service business specialists National Check and Currency[3] and Presto Financial Services[4], launched in April with the goal of becoming “the fastest way to buy bitcoin in the world”.
The former BitcoinDeals.com[5] founder suggested this backing is key to separating its services in the market, as the brokerage service meets not only the federal registration requirement for money service businesses (MSBs), but the state-specific licensing requirements in the eight states it now serves.
The formal launch follows an uptick in bitcoin buying services in the US market. For example, California-based expresscoin[6] recently launched with a focus on unbanked consumers.
Ease of use
Though compliance has been Trucoin’s major concern to date, Brunner indicated that the company is seeking to offer more to consumers by releasing a consistently reliable avenue to bitcoin buying. Enabling this convenience is Trucoin’s decision to offer credit cards as a payment option.
Brunner characterized the decision as one that would better position Trucoin to cater to the “average joe” bitcoin user, stating:
“We’ve put a great deal of effort into putting in place a fraud mitigation system that allows us to accept debit and credit cards, so for new customers it takes less than two minutes to set up. There’s no waiting for a human to manually review your account in almost every case, and once you’re a customer you’re able to make purchases in seconds, as many times as you want.”
Brunner added that most people in its target states would be able to access the service promptly.
At press time, CoinDesk had attempted to sign up and purchase via the platform, but after roughly six hours, the account was still under review, though reddit users have reported faster access.
Upcoming announcements
The official launch comes roughly one month after Trucoin opened its buying service to an invitation-only private beta and before the service aims to increase its total to 33 states.
Trucoin VP of marketing and communication Brent James, suggested the company doesn’t have a firm date for the launch, and that it won’t issue a date until it is confident it can follow through on its promises.
James said:
“That’s another reason you’ll hear us use the term beta, we want to tread lightly and do things in what we feel is the right way, in a prudent way.”
Trucoin hopes that its commitment to product will in turn increase its profile among buyers, as it will primarily seek to promote itself through word-of-mouth referrals.
Reddit community weighs in
Trucoin’s launch also generated significant attention on reddit[7], with users seeking to learn more about the validity of the company and its services. There, the company received a notable vouch of support from Bitcoin Foundation chief scientist Gavin Andresen[8].
Some reddit users, however, advocated for an alternative to social network login, which requires users to part with this data. Trucoin said that social login has been mandated as it is the fastest way for the company to maintain know your customer (KYC) compliance.
Company representatives also provided hints at what users can expect from the service in the coming months, including the ability for users to pay off credit card balances in BTC.
The company also engaged with reddit users prior to today’s launch, where it revealed it purchases its bitcoin from exchanges and will retain some customer data for seven years[9] in accordance with US law.
Global goals
Though it is starting its push in the US, Trucoin’s ultimate goal is to service 100 countries, providing services in 10 languages through a single bitcoin brokerage system. While a lofty goal, Brunner suggested that with his firm’s commitment to compliance, it’s “something that’s going to be possible in the near future”.
“We’ll be launching several countries at a time in a way that ensures a quality experience for our customers,” Brunner said.
He concluded: “We’re really trying to deliver first and talk about it later.”
Bitcoin Foundation chief scientist Gavin Andresen has outlined the details of new floating transaction fees to be included in the code of the next Bitcoin Core release.
In a new post on the official Bitcoin Foundation[1] blog, Andresen[2] stated that the updated code will enable “smarter” fees that account for the length of time it takes to confirm transactions on the bitcoin network. Ultimately, the new code will determine transaction priority, making sure that transactions confirm more efficiently.
Andresen cited needless complexities within bitcoin’s transaction fee code as the reason for the update. These complications result in inconsistent and time-consuming confirmation periods.
He wrote:
“Instead of using hard-coded rules for what fees to pay, the [new] code observes how long transactions are taking to confirm and then uses that data to estimate the right fee to pay so the transaction confirms quickly – or decides that the transaction has a high enough priority to be sent for free but still confirm quickly.”
As well, the new code enables transaction senders to configure how much priority they want their transaction to receive. In some cases, users may opt to have as many as six blocks pass before the first confirmation is received.
Systemic fee problems addressed
Currently, the Bitcoin Core code can lead to headaches for those who send large bitcoin transactions. As Andresen explained, the new code eliminates some of the hurdles that slowed down transactions in excess of 1,000 bytes in size.
Transactions sent for free also run into problems under the existing framework. The code that determines priority for free transactions automatically places them at a disadvantage in the network. This results in a significant increase in confirmation times.
Andresen wrote:
“The current situation is even worse for free, high-priority transactions: the hard-coded ‘high-priority’ constant is much too low, so transactions sent for free can take a very long time to confirm.”
By making changes to Bitcoin Core, Andresen said, users can rely on more effective transaction fee determinations within the bitcoin network.
Future updates possible
Andresen went on to dismiss the idea of small, fixed transaction fees, citing the behavior of miners – and their preference for high-fee transactions – as reasons to avoid such an approach. Notably, he said there was no desire within the bitcoin development community to institute fixed fees.
Fees should rise in the future as miners sign and confirm larger transaction volumes in the months and years ahead, he wrote:
“I expect to see transaction fees rise until a good solution for optimizing the propagation of blocks across the network is deployed, because I expect transaction volume to increase and I don’t think miners will include more transactions in their blocks until somebody fixes the ‘bigger blocks take longer to broadcast’ problem.”
Ultimately, he concluded, developers need to tackle this problem and develop new code that enables a more efficient and healthy transaction process.
Bringing bitcoin to the forefront of mainstream society is no easy task.
The novelty of decentralized digital cash and the potential that bitcoin has to disrupt a variety of industries make it a polarizing entrant to the tech scene.
Those who believe in bitcoin’s capabilities are steadfast that the digital currency will prevail as a new kind of financial institution.
Others, similarly passionate about their beliefs, argue that bitcoin is a bubble, too volatile to amount to anything permanent in society.
For every hardworking developer, entrepreneur[1], investor[2], politician or activist fighting to bolster the bitcoin ecosystem – of which there are many – there is someone on the other side of the fence, working hard to maintain the status quo.
No matter what side you’re on, it’s safe to say that this year has been an eventful one for bitcoin.
Here are the eight biggest bitcoin heroes and villains of 2014 (so far):
1. Marc Andreessen
flickriver.com
Arguably bitcoin’s most influential[3] evangelist, Andreessen has put his money where his mouth is in supporting the bitcoin ecosystem.
His venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz led a $25m series B fundraising round[4] with its investment in Coinbase[5] in December, and the Internet pioneer shows no signs of slowing down with investments in bitcoin startups anytime soon.
Notable Quote:
“I’m on record that bitcoin, and cryptocurrency broadly, is one of the most important tech breakthroughs of our time.”
2. Barry Silbert
cnbc.com
As CEO of asset-trading platform SecondMarket, Silbert has been working hard[6] all year to bring bitcoin to Wall Street.
Balancing a busy schedule of rallying institutional investors[7], working with financial regulators in New York, and raising awareness for bitcoin with public appearances, Silbert has solidified his position as one of the digital currency’s prominent advocates.
Notable Quote:
“[I have] requests from 38 institutional investors representing +$250 billion to meet with me [about] bitcoin at Barclays Emerging Payments Forum tomorrow.”
3. Jared Polis
bizjournals.com
It often takes the courage of a few bold risk takers to disrupt the status quo of any institution, including the US government.
Congressman Polis emerged as one of those brave figures this year when he publicly showed his support for bitcoin, and eventually went as far as vouching to fight government regulation[8] that stifles innovation in the industry.
Notable Quote:
“If there was an agency that reacted in an irrationally negative way to digital currencies, I would be happy to rally support [in Congress] to restrict their funding.”
4. Gavin Andresen
squarespace.com
Even though he only spent four months of this year as the lead developer on the bitcoin core before passing the reigns[9] to the new head dev Wladimir van der Laan, few would argue Andresen’s influence on both the technology and the community.
In his new role as the Bitcoin Foundation’s chief scientist, Andresen stays busy working as a trusted liason between the core developer community and the less tech-savy bitcoiners. As one of the few people who once had regular contact with bitcoin’s creator[10], Andresen has remained loyal to the betterment of the bitcoin ecosystem from its earliest days.
Notable Quote:
“Do not treat the core development team as if we were a commercial company that sold you a software library. That is not how open source works; if you are making a profit using the software, you are expected to help develop, debug, test, and review it.”
5. Ben Lawsky
capitalnewyork.com
Lawsky is another government official that has come into the spotlight for his involvement in the digital currency industry.
Though the impact of his work may not be as public as other heroes on the list, as New York’s superintendent of financial services, Lawsky’s progressive stance on bitcoin[11] cannot be dismissed.
Notable Quote:
“My hope is that if we can get appropriate guardrails in place to prevent money laundering, we can take a deep breath and really focus on trying to ensure that virtual currency firms flourish and continue to develop and innovate.”
6. Patrick Byrne
economist.com
When Overstock.com began accepting bitcoin payments, the online retailer became the largest company to immerse itself with the digital currency.
Byrne, Overstock’s CEO, has since been very public about bitcoin’s success on the website, and recently pledged to donate[12] 3% of bitcoin profits to bolster the ecosystem.
Notable Quote:
“Any revenue from bitcoin sales that Overstock.com donates will go to support the adoption of cryptocurrencies in general, not necessarily bitcoin in particular.”
7. Jason King
freedomwat.ch
As the founder of Sean’s Outpost[13], one of bitcoin’s most visible organizations, Jason King has dedicated himself to using the power of bitcoin to feed the homeless in his local Florida community.
In addition to providing 60,000 meals to the needy, King recently completed a cross-country fundraising run[14], raising awareness about bitcoin’s potential to impact charitable organizations along the way.
Notable Quote:
“We have guys who got really into bitcoin. They’re on reddit and forums all the time. We have guys who got off the street because of bitcoin.”
8. Mike Hearn
youtube.com
Hearn, a well-respected bitcoin developer, has not been shy about[15] his concerns that core bitcoin developers aren’t receiving enough support.
For bitcoin to flourish, it’s important for the protocol to constantly be improving, and Hearn’s calls to action will hopefully bring enough attention to the issue for progress to be made.
Notable Quote:
“I’ve been very worried for a long time that the core bitcoin system is radically underfunded and underdeveloped from where it needs to be.”
1. Mark Karpeles
dailymail.co.uk
The downfall of Mt. Gox[16], once the biggest bitcoin exchange in the world, affected countless people’s lives and was a blow to bitcoin’s public image.
There’s still quite a bit of uncertainty about Mt. Gox’s collapse (including some 744,000 missing bitcoins[17]), and while Mark’s intentions may not have been malicious, it’s natural that victims of the whole ordeal will point the blame on the bankrupt exchange’s CEO.
Notable Quote:
“As the company head, my mission was to protect customers and employees. I’m deeply sorry. I’m frustrated with myself.”
2. Warren Buffett
adweek.com
Normally a shrewd businessman with a keen eye for a good investment, Buffett took a surprisingly archaic stance[18] on bitcoin this year.
Arguing that bitcoin isn’t a currency[19] and warning investors to “stay away” certainly didn’t help bitcoin’s reputation, and Buffett’s clout as a revered business magnate certainly influenced some to dismiss the digital currency.
Notable Quote:
“[Bitcoin is] not a currency. I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t around in the next 10-20 years.”
3. Mark T. Williams
affordablehousinginstitute.org
Williams is notorious for his prediction[20] in December 2013 that bitcoin’s price would fall 99%, leading to a price of $10 per bitcoin by June 2014.
Here we are in July of 2014, and clearly the Boston University finance professor was off with his estimates. Instead of admitting that his prediction was a bit hyperbolic, Williams remains steadfast that time will vindicate his prediction[21].
Notable Quote:
“I continue to stick to my 2013 prediction that bitcoin is grossly overpriced and the price will eventually adjust dramatically downward as the priced-for-perfection expectations set by bitcoin promoters cannot be met.”
4. Leah McGrath Goodman
cbsnews.com
Newsweek pulled out all the stops in March when its cover story was revealed to be a deep investigation into the real identity[22] of bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.
Goodman, the journalist who wrote the story, pinned California resident Dorian Nakamoto as the mastermind behind the digital currency. Dorian’s personal information was leaked to the public shortly after, and Goodman held firm that her reporting was accurate, even in spite of Dorian’s denial[23] and evidence against her claims[24].
Notable Quote:
“I have learned this about the fanatical bitcoiners: they will see this all in a different light once they hit puberty.”
5. Joe Manchin
politico.com
Of course, not all politicians are as receptive to bitcoin as Congressman Polis. Enter US Senator Joe Manchin, who wrote a letter to federal regulators in February, calling for an outright ban[25] of the digital currency.
While the bitcoin community may not be swayed so easily, news of a politician like Manchin speculating that bitcoin could hurt the US economy undoubtedly cast the cryptocurrency in a negative light for many Americans.
Notable Quote:
“There is no doubt average American consumers stand to lose by transacting in bitcoin.”
6. Jamie Dimon
dealbook.nytimes.com
It’s no secret that bitcoin has big banks, and their executives, a bit rattled.
Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan, was not shy about his feelings towards the digital currency this year. His company released an eight-page report bashing bitcoin[26] in February, and Dimon made public comments ridiculing the technology.
“[Bitcoin is] a terrible store of value. It could be replicated over and over.”
7. Seng Song Cheng
news.cn
China’s stance on bitcoin caused considerable uncertainty in the industry at beginning of the year. The People’s Bank of China was averse to the idea of the digital currency, but ambiguity[27] about actual regulatory decisions led to market speculation.
“Bitcoin is merely a utopia for technology supremacists and absolute liberalists.”
8. Danny Brewster
twitter.com
All eyes were tuned to Cyprus in February, where the world’s first brick-and-mortar bitcoin portal[29] opened to offer residents bank-like services for bitcoin.
It wasn’t long until Neo & Bee, the company running the operation, faced allegations of fraud and shareholders saw the value of their holdings plummet[30]. In the fallout, Brewster faced arrest charges as the company’s CEO, and community members felt that he had more excuses[31] than answers about what happened behind closed doors.
Notable Quote:
“Yes, I bought a Bentley back in December, before any issues with MtGox and getting bitcoins out. Anyone that understands the price difference in cars between Cyprus and the UK they will understand exactly why I sold my own bitcoins to buy the car.”
