By: Marvin Raab, Columnist
Informer Media Group
The Bitcoin2013 Convention (http://bitcoin2013.com) offically kicked off on Friday with Bitcoin Foundation’s (http://bitcoinfoundation.org) acting Executive Director Peter Vessenes thanking Assistant Executive Directory Lindsay Holland for single-handedly coordinating the three-day 1000+ attendee convention in San Jose, CA. According to Vessenes, the Foundation has two paid employees; Holland and Lead Developer Gavin Andreesen. He explained that both employees are paid their respective salaries in Bitcoins. Vessenes also mentioned that they will soon have additional coworkers as the Foundation plans to hire a Senior and a Junior technologist, a federal lobbyist, and a full time Executive Director. The Board of Directors, currently with five members, will increase to seven and the Foundation will also be expanding with international chapters.
It was also officially announced that Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who claim to own one percent of the total number of Bitcoins, worth approximately $11 million, invested $1.5 million in BitInstant (http://www.bitinstant.com). BitInstant provides a means for individuals to exchange US Dollars for Bitcoins at tens of thousands of locations within the country at retail outlets such as Walmart and CVS drugstoress via Trustcash (http://trustcash.com) and ZipZap (http://zipzapinc.com).
The Winklevoss brothers, infamous due to their roles during Facebook’s infancy and portrayed in the “Social Network Movie”, were then introduced as the Keynote speakers. Their informal presentation was captivating as they presented slides stepping through the high level case for Bitcoin success. Their lead-off slide described a quote attributed to Ghandi, ”First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”. They discussed how Bitcoin cannot be ignored, especially after the recent financial crisis in Cypress, followed by how people first laughed in 1900 when fewer than 10 percent of families had electricty and how fewer than 10 percent of families owned a car in 1915. In 1960, fewer than 10 percent of families had a color TV and in 1990, fewer than 10 percent of families possessed a cell phone.
They continued by referring to a quote by Newsweek Columnist Cliff Stoll in 1995 mocking Amazon.com because of a lack of sales people and no trustworthy means to send money using the Internet. “…my local mall does more business in an afternoon than the entire Internet handles in a week”.
Finishing off the presentation, they referred to Skype and other Voice-Over-IP services essentially reducing the cost of long distance calls to zero and how 60 million Americans have no bank account. With the Bitcoin Network, only a connection to the Internet is required for any individual to have his own no-fee bank account regardless of how much, or how few Bitcoins he/she possesses. And, “the Bitcoin Network never sleeps”.
Segueing, some other newsworthy events occurred this week. The US Department of Homeland Security seized Mt. Gox’s Dwolla account alleging that Gox falsified statements on banking applications and paperwork. Mt. Gox has yet to comment publically. While the seizure is incovenient for many in the US as that was a popular means for depositing and withdrawing US Dollars with Gox, it appears that users are compensating using other methods such as BitInstant or using other Exchanges, such as Coinbase. The price of a Bitcoin dipped slightly on the News and rebounding and climbing even higher within a few days. Mt. Gox has also not publically commented further on Coilab’s $75 million lawsuit alleging breach of contract.
Gliph (https://gli.ph) announced that their iOS and Android Application facilitating secure communications between cellphone users now supports Bitcoin transactions between all their users. To transact in Bitcoins, both the Sender and Recipient must link their Gliph accounts to a Coinbase account.
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Marvin Raab is an independent network and technology consultant in the San Francisco Bay Area and spends much time with friends in Las Vegas. When not playing with technology, he spends his leisure time playing strategy board games, studying poker, and keeping up with current events. He’s started using the Internet for social purposes in 1981 and hasn’t stopped, yet. He may be reached at marv@bitcoin-buzz.com
