General – DGC

SilentVault launches aiming to ‘silence the blockchain’

Julia Dixon on August 25, 2014

The new technology was developed to provide peer-to-peer payments and exchanges with anonymity among a growing variety of asset classes. SilentVault is a wallet application which allows the user to bring in Bitcoin or Litecoin, spend them as Silent Bitcoin or Silent Litecoin, and thereby silence the block chain on their original crypto-coin. Other currencies have been developed into SilentVault assets, such as Silent Silver.

SilentVault is a Voucher-Safe based technology. What you hold and trade with your SilentVault wallet are vouchers representing assets, not the assets themselves. While this is obvious for gold or silver, which are not digital assets, the distinction is important for bitcoin. The wallet contains vouchers, which are cryptographically signed digital bearer certificates analogous to coins. It also holds receipts for incoming or outgoing payments, which provide a downloadable (and deletable) transaction history.

The SilentVault website details the important differences between a SilentVault wallet and a regular crypto-currency wallet.

In the Voucher-Safe system, assets are held by trusted voucher Issuers. Some information on backing assets can be found here. However, out of what I imagine is a perceived necessity, there is little information available on Issuers or those behind the technology.

SilentVault is a virtual enterprise operated by technology and business professionals with a total of five decades experience in digital currency systems. The user agreement for all users of SilentVault, including the SilentVault team members, prevents us from disclosing names, addresses, and other particulars.

This technology is aimed at the privacy conscious who want to use crypto-currencies without the public record on the blockchain and those who have been waiting for the next generation of digital gold currencies.

A wealth of information on the functioning of the wallet can be found via the wallet’s website.

Bitcoin Swaps

Anna MacLachlan on August 11, 2014

Can bitcoin swaps pave the way for the mainstreaming of bitcoin?

The popular view of bitcoin has come a long way since Steve Forbes’ “Whatever it is, it’s not money!” evaluation. To many would be users and investors, however, bitcoin still proves to be a less than safe investment. There is, however, a possible solution: Bitcoin swaps may prove a viable and appealing option for merchants and investors intrigued by bitcoin but wary of its volatility. Bitcoin swaps allow parties otherwise reluctant to take part in a bitcoin transaction by minimizing risk.

Cryptor Trust, Inc. Offering Global Bitcoin Investment through Cryptor Latam Inc.

Carl Mullan on May 31, 2014

For less than twenty dollars’ worth of Bitcoin anyone can be part of the current surge in global Bitcoin growth.

Between the 21st of May and 6th of June 2014, the global investment company Cryptor Trust Inc., will be offering private shares in its Latin American affiliated company, Cryptor Latam Inc. also known as CLI. This offering has been arranged by the asset management company Cornupia Capital Ltd.

Bitcoin – A Jack of All Trades is the Master of None

Ken Griffith on February 6, 2014

As cybercommerce begins it will lead inevitably to cyber-money.— James Davidson, The Sovereign Individual, 1996

The hype surrounding Bitcoin has gone off the charts in the past year. For those of us who have been involved with digital currency systems since the 1990’s, it is interesting to see how people caught up in the hype think Bitcoin is wonderful but in many cases cannot clearly see the reason why. Other enthusiasts think that Bitcoin is the ultimate solution for all payments.

A Customer’s Review of Kraken

David Sant on February 4, 2014

Kraken, by Payward, is a new bitcoin/altcoin trading market based in Sweden, which has been trending on Angel List for the past few months.

Kraken allows members to fund their accounts and trade using Euro, USD, Won, Bitcoin, Ripple, Litecoin, Namecoin and Ven.

Kraken’s trading books allow USD trades for five crypto-currencies, as well as a pairing of Bitcoin with Litecoin, and trading Bitcoins against the other two fiat currencies (Euros and Won).

Networks will form and needs will be met. The mechanics of Bitcoin adoption.

Julia Dixon on December 23, 2013

Bitcoin is fast, secure, nearly free, has a stable supply and has a high level of user control… its just plain better than the banks. You have to wonder why the hell everyone isn’t using it? But the Bitcoin economy is still fragmented and dependent on payment processors and exchangers.

Merchants accept bitcoin only to convert it back into their local fiat currency, and who can blame them? There just aren’t enough bitcoin accepting businesses out there and they have suppliers and landlords to pay. But bitcoin was meant to be a peer-to-peer currency, not a peer to exchanger to bank to bank to exchanger to peer currency.

Crypto will win the currency wars, but it may be a while before it reaches your home town. Bitcoin is better, but change is hard.

Your bitcoins are good on the Seventh Continent

Julia Dixon on November 19, 2013

It’s a business platform, a digital commodity market, a business game and an autonomous economy that may just work its way into the ‘real’ world. Seventh Continent is a 3D virtual world where you can set up and run a business for real profit in Bitcoin or fiat.

“The idea is to offer a new ‘continent’, the ‘Seventh Continent’, to the Bitcoin community where Bitcoin users can do fair and corruption free business,” explains CEO Gregory Harmati. The Seventh Continent is an “independent, free market restricted only by supply and demand”. It aims to create an economy based on freedom, transparency and fair play.

What a landmark legal case from mid-1700s Scotland tells us about the fungibility and the very nature of money– and why we should care in light of the recent CoinValidation controversy.

Julia Dixon on November 18, 2013

As posted to the Bitcoin subreddit by goonsack

Although the case in question (Crawfurd v. The Royal Bank) happened in the mid-1700s, I think it is highly relevant and bears nicely on the recent controversy surrounding Coinvalidation. This post will also be of interest to anyone fascinated by the history and/or theory of money.

While this particular case involved paper banknotes (which arguably are irredeemably flawed) rather than a ‘hard currency’, it still illustrates nicely the rationale behind a decision which impacted a widely used currency at the time. Of primary consideration in this case was how its resolution would affect the usability of the currency (i.e. a facet from which currency largely derives its value).

As we’re probably all aware of by now, CoinValidation’s plan, if successfully implemented, would presumably lead to the blacklisting of some coins based on their past transfer history (e.g. having at some point been sent to/from deep web contraband marketplaces, having been paid as ransom to malware operators like those of CryptoLocker, having been stolen, having been allegedly ‘laundered’, having been associated with scams/ponzis, &c). In effect, this would destroy the fungibility of bitcoins. Some ‘clean’ coins would be easier to spend and transact with, while other ‘less clean’ or downright ‘tainted’ coins would be more difficult to use. Thus we would be left with a difficult-to-navigate and frustrating-to-use system whereby some coins are worth more than others (due to their varying spendability). And this largely defeats the purpose of a currency as a facile medium of exchange in the first place.

Bitcoin Money Supply and Money Creation

Radoslav Albrecht on September 17, 2013

Many articles mention, that the limited Bitcoin money supply is a major advantage of this digital currency. The reasoning usually goes like this. Since Bitcoins can only be created through mining and there is an upper limit of 21 million, Bitcoin is supposed to be inflation proof. This article for instance says, Bitcoin “theoretically eliminates inflation”. If this was true, Bitcoins would not lose purchasing power. The Bitcoins I own today would buy me the same amount of goods and services tomorrow. Or a larger amount in the case of deflation.

Bitcoin is “Rechnungseinheiten” … what does that mean?

Julia Dixon on August 21, 2013

Frank Schaeffler, a member of German parliament’s Finance Committee has issued a statement recognizing Bitcoin as “Rechnungseinheiten,” which translates to “units of account”. Many news sources are reporting that this makes Bitcoin ‘private money’ or ‘legal tender’ in Germany.

But what exactly does the designation of “Rechnungseinheiten” mean for German Bitcoin users and businesses?

Via Pymnts.com …

The German parliament stopped short of granting bitcoin full currency status on August 19, but recognized bitcoins as “units of account” when it formally issued regulations for the popular virtual currency.