The new Ripple, a decentralized exchange, a payment system, and a currency all its own

Julia Dixon on February 5, 2013

RippleOut very soon, the new version of Ripple has has undergone a dramatic renovation.

Ripple was created by Ryan Fugger in 2006 as a trust network where people can grant each other credit, and anyone can ‘be their own bank’. The project has since been acquired by a team of developers including Mt. Gox creator Jed McCaleb. Ryan’s trust network is still there, but it is now one feature of a much expanded system.

The new features of the soon to be open source software include the possibility for a decentralized currency exchange, a p2p transaction network, “Gateways” for bringing other currencies into the system, and Ripples (XRP), a new digital currency.

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Matonis: Government Ban On Bitcoin Would Fail Miserably

Julia Dixon on January 29, 2013

Jon argues that Bitcoin was designed to operate ‘underground’ and that any ban would only draw a large amount of attention to the currency serving to strengthen it. “The demand for an item, in this case digital cash with user-defined levels of privacy, does not simply evaporate in the face of a jurisdictional ban.”

After all, since when has banning things actually worked??

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Coding in my Sleep: Dwolla Begins PayPal-Style Account Suspensions

Julia Dixon on January 25, 2013

Dwolla is a popular method of moving funds between USD and Bitcoin largely because they “claimed zero chance of chargebacks and appeared to be a small business run by decent people who weren’t necessarily Bitcoin-friendly but at least didn’t seem to be Bitcoin hostile.”

However it seems that Dwolla is going the way of PayPal and has now begun suspending accounts do to ‘suspicious activity’,  especially the accounts of user who it suspects are acting as a virtual currency exchange, forbidden in it user agreement.  And it seems this move may be due to regulatory pressure.

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Two Bitcoin Conferences in 2013

Julia Dixon on January 21, 2013

The two conferences will cover different topics and will be held in California and Vienna.

The first, sponsored by the Bitcoin Foundation, will be held in San Jose California on May 17-19 and is titled “The Future of Payments”. Discussion will be on Bitcoin technology, Bitcoin mining, Bitcoin business and regulatory issues.

The second, in Vienna November 1-3, is titled “unSYSTEM”. This conference, as Bitcoin Magazine put it, “is pushing even further in the direction of activism.” Many of the speakers  are known activist rather than Bitcoin developers or entrepreneurs.

IEEE: Ripple Credit System Could Help or Harm Bitcoin

Julia Dixon on January 16, 2013

I’ve been hearing a lot about the new version of Ripple, both excitement and criticism. while I have yet to read up on the specifics of the version due to out this month, I am both intrigued by the possibility of decentralized exchange and concerned with developer Ryan Fugger’s original goal for Ripple as ‘debt money without artificially imposed scarcity.’  I can’t imagine unlimited debt money as a serious competitor to Bitcoin, however, the IEEE seems to disagree with me. In the below review they speak with Ripple’s developers and beta testers.

“Within a few weeks, a new option will be available: a system called Ripple, which allows individuals to create credit and disburse it to people within a peer-to-peer social network. The project could be used to implement what many Bitcoiners have been asking for—a decentralized currency exchange. But if the more-ambitious parts of the design pan out, the credit created in Ripple could itself become a new form of digital currency and the first formidable competition for Bitcoin.”

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Bitcoin Non-Technical FAQ

Julia Dixon on January 4, 2013

Oleg Andreev, a software developer and Bitcoin blogger has compiled a list of non-technical answers to common Bitcoin questions.  It’s a good read for those new to Bitcoin or for anyone who wants a better understanding of how Bitcoin works without having to learn programing jargon.

The FAQ list covers common questions such as…

Who creates bitcoins?

How do I use Bitcoin?

What do miners do exactly?

How are transactions secured?

Is Bitcoin anonymous?

 

Read it here.