Bitcoin Daily Discussion, January 11, 2018

Daily Discussion, January 11, 2018
�� $4mil will fund MDMA trials for PTSD; marked 'Breakthrough Therapy' by FDA. Pineapple Fund is matching MAPS donations 1:1. Reddit, let's make history by crowdfunding an incredible treatment for PTSD, in bitcoin!
Buy the dip
Bitcoin Investors be like
Charlie Lee: Korea bans Bitcoin FUD is the new China bans Bitcoin FUD.
FORBES: "South Korea Is Not Banning Bitcoin Trade, Financial Regulators Clarify".
Merged PR to Bitcoin repo: SegWit wallet support
Day 9: I will post this guide regularly until available solutions like SegWit & order batching are mass adopted, the mempool is empty once again, and TX fees are low. Do you want low TX fees? This is how you get low TX fees
Merge #11403: SegWit wallet support
Ran Neuner says reports of ban are FUD, they are only further they are auditing the quality of the KYC. A ban is not on the table.
South Korea Ministry of Finance: "We Dot Not Support / Agree With Ministry of Justice's Proposal on Cryptocurrency Trading Ban.
"Bitcoin itself cannot scale to have every single financial transaction in the world be broadcast to everyone and included in the block chain. There needs to be a secondary level of payment systems which is lighter weight and more efficient." -Hal Finney, Dec 2010
Good old Jamie D...
Dip News: South Korea's major cryptocurreny exchanges raided by police, tax authorities
Korean Journalist : « Crypto Ban is not on the cards. Too many investors are invested, implications would be devastating. Korea has a booming …
Exciting times ahead: Even SegWit pull request from Core looks now more positive
To all the Warren Buffett's disciples, Binance CEO nailed it
I made a quick little comic about a joke me and my friend thought up
Some of the tools I use to trade Crypto.
How LN Works, info-graphic. (We should start to familiarize ourselves to LN now that it's on mainnet (e.g. TorGuard).)
Couldn’t settle for a license plate?
South Korean Blue House (like the US White House) is being bombarded with complaints from citizens about the Ministry of Justice's premature statement on possible crackdown on cryptocurrency trading.
Kodak's plan
Goldman Sachs Caves: Bitcoin Is Money
This just in!
@jfeldis: PSA. You can import your BitPay seed into @SamouraiWallet and send coins for 1/3 of the lowest bitpay fee option. (I just did it and cleared on first block) saved $150

Daily Discussion, January 11, 2018

Posted: 11 Jan 2018 02:00 AM PST

Please utilize this sticky thread for all general Bitcoin discussions! If you see posts on the front page or /r/Bitcoin/new which are better suited for this daily discussion thread, please help out by directing the OP to this thread instead. Thank you!

Daily threads are fast paced! If you don't get an answer to your question, you can try phrasing it differently or commenting again tomorrow.

The numbers: 68% (MDMA) versus 25% (placebo)

They've already conducted Phase 2 studies in the US, Canada, Israel, and Switzerland. After a comprehensive therapeutic process involving preparatory sessions, MDMA-assisted therapy sessions, and non-drug therapy sessions, 61% no longer met the criteria for PTSD. This improved to 68% after a year. Of those who met the criteria, many experienced significant reductions in symptoms. This is compared to only 25% for the placebo group, who received all the therapy, but with a sugar pill instead of MDMA.

For most people, the benefits are lasting. MAPS conducted one long-term outcome study, evaluating patients ~3.5 years after the last MDMA-assisted sessions. Average benefits even increased slightly over time.

"The MDMA sessions were the first time I'd ever felt love for myself. It was the first time I'd ever felt happy. I hugged my therapist and said 'Thank you.'"

After MAPS' studies, the FDA granted 'Breakthrough Therapy Designation' to MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.

Now they need to conduct Phase 3 trials, which are far costlier due to requirements for an increased sample size, groups, etc, even through the stage with highest failure rates (Phase 2) is already over. MAPS has achieved the extra-ordinary journey of bringing MDMA-assisted psychotherapy all the way to Phase 3; a drug that pharmas will never touch because it will disrupt their recurring revenue streams of SSRIs.

Phase 3

Phase 3 will cost about $25 million. They've raised $17 million already ($1 mil from PF included), and need another $8 million to get to the finish line.

I have never donated to MAPS (or even heard of them) before starting the Pineapple Fund. PF donated $1 million, and that inspired another anonymous donator to give another $1 million in bitcoin. To whoever you are, you're amazing, and you are inspiring. <3

I believe we, the cryptocurrency community, can fully fund Phase 3 trials. Prescription MDMA could be a gift to this world from the bitcoin community.

If the trial succeeds, it could be approved as early as 2021. MAPS has created a public benefit corporation, fully owned by the non-profit, that would sell MDMA post-approval. This is a scalable and financially sustainable structure that could kickstart a renaissance in research into the therapeutic applications of many different psychedelics.

Pineapple Fund will double the value of every donation to MAPS from today until March 10th, up to $4 million.

You can donate with bitcoin. It's like donating bitcoin for $30,000 each!

http://www.maps.org/donate-redirect/cryptocurrency

https://blockchain.info/address/1MnCMV9DyVdDZWMfjymbLDKv48UKhoXHEz

You can also donate with legacy payment systems like credit cards or PayPal, and PF will also match that donation.

Your donations are tax deductible (if you're a US taxpayer), and you don't even have to pay capital gains tax. Ask for a receipt if so.

Let's make MDMA medicine a reality, and give the gift of an enjoyable life to those suffering from PTSD. If you believe that psychedelic drugs can have incredible therapeutic potential, then I believe this is one of the highest impact projects today.

And let's do it with cryptocurrency :)

submitted by /u/PineappleFund
[link] [comments]

Buy the dip

Posted: 10 Jan 2018 08:58 PM PST

submitted by /u/awadabdel
[link] [comments]

Bitcoin Investors be like

Posted: 10 Jan 2018 05:33 PM PST

submitted by /u/UniqueUsername642
[link] [comments]

Charlie Lee: Korea bans Bitcoin FUD is the new China bans Bitcoin FUD.

Posted: 10 Jan 2018 10:42 PM PST

submitted by /u/Miladran
[link] [comments]

FORBES: "South Korea Is Not Banning Bitcoin Trade, Financial Regulators Clarify".

Posted: 11 Jan 2018 02:34 AM PST

submitted by /u/domelane
[link] [comments]

Merged PR to Bitcoin repo: SegWit wallet support

Posted: 10 Jan 2018 11:09 PM PST

submitted by /u/pikadrew
[link] [comments]

Day 9: I will post this guide regularly until available solutions like SegWit & order batching are mass adopted, the mempool is empty once again, and TX fees are low. Do you want low TX fees? This is how you get low TX fees

Posted: 10 Jan 2018 06:00 PM PST

Since /u/Bastiat didn't post this today, I would like to post it again because it's necessary.

TL/DR

Bitcoin users can help lower transaction fees and improve Bitcoin by switching to SegWit addresses and encourage wallets and exchanges to do the same.

SUMMARY

Segregated Witness (SegWit) was activated on the Bitcoin network August 24 2017 as a soft fork that is backward compatible with previous Bitcoin transactions (Understanding Segregated Witness). Since that time wallets and exchanges have been slow to deploy SegWit, some admitting in December 2017 that they have not even started work on integrating it. Others, such as Zebpay in India have already implemented SegWit and are reaping the benefits of reduced transaction fees. If Bitcoin users demand SegWit now it will temporarily relieve the transaction backlog while more even more advanced solutions such as Lightning are developed.

Batching is another great way that exchanges can reduce their fees. See: Saving up to 80% on Bitcoin transaction fees by batching payments. Despite the benefits of batching, some exchanges have been slow to implement it.

There is an opportunity now for all Bitcoin users to individually contribute to help strengthen and improve the Bitcoin protocol. At this point, the process requires a bit of work/learning on the part of the user, but in doing so you'll actually be advancing Bitcoin and leaving what could turn out to be a multi-generational legacy for humanity.

MEMPOOL/SEGWIT STATISTICS

BitInfoCharts.com - Median Transaction Fees - $16.44 USD per TX
Blockchain.info - Unconfirmed Transactions - 180k unconfirmed TX's
SegWit Charts - 10.66% SegWit TX's

BACKGROUND

On Dec 18 Subhan Nadeem has pointed out that:

If every transaction in the Bitcoin network was a SegWit transaction today, blocks would contain up to 8,000 transactions, and the 180,000 unconfirmed transaction backlog would disappear instantly. Transaction fees would be almost non-existent once again.

A few thousand Bitcoin users from /r/Bitcoin switching to making their next transactions SegWit transactions will help take pressure off the network now, and together we can encourage exchanges/wallets to rapidly deploy SegWit for everyone ASAP. Let's make 80%+ SegWit happen fast. You can help by taking one or more of the action steps below.

ACTION STEPS

If your favorite wallet has not yet implemented SegWit, kindly ask them to do so immediately. In the meantime start using a wallet that has already implemented SegWit.
If your favorite exchange has not yet implemented SegWit, try to avoid making any further purchases of Bitcoin at that exchange and politely inform them that if they do not enable SegWit within 30-days they will lose your business. Sign-up for an account at a SegWit deployed/ready exchange now and initiate the verification process so you'll be ready to bail
Help educate newcomers to Bitcoin about the transaction issue, steer them towards SegWit wallets from day one, and encourage them to avoid ever purchasing Bitcoin through non-SegWit ready exchanges that are harming Bitcoin.
Spread the word! Contact individuals, websites, etc that use Bitcoin, explain the benefits of SegWit to everyone, and request they make the switch

IMPORTANT NOTE: The mempool is currently still quite backlogged. If you are a long-term holder and really have no reason to move your Bitcoins at this time, wait until the mempool starts to clear and transaction fees go down before moving your Bitcoins to a SegWit address or SegWit friendly exchange.

SELECTED TOP EXCHANGES BY BATCHING & SEGWIT STATUS

Exchange	Segwit Status	Batching Status
Binance	NOT READY	Yes
Bitfinex	Ready	Yes
Bitonic	Ready	Yes
Bitstamp	Deployed	Yes
Bittrex	?	Yes
Coinbase/GDAX	NOT READY	No
Gemini	Ready	No
HitBTC	Deployed	Yes
Huboi	?	?
Kraken	Deployed	Yes
LocalBitcoins	Deployed	Yes
OKEx	?	?
Poloniex	?	Yes
QuadrigaCX	Deployed	Yes
Shapeshift	Deployed	No

Note: all exchanges that have deployed SegWit are currently only sending to p2sh SegWit addresses for now. No exchange will send to a bech32 address like the ones that Electrum generates

Source 1: BitcoinCore.org

Source 2: /r/Bitcoin

Official statements from exchanges:

SELECTED WALLETS THAT HAVE SEGWIT ALREADY

Make sure you have a SegWit capable wallet installed and ready to use for your next bitcoin transaction

SegWit Enabled Wallets	Wallet Type
Ledger Nano S	Hardware
Trezor	Hardware
Electrum	Desktop
Armory	Desktop
Edge	iOS
GreenAddress	iOS
BitWallet	iOS
Samourai	Android
GreenBits	Android
Electrum	Android
SegWitAddress.org	Paper

FAQs

Where can I get a fee estimate for a SegWit transaction?

Here's a good website that could help.

How can I get a SegWit address from my Bitcoin Core wallet?

Currently, Bitcoin Core hasn't implemented a way to get a SegWit address using the GUI. But you can get a receiving SegWit address using the debug console. To do it, go to the "Receive" tab and copy a receiving address (it starts with 1). Then just click Help > Debug window > Console and type: addwitnessaddress addr
You should replace addr with the receiving address that you just copied. Tap enter and you'll get an address (starts with 3). This is your SegWit address. You can use this one to receive funds. When you spend from this address, it will be a SegWit transaction. Easy huh?

If I'm a HODLer, will it help to send my BTC to a SegWit address now?

No, just get ready now so that your NEXT transaction will be to a SegWit wallet. Avoid burdening the network with any unneccessary transactions for now.

Why is SegWit adoption going so slowly? Is it a time-consuming process, is there risk involved, is it laziness, or something else?

SegWit will require some extra work to be done right and securely. Also, most exchanges let the user pay the fee, and up to now users have not been overly concerned about fees so for some exchanges it hasn't been a priority.

Once Segwit is FULLY adopted, what do we see the fees/transaction times going to?

Times stay the same - fees will go down. How much and for how long depends on what the demand for transactions will be at that time.

What determines Bitcoin transaction fees, to begin with?

Fees are charged per byte of data and are bid up by users. Miners will typically include the transaction with the highest fee/byte first.

Can you please tell me how to move my Bitcoins to SegWit address in Bitcoin core wallet? Does the sender or receiver matter?

The Bitcoin core wallet does not yet have a GUI for its SegWit functionality. Download Electrum v3.0.5 to generate a SegWit address.

A transaction between two SegWit addresses is a SegWit transaction.

A transaction sent from a SegWit address to a non-SegWit address is a SegWit transaction.

A transaction sent from a non-SegWit address to a SegWit address is NOT a SegWit transaction. You can send a SegWit Tx if the sending address is a SegWit address.

Source: HowToToken

What wallet are you using to "batch your sends"? And how can I do that?

Using Electrum, the "Tools" menu option: "Pay to many".

Just enter your receive addresses and the amounts for each, and you can send multiple transactions for nearly the price of one.

Why doesn't the Core Wallet yet support SegWit?

The Core Wallet supports SegWit, but its GUI doesn't. The next update will likely have GUI support built-in

Why isn't a large exchange like Coinbase SegWit ready & deployed when much smaller exchanges already are? Why do they default to high fees? Where is the leadership there?

Draw your own conclusions based on their own words:

March 2016 - Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has reservations about Core

Dec 2017 - Coinbase is STILL working on Segwit

P2SH/bech32 FAQs

What are the two SegWit address formats and why do they exist?

It's been a challenge for wallet developers to implement SegWit in a way that users can easily and without too much disruption migrate from legacy to SegWit addresses. The first wallets to enable SegWit addresses – Ledger, Trezor, Core, GreenAddress – use so-called "nested P2SH addresses." This means they take the existing Pay 2 Script Hash address – starting with a "3" – and put a SegWit address into it. This enables a high grade of compatibility to existing wallets as every wallet is familiar with these addresses, but it is a workaround which results in SegWit transactions needing around 10 percent more space than they otherwise would.

Electrum 3.0 was the first wallet to use bech32 addresses instead of nested p2sh addresses.

Source: BTCManager.com

What is the difference in address format between SegWit address formats P2SH and bech32?

P2SH starts with "3..."

bech32 starts with "bc1..."

Which addresses can I send from/to?

P2SH Segwit addresses can be sent to using older Bitcoin software with no Segwit support. This supports backwards compatibility

bech32 can only be sent to from newer Bitcoin software that support bech32. Ex: Electrum

Source: BitcoinTalk.org

Why did ThePirateBay put up two Bitcoin donation addresses on their frontpage, one bech32 and one not?

The address starting with a "3..." is a P2SH SegWit address that can be sent BTC from any Bitcoin address including a legacy address. The address starting with a "bc1..." is a bech32 SegWit address that can only be sent to from newer wallets that support bech32.

SEGWIT BLOG GUIDES

PREVIOUS DAY'S THREADS

There's lots of excellent info in the comments of the previous threads: