Bitcoin Daily Discussion, April 08, 2018

Daily Discussion, April 08, 2018
/r/Bitcoin FAQ - Newcomers please read
Legendary story by John McAfee
Twitter finally suspended the compromised "@Bitcoin" account
Saw this HODLER at the library a couple days ago...
Time for this fella once again I guess... :P
The convenience store down my house just got more convenient by adding this little puppy.. really did help me a couple of times I needed an instant emergency cash widthrow :)
In Venezuela where minimum wage is around around 4 USD per month, people is trading 3,000,000 USD per week (LocalBitcoin).
Bought 1000 USD in bitcoin
The problem with international wire transfers is far greater than just waiting 3 to 5 business days
The american youth...
Tested Eclair Android Lightning Wallet
Sassy Satoshi
CoinPrice at your Macbook-Touch Bar
Article called "Has Bitcoin had its day?" turns out to be sponsored content. Bitcoin's anti-marketing team hard at work!
Small to medium term boost for BTC?
Gemini increased their fees - now looking for an alternative way to buy weekly. Any suggestions?
Found in Portovenere (tiny town in Italy)
Éclair wallet app will be down for a bit. ACINQ lost their signing keys. Facepalm worthy.
4th grader said to a 5th grader on the playground
PSA: We have disabled the mainnet Eclair Wallet Android app from Google Play
The bull, 1878 - Ferdinand Hodler
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) Announces New Cryptocurrency Tax Laws
Hating On Craig Wright Has Become Crypto's Feel-Good Uniting Force -

Daily Discussion, April 08, 2018

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 03:00 AM PDT

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.

Welcome to the /r/Bitcoin Sticky FAQ

You've probably been hearing a lot about Bitcoin recently and are wondering what's the big deal? Most of your questions should be answered by the resources below but if you have additional questions feel free to ask them in the comments.

Some great introductions for new users are My first bitcoin, Bitcoin explained and ELI5 Bitcoin. Also, the following videos are a good starting point for understanding how bitcoin works and a little about its long term potential:

Also have to give mention to Lopp.net, the Princeton crypto series and James D'Angelo's Bitcoin 101 Blackboard series. Some excellent writing on Bitcoin's value proposition and future can be found at the Satoshi Nakamoto Institute. Bitcoin statistics can be found here, here and here. Developer resources can be found here, here and here. Peer-reviewed research papers can be found here. Potential upcoming protocol improvements here. Scaling resources here. The number of times Bitcoin was declared dead by the media can be found here (LOL!), and of course Satoshi Nakamoto's whitepaper that started it all! :)

Key properties of bitcoin

Limited Supply - There will only ever be 21,000,000 bitcoins created and they are issued in a predictable fashion, you can view the inflation schedule here. Once they are all issued Bitcoin will be truly deflationary. The halving countdown can be found here.
Open source - Bitcoin code is fully auditable. You can read the source code yourself here.
Accountable - The public ledger is transparent, all transactions are seen by everyone.
Decentralized - Bitcoin is globally distributed across thousands of nodes with no single point of failure and as such can't be shut down similar to how Bittorrent works.
Censorship resistant - No one can prevent you from interacting with the bitcoin network and no one can censor, alter or block transactions that they disagree with, see Operation Chokepoint.
Push system - There are no chargebacks in bitcoin because only the person who owns the address where the bitcoins reside has the authority to move them.
Low fee scaling - On chain transaction fees depend on network demand and how much priority you wish to assign to the transaction. Most wallets calculate on chain fees automatically but you can view current fees here. On chain fees have risen recently due to network demand however instant micropayments are on the way via the Lightning Network, a second layer scaling solution currently rolling out on the Bitcoin mainnet. You can even run a node on a Raspberry Pi :)
Borderless - No country can stop it from going in/out, even in areas currently unserved by traditional banking as the ledger is globally distributed.
Trustless - Bitcoin solved the Byzantine's Generals Problem which means nobody needs to trust anybody for it to work.
Pseudonymous - No need to expose personal information when purchasing with cash or transacting.
Secure - Encrypted cryptographically and can't be brute forced or confiscated with proper key management such as hardware wallets.
Programmable - Individual units of bitcoin can be programmed to transfer based on certain criteria being met
Nearly instant - From a few seconds to a few minutes depending on need for confirmations. After a few confirmations transactions are irreversible.
Peer-to-peer - No intermediaries with a cut, no need for trusted third parties.
Portable - Bitcoins are digital so they are easier to move than cash or gold. They can even be transported by simply remembering a string of words for wallet recovery.
Scalable - Each bitcoin is divisible down to 8 decimals allowing it to grow in value while still accommodating micro-transactions.
Designed Money - Bitcoin was created to fit all the fundamental properties of money better than gold or fiat

Where can I buy bitcoins?

Bitcoin.org, BuyBitcoinWorldwide.com and Howtobuybitcoin.io are helpful sites for beginners. You can buy or sell any amount of bitcoin and there are several easy methods to purchase bitcoin with cash, credit card or bank transfer. Some of the more popular resources are below, also, check out the bitcoinity exchange resources for a larger list of options for purchases.

Bank Transfer	Credit / Debit card	Cash
Gemini	Bitstamp	LocalBitcoins
Bitstamp	Bitit	Mycelium LocalTrader
BitFinex	Cex.io	LibertyX
Cex.io	CoinMama	WallofCoins
Xapo	Spectrocoin	BitcoinOTC
Kraken	Luno	BitQuick
itBit
HitBTC
Bitit
Bisq (decentralized)
Luno
Spectrocoin

Here is a listing of local ATMs. If you would like your paycheck automatically converted to bitcoin use Bitwage.

Note: Bitcoins are valued at whatever market price people are willing to pay for them in balancing act of supply vs demand. Unlike traditional markets, bitcoin markets operate 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Preev is a useful site that that shows how much various denominations of bitcoin are worth in different currencies. Alternatively you can just Google "1 bitcoin in (your local currency)".

Securing your bitcoins

With bitcoin you can "Be your own bank" and personally secure your bitcoins OR you can use third party companies aka "Bitcoin banks" which will hold the bitcoins for you.

If you prefer to "Be your own bank" and have direct control over your coins without having to use a trusted third party, there are many software wallet options here. If you want easy and secure storage without having to learn computer security best practices, then a hardware wallet such as the Trezor or Ledger is recommended. A more advanced option is to secure them yourself using paper wallets generated offline. Some popular mobile and desktop wallet options are listed below and most are cross platform.

Android	iOs	Desktop
Samouari	BreadWallet	Electrum

Another interesting use case for physical storage/transfer is the Opendime. Opendime is a small USB stick that allows you to spend Bitcoin by physically passing it along so it's anonymous and tangible like cash.

If you prefer to let third party "Bitcoin banks" manage your coins, try Gemini but be aware you may not be in control of your private keys in which case you would have to ask permission to access your funds and be exposed to third party risk.

Note: For increased security, use Two Factor Authentication (2FA) everywhere it is offered, including email!

2FA requires a second confirmation code to access your account, usually from a text message or app, making it much harder for thieves to gain access. Google Authenticator and Authy are the two most popular 2FA services, download links are below. Make sure you create backups of your 2FA codes.

Google Auth	Authy
Android	Android
iOS	iOS

Where can I spend bitcoins?

Check out spendabit or bitcoin directory for some good options, some of the more commons ones are listed below.

Store	Product
Gyft	Gift cards for hundreds of retailers including Amazon, Target, Walmart, Starbucks, Whole Foods, CVS, Lowes, Home Depot, iTunes, Best Buy, Sears, Kohls, eBay, GameStop, etc.
Steam, HumbleBundle, Games Planet, itch.io, g2g and kinguin	For when you need to get your game on
Microsoft	Xbox games, phone apps and software
Spendabit, Overstock, The Bitcoin Directory and BazaarBay	Retail shopping with millions of results
ShakePay	Generate one time use Visa cards in seconds
NewEgg and Dell	For all your electronics needs
Bitwa.la, Coinbills, Piixpay, Bitbill.eu, Bylls, Coins.ph, Bitrefill, LivingRoomofSatoshi, Hyphen.to, Coinsfer, More #1, #2	Bill payment
Menufy, Takeaway, Thuisbezorgd NL, Pizza For Coins	Takeout delivered to your door!
Expedia, Cheapair, Lot, Destinia, BTCTrip, Abitsky, SkyTours, Fluege the Travel category on Gyft and 9flats	For when you need to get away
BitHost	VPS service
Cryptostorm, Mullvad, and PIA	VPN services
Namecheap, Porkbun	For new domain name registration
Stampnik	Discounted USPS Priority, Express, First-Class mail postage
Reddit Gold	Premium membership which can be gifted to others

Coinmap and AirBitz are helpful to find local businesses accepting bitcoins. A good resource for UK residents is at wheretospendbitcoins.co.uk.

There are also lots of charities which accept bitcoin donations, such as Wikipedia, United Way, ACLU and the EFF. You can find a longer list here.

Merchant Resources

There are several benefits to accepting bitcoin as a payment option if you are a merchant;

1-3% savings over credit cards or PayPal.
No chargebacks (final settlement in 10 minutes as opposed to 3+ months).
Accept business from a global customer base.
Increased privacy.
Convert 100% of the sale to the currency of your choice for deposit to your account, or choose to keep a percentage of the sale in bitcoin if you wish to begin accumulating it.

If you are interested in accepting bitcoin as a payment method, there are several options available;

BTCPay
Square cash
Stripe
Coinify
Wyre
GoCoin
Bitaps
Mycelium Gear (direct to your wallet)
Blockonomics (direct to your wallet)

Can I mine bitcoin?

Mining bitcoins can be a fun learning experience, but be aware that you will most likely operate at a loss. Newcomers are often advised to stay away from mining unless they are only interested in it as a hobby similar to folding at home. If you want to learn more about mining you can read more here. Still have mining questions? The crew at /r/BitcoinMining would be happy to help you out.

If you want to contribute to the bitcoin network by hosting the blockchain and propagating transactions you can run a full node using this setup guide. Bitseed is an easy option for getting set up. You can view the global node distribution here.

Earning bitcoins

Just like any other form of money, you can also earn bitcoins by being paid to do a job.

Site	Description
WorkingForBitcoins, Bitwage, XBTfreelancer, Cryptogrind, Bitlancerr, Coinality, Bitgigs, /r/Jobs4Bitcoins, Rein Project	Freelancing
OpenBazaar, Purse.io, Bitify, /r/Bitmarket, 21 Market	Marketplaces
Streamium.io, XOtika.tv NSFW, /r/GirlsGoneBitcoin NSFW	Video Streaming
Bitasker, BitforTip	Tasks
Supload.com, SatoshiBox, JoyStream, File Army	File/Image Sharing
CoinAd, A-ads, Coinzilla.io	Advertising

You can also earn bitcoins by participating as a market maker on JoinMarket by allowing users to perform CoinJoin transactions with your bitcoins for a small fee (requires you to already have some bitcoins)

Bitcoin Projects

The following is a short list of ongoing projects that might be worth taking a look at if you are interested in current development in the bitcoin space.

Project	Description
Lightning Network, Amiko Pay, and Strawpay	Payment channels for network scaling
Blockstream, Rootstock and Drivechain	Sidechains
21, Inc.	Open source library for the machine payable web
ShapeShift.io	Trade between bitcoins and altcoins easily
Open Transactions, Counterparty, Omni, Open Assets, Symbiont and Chain	Financial asset platforms
Hivemind and Augur	Prediction markets
Mediachain	Decentralized media library
Tierion and Factom	Records & Titles on the blockchain
BitMarkets, DropZone, Beaver and Open Bazaar	Decentralized markets
Samourai and Dark Wallet - abandoned	Privacy-enhancing wallets
JoinMarket	CoinJoin implementation (Increase privacy and/or Earn interest on bitcoin holdings)
Coinffeine and Bisq	Decentralized bitcoin exchanges
Keybase and Bitrated	Identity & Reputation management
Telehash	Mesh networking
JoyStream	BitTorrent client with paid seeding
MORPHiS	Decentralized, encrypted internet
Storj and Sia	Decentralized file storage
Streamium	Pay in real time for on-demand services
Abra	Global P2P money transmitter network
bitSIM	PIN secure hardware token between SIM & Phone
Identifi	Decentralized address book w/ ratings system
BitGo	Multisig bitcoin API
Bitcore	Open source Bitcoin javascript library
Insight	Open source blockchain API
Leet	Kill your friends and take their money ;)

Bitcoin Units

One Bitcoin is quite large (hundreds of £/$/€) so people often deal in smaller units. The most common subunits are listed below:

Unit	Symbol	Value	Info
millibitcoin	mBTC	1,000 per bitcoin	SI unit for milli i.e. millilitre (mL) or millimetre (mm)
microbitcoin	μBTC	1,000,000 per bitcoin	SI unit for micro i.e microlitre (μL) or micrometre (μm)
bit	bit	1,000,000 per bitcoin	Colloquial "slang" term for microbitcoin
satoshi	sat	100,000,000 per bitcoin	Smallest unit in bitcoin, named after the inventor

For example, assuming an arbitrary exchange rate of $10000 for one Bitcoin, a $10 meal would equal:

0.001 BTC
1 mBTC
1,000 bits

For more information check out the Bitcoin units wiki.

Still have questions? Feel free to ask in the comments below or stick around for our weekly Mentor Monday thread. If you decide to post a question in /r/Bitcoin, please use the search bar to see if it has been answered before, and remember to follow the community rules outlined on the sidebar to receive a better response. The mods are busy helping manage our community so please do not message them unless you notice problems with the functionality of the subreddit. A complete list of bitcoin related subreddits can be found here

Note: This is a community created FAQ. If you notice anything missing from the FAQ or that requires clarification you can edit it here and it will be included in the next revision pending approval.

Welcome to the Bitcoin community and the new decentralized economy!

submitted by /u/BinaryResult
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Legendary story by John McAfee

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 10:49 PM PDT

submitted by /u/Sam767679
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Twitter finally suspended the compromised "@Bitcoin" account

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 12:35 AM PDT

submitted by /u/afilja
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Saw this HODLER at the library a couple days ago...

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 01:35 PM PDT

submitted by /u/losers_and_weirdos
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Time for this fella once again I guess... :P

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 12:40 AM PDT

submitted by /u/Hodl_it
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The convenience store down my house just got more convenient by adding this little puppy.. really did help me a couple of times I needed an instant emergency cash widthrow :)

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 03:01 PM PDT

submitted by /u/anislitim
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In Venezuela where minimum wage is around around 4 USD per month, people is trading 3,000,000 USD per week (LocalBitcoin).

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 06:17 PM PDT

Here you can see, living here btw...

https://coin.dance/volume/localbitcoins/VEF

(Exchange rate is around 300,000 VEF / USD)

PD: You can see my post history, have posted some post explaining the situation here...

submitted by /u/WorkingLime
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Bought 1000 USD in bitcoin

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 08:11 PM PDT

First timer here now time to hodl

submitted by /u/tunemeonside
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The problem with international wire transfers is far greater than just waiting 3 to 5 business days

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 11:59 PM PDT

The biggest and most overlooked problem with international wire transfers is not usually the time of 3-5 business days (which is a joke in the age of the internet) as for some reason people have become accustomed to this over time.

The bigger problem is the fact that once you initiate the transfer it dissapears from your bank and floats around the world through many correspondant banks. During this time neither you or your bank has any idea where your money is or when it will arrive. And if you need to know this info then you need to pay your bank a huge fee to trace this for you. You will only know the money has arrived once the person you sent the money to informs you it has arrived. You also never know the amount of fees that will be deducted along the way making it impossible to know the exact amount of money that will arrive in the recipients account.

This part in and of itself is the biggest joke and a far greater problem than the transfer time alone.

submitted by /u/slvbtc
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The american youth...

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 06:36 AM PDT

submitted by /u/NoGooderr
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Tested Eclair Android Lightning Wallet

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 09:47 AM PDT

tl;dr: I completed a successful LN payment on mainnet with an old Android tablet using a random node and random service.

Process:

Downloaded Eclair Wallet form the the Play Store on a $20 Android tablet (slow).
Created a bitcoin wallet with a 24 word seed.
Swiped left to see my regular bitcoin address (segwit).
Sent funds to the wallet, and waited 6 confirmations.
Swiped right to see the lightning wallet.
I selected to open a channel with an Acinq node, the makers of Eclair. There are other options, like Random node, scan a node URl, paste node URl. On purpose I selected a node that has nothing to do with the service I wanted to pay to. Opening a direct channel would have been too easy.
It started opening a channel, I could see the on chain transaction in the transaction history.
At this point the status of the channel was orange: opening channel.
After a few confirms the status changed to green: normal.
At this point I was ready to make LN transactions.
The wallet could see appr. 4000 channels.
I tried to buy credits on bitrefill, because they have a BTC LN payment option for mainnet. They also support LTC LN too btw.
I payed the invoice by scanning a QR code. Initially I thought the payment failed, because it took like 40 seconds or so to calculate a route and it must have been a complicated multi-hop route.
Finally the payment completed, and I got credited with the bitrefill product instantly. I could see the LN transaction in the transaction history as paid.
The routing fees were almost 1 cent, which is I think quite a lot for LN, but I must have used a bunch of hops to get there, which is why it took long to calculate the route initially.
I made more tests and then, closed the channel. This created an on-chain transaction and after confirmations the remaining LN bitcoins returned to the regular bitcoin wallet without a problem.

Learnings:

LN works as advertised, which is great news. You don't need to open a channel with the service you want to pay to directly. But if you do frequent transactions to them, it makes total sense to do so to speed up things, and to lower your fees even more.
The speed of your device matter when it comes to calculating the optimal route. Any desktop will be ok, but slow mobile devices may not be ideal for frequent on location payments.
Lots of hops may cause the fees to be significant, yet still extremely cheap.
In the current Eclair for Android wallet, you can't create an invoice yet. So you will only be able to send bitcoins on LN, not receive. This of course limits the capabilities of the wallet at this point, but still great if you want to pay a service regularly very fast from your mobile device.
You can obviously backup your bitcoin wallet seed (by writing it down), but not the LN channels. So you should not put too much funds into LN at this point with this wallet.

Generally, I'm really pleased with LN at this point. If wallets improve at this pace, within a few months we will have wallets that are ready for average people (non-geeks) to use, and we will have more and more services accepting LN bitcoins, because it's faster and safer for them then regular bitcoin transactions. It will be a very pleasant and safe experience for users.

Over the next 2 years I foresee gradual increase in demand for BTC from LN node operators who will fund large channels with the hope of collecting fees form millions of transactions.

submitted by /u/binarygold
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Sassy Satoshi

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 04:40 PM PDT

submitted by /u/reuhop
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CoinPrice at your Macbook-Touch Bar

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 06:38 AM PDT

submitted by /u/TiiJay
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Article called "Has Bitcoin had its day?" turns out to be sponsored content. Bitcoin's anti-marketing team hard at work!

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 11:41 PM PDT

submitted by /u/Godfreee
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Small to medium term boost for BTC?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 01:35 AM PDT

Observing the death throes of BCH, especially following the latest Twitter account news, and its consistent failure to rise above 0.1, I propose there is an impending collapse in Bcash price and a corresponding boost to BTC as the money flows back into the legitimate coin.

submitted by /u/BCashBCashBTrash
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Gemini increased their fees - now looking for an alternative way to buy weekly. Any suggestions?

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 06:37 PM PDT

I used to use gemini for my weekly buys, and I'm now fed up with their new fees. 1% is unreasonable. Any suggestions for an alternative?

submitted by /u/bobthereddituser
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Found in Portovenere (tiny town in Italy)

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 01:51 AM PDT