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Want to do something about the current failure of money? Start using Bitcoins. It'll be the biggest protest with the biggest impact in history.

http://www.weusecoins.com/

http://weusecoins.com/

"Bitcoin is the first digital currency that is completely distributed. The network is made up of users like yourself so no bank or payment processor is required between you and whoever you're trading with. This decentralization is the basis for Bitcoin's security and freedom."

21 Milion Bitcoins isn't really going to cut it for running a global economy, let alone running a small country.

When the US alone is has allocated over 750 Billion dollars of bailout and tacked it onto the Trillions of dollars in debt, Bitcoin is not even a possible solution. Anyone who thinks this is just going to jump to mainstream is fooling themselves. Hundreds of Millions of dollars would have to be spent adding bitcoins to every type of accounting system and that won't happen until it is mainstream, so it will be relegated to personal transactions and small outfits for most of it's life, however long.

"Bitcoin is the first digital currency that is completely distributed. The network is made up of users like yourself so no bank or payment processor is required between you and whoever you're trading with. This decentralization is the basis for Bitcoin's security and freedom."

I wonder how hard it is to track Bitcoin laundering considering that each wallet has over 100 different keys it can use in any given transaction...

Send me some bitcoins on 13jvPmUNSjXFvw5dUTTBS116UghJJi438s and I'll tell you.

I wonder how hard it is to track Bitcoin laundering considering that each wallet has over 100 different keys it can use in any given transaction...

From the Bitcoin FAQ:

Bitcoin transactions need to be public, so that every client can confirm what account has how much money available. However since accounts are just numbers, it's very hard to figure out what is behind each individual transaction. Here is an example for a Bitcoin transaction:

IN: 1NqwGDRi9Gs4xm1BmPnGeMwgz1CowP6CeQ: 25.09
OUT: 1GZZUd25jbDpUghYD1EA3URdtbzobedqWr: 25.09

As you can see, the transaction only includes the Bitcoin addresses involved which by themselves don't tell you much at all. Every Bitcoin wallet contains a hundred or more addresses, which makes associating users with their wallets even more difficult.

So, I guess some sort of massive transaction "mining" operation would be needed in order to make a correlation between the keys / account holders. Launderers: get started now while transactions are still free!

I wonder how hard it is to track Bitcoin laundering considering that each wallet has over 100 different keys it can use in any given transaction...

From the Bitcoin FAQ:

Bitcoin transactions need to be public, so that every client can confirm what account has how much money available. However since accounts are just numbers, it's very hard to figure out what is behind each individual transaction. Here is an example for a Bitcoin transaction:

IN: 1NqwGDRi9Gs4xm1BmPnGeMwgz1CowP6CeQ: 25.09
OUT: 1GZZUd25jbDpUghYD1EA3URdtbzobedqWr: 25.09

As you can see, the transaction only includes the Bitcoin addresses involved which by themselves don't tell you much at all. Every Bitcoin wallet contains a hundred or more addresses, which makes associating users with their wallets even more difficult.

So, I guess some sort of massive transaction "mining" operation would be needed in order to make a correlation between the keys / account holders. Launderers: get started now while transactions are still free!

I have to admit that I didn't read too much in the original post, but the idea that something even remotely close is being worked on is fascinating.

FYI (a highly compact presentation): http://www.weusecoins.com/

I understand it was just a work of fiction, but would such an outcome be possible, or even desirable? Would we ever accept such a system as a replacement for the traditional banking conglomerates? Even worse, who do you trust more in this day and age, the bankers or the software nerds? :)

Nerds.

But seriously, who knows? I think it's hinting to a better future, but the real outcome might not be what we would like it to be. Freedom is also good but a lot of people die for it. I don't think Bitcoin has the potential to lead to the downfall of states directly though, like how WWW didn't, and might lead to a healthier economy.

Given the current state of things, I won't be moving my Sealy Posturepedic retirement fund into the Bank-O-Bits, but the potential is somewhat mind blowing for the future.

You have to admit, burning your savings on a disc and putting it in a safe is pretty appealing.

Here is a video, for non-technical persons, to help understand Bitcoin:

http://www.weusecoins.com/

It was just made very recently (today!)