[hackerspaces] bitcoin

[Yves Quemener]

I have a similar experience : I generated 50 bitcoins a month ago or two
and none since. But that is not a problem, mining is just a way to
bootstrap the system now we need to use it as a transaction tool if we want
it to have any use.

> What still puzzles me, wtf can i do with bitcoins??

You can pay me to develop software. (I'm a freelance developer) I'll
exchange a part of these bitcoins for cash (unless I find a way to buy
local food with BTC) and I'll use another part for similar dematerialized
work. I have occasional needs for 3D or 2D models from CG artists, if I
find one that accept BTCs, I'll be happy to bypass the transaction fees of
banking systems.

I really see BTC as a banking framework for the people who work in the
"cyberspace". It may be a cheesy term but it really describes a virtual
space where hundreds of millions of people interact without concern for
physical borders. But only non-financial interactions have been authorized
so far : discussion, OSS development, chit-chat. "Serious" things like
contract making or monetary transactions still rely on national legal
frameworks.

The legal framework for international collaboration is close to inexistent.
Non-profit OSS is the only one that a small number of persons spread over
several countries can use to collaborate. In order to have a structure that
manages money, you need to have a legal team per country involved. No
wonder we are still in the prehistory of the global village.

I see bitcoin as a way to change that by bypassing many national barriers.
Tomorrow, if I want to team up with a US developer, and one of our Japanese
clients uses bitcoins, we can collaborate without the need to go through an
obsolete bureaucracy and banking system sharks. We can get paid by day (or
by hours) we can do a quick payment to the German OSS dev that gave us a
hand by correcting a small bug. It is also possible to design systems that
rely on micropayments. Note that this is not a way to evade tax : selling
bitcoins have to be declared as a revenue, but it is a way to evade
ridiculous transaction fees that banks apply on international transactions
and that have really no justification.


> And also, it seems that if you haven't generated bitcoins months ago, you're
> pretty much doomed. Unless you invest thousands of euro's in GPU's, which I'm
> not really prepared to do :) I hear people saying they have machines crunching
> away for weeks and haven't found a single bitcoin. Anyway, i'll read up on the
> matter, because so far i've only heard things and have no clue what it is all
> about :)

Mining is now the hardest way to earn bitcoins. The quick fortunes were
already made. Now is the true test for bitcoin : will people start to
exchange them and trade goods and service for these ? I'll surely try, so
if you know someone who needs a computer vision and augmented reality
specialist or a CG artist that accept BTC payments, don't hesitate to
contact me :-)


Iv