Tag: #Encryption

Totalitarian Governments..

Totalitarianism is a form of government and political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high degree of control and regulation over public and private life.

It is regarded as the most extreme and complete form of authoritarianism.

In totalitarian states, political power is often held by autocrats, such as  dictators  and absolute monarchs, who employ all-encompassing campaigns in which propaganda is broadcast by state-controlled mass media in order to control the citizenry.

It remains a useful word but the old 1950s theory was considered to be outdated by the 1980s,and is defunct among scholars.

The proposed concept gained prominent influence in Western anti-communist and McCarthyist political discourse during the Cold War era as a tool to convert pre-World War IIanti-fascism into post-war anti-communism.

Leaders who have been described as totalitarian rulers, from left to right and top to bottom in picture, include Joseph Stalin, former General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union; Adolf Hitler, former Führer of Nazi Germany; Augusto Pinochet, former President of Chile; Mao Zedong, former Chairman of the Communist Party of China; Benito Mussolini, former Duce of Fascist Italy; and Kim Il-sung, the Eternal President of the Republic of North Korea

As a political ideology in itself, totalitarianism is a distinctly modernist  phenomenon, and it has very complex historical roots. Philosopher Karl Popper traced its roots to Plato, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel‘s conception of the state, and the political philosophy of Karl Marx, although Popper’s conception of totalitarianism has been criticized in academia, and remains highly controversial.

Other philosophers and historians such as Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer trace the origin of totalitarian doctrines to the Age of Enlightenment, especially to the anthropocentrist idea that:

“Man has become the master of the world, a master unbound by any links to nature, society, and history.”

In the 20th century, the idea of absolute state power was first developed by Italian Fascists, and concurrently in Germany by a jurist and Nazi academic named Carl Schmitt during the Weimar Republic in the 1920s.

Benito Mussolini, the founder of Italian Fascism, defined fascism as such: “Everything within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.”

Schmitt used the term Totalstaat (lit. ’Total state’) in his influential 1927 work titled The Concept of the Political, which described the legal basis of an all-powerful state.

Totalitarian regimes are different from other authoritarian regimes, as the latter denotes a state in which the single power holder, usually an individual dictator, a committee, a military junta, or an otherwise small group of political elites, monopolizes political power.

A totalitarian regime may attempt to control virtually all aspects of social life, including the economy, the education system, arts, science, and the private lives and morals of citizens through the use of an elaborate ideology. It can also mobilize the whole population in pursuit of its goals.

Definition

Totalitarian regimes are often characterized by extreme political repression, to a greater extent than those of authoritarian regimes, under an undemocratic government, widespread personality cultism around the person or the group which is in power, absolute control over the economy, large-scale censorship and mass surveillance systems, limited or non-existent freedom of movement (the freedom to leave the country), and the widespread usage of state terrorism.

Other aspects of a totalitarian regime include the extensive use of internment camps, an omnipresent secret police, practices of religious persecution or racism, the imposition of theocratic rule or state atheism, the common use of death penalties and show trials, fraudulent elections (if they took place), the possible possession of weapons of mass destruction, a potential for state-sponsored mass murders and genocides, and the possibility of engaging in a war, or colonialism against other countries, which is often followed by annexation of their territories.

Historian Robert Conquest describes a totalitarian state as a state which recognizes no limit on its authority in any sphere of public or private life and extends that authority to whatever length it considers feasible.

Totalitarianism is contrasted with authoritarianism. According to Radu Cinpoes, an authoritarian state is “only concerned with political power, and as long as it is not contested it gives society a certain degree of liberty.”

Cinpoes writes that authoritarianism “does not attempt to change the world and human nature.”

In contrast, Richard Pipes stated that the officially proclaimed ideology “penetrating into the deepest reaches of societal structure, and the totalitarian government seeks to completely control the thoughts and actions of its citizens.”

Carl Joachim Friedrich wrote that “[a] totalist ideology, a party reinforced by a secret police, and monopolistic control of industrial mass society are the three features of totalitarian regimes that distinguish them from other autocracies.”

Visualization of the AES round function

Advanced Encryption Standard

The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), also known by its original name Rijndael (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɛindaːl]), is a specification for the encryption of electronic data established by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2001.

AES is a variant of the Rijndael block cipher developed by two  Belgian  cryptographers, Vincent Rijmen and Joan Daemen, who submitted a proposalto NIST during the AES selection process.

Rijndael is a family of ciphers with different key and block sizes. For AES, NIST selected three members of the Rijndael family, each with a block size of 128 bits, but three different key lengths: 128, 192 and 256 bits.

AES has been adopted by the U.S. government. It supersedes the Data Encryption Standard (DES), which was published in 1977.

The algorithm described by AES is a symmetric-key algorithm, meaning the same key is used for both encrypting and decrypting the data.

In the United States, AES was announced by the NIST as U.S. FIPS PUB 197 (FIPS 197) on November 26, 2001.

This announcement followed a five-year standardization process in which fifteen competing designs were presented and evaluated, before the Rijndael cipher was selected as the most suitable.

AES is included in the ISO/IEC 18033-3  standard. AES became effective as a U.S. federal government standard on May 26, 2002, after approval by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

AES is available in many different encryption packages, and is the first (and only) publicly accessible cipher approved by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) for top secret information when used in an NSA approved cryptographic module.

Andreas M. Antonopoulos (born 1972 in London) is a British-Greek Bitcoin advocate, tech entrepreneur, and author.

He is a host on the Speaking of Bitcoin podcast (formerly called Let’s Talk Bitcoin!) and a teaching fellow for the M.Sc. Digital Currencies at the University of Nicosia.

Antonopoulos was born in 1972 in London, UK, and moved to Athens, Greece during the Greek Junta.

He spent his childhood there, and at the age of 17 returned to the UK.

Antonopoulos obtained his degrees in Computer science and Data Communications, Networks and Distributed Systems from University College London.

Books

All Credit goes to Andreas M. Antonopoulos

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Crypto Terminology

Crypto Terminology

Glossary of Terms

Bags

Cryptoassets being held, generally as longer-term plays; sometimes used self-deprecatingly for soft or losing positions one should close, but can’t for whatever reason. “Too bad none of my alt bags saw the moon that I did today. #cryptoeclipse”

Bitcoin Maximalists

The truest believers in bitcoin’s original mission and design, often paired with a disdain for altcoins.

Block

Blocks are found in the Bitcoin block chain. Blocks connect all transactions together.

Transactions are combined into single blocks and are verified every ten minutes through mining.

Each subsequent block strengthens the verification of the previous blocks, making it impossible to double spend bitcoin transactions (see double spend below).

BIP

Bitcoin Improvement Proposal or BIP, is a technical design document providing information to the bitcoin community, or describing a new feature for bitcoin or its processes or environment which affect the Bitcoin protocol.

New features, suggestions, and design changes to the protocol should be submitted as a BIP.

The BIP author is responsible for building consensus within the community and documenting dissenting opinions.

Black Swans

A black swan is an event or occurrence that deviates beyond what is normally expected of a situation and is extremely difficult to predict.

Black swan events are typically random and unexpected.

The term was popularized by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a finance professor, writer, and former Wall Street trader.

Block Chain

The Bitcoin block chain is a public record of all Bitcoin transactions. You might also hear the term used as a “public ledger”.

The block chain shows every single record of bitcoin transactions in order, dating back to the very first one.

The entire block chain can be downloaded and openly reviewed by anyone, or you can use a block explorer to review the block chain online.

Block Height

The block height is just the number of blocks connected together in the block chain. Height 0 for example refers to the very first block, called the “genesis block”.

Block Reward

When a block is successfully mined on the bitcoin network, there is a block reward that helps incentivize miners to secure the network.

The block reward is part of a “coinbase” transaction which may also include transaction fees.

The block rewards halves roughly every four years; see also “halving”.

BTFD | #BTFD

“Buy the Fucking Dip” Advice to other traders to pick up a coin that’s presumably hit its bottom.

“$GNT Golem making moves. Underpriced @ 7.5K If U are buying GNT under 10K still a good price 3 X LETS GO $ETH #CRYPTO #trading #BTFD”

Change

Let’s say you are spending $9.90 in your local supermarket, and you give the cashier $10.00. You will get back .10 cents in change.

The same logic applies to bitcoin transactions.

Bitcoin transactions are made up of inputs and outputs.

When you send bitcoins, you can only send them in a whole “output”.

The change is then sent back to the sender.

Cold Storage

The term cold storage is a general term for different ways of securing cryptocurrency offline (disconnected from the internet).

This would be the opposite of a hot wallet or hosted wallet, which is connected to the web for day-to-day transactions.

The purpose of using cold storage is to minimize the chances of your bitcoins being stolen from a malicious hacker and is commonly used for larger sums of bitcoins.

Cold Wallet and Hot Wallet

Cold storage is an offline wallet provided for storing cryptocurrency.

With cold storage, the digital wallet is stored on a platform that is not connected to the internet, thereby, protecting the wallet from unauthorized access, cyber hacks, and other vulnerabilities that a system connected to the internet is susceptible to.

Confirmation

A confirmation means that the bitcoin transaction has been verified by the network, through the process known as mining.

Once a transaction is confirmed, it cannot be reversed or double spent.

Transactions are included in blocks.

Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is the broad name for digital currencies that use blockchain technology to work on a peer-to-peer basis.

Cryptocurrencies don’t need a bank to carry out transactions between individuals.

The nature of the blockchain means that individuals can transact with each other, even if they don’t trust each other.

The cryptocurrency network keeps track of all the transactions and ensures that no one tries to renege on a transaction.

Cryptocurrency 2.0

Also known as a decentralized app,(Dapp) a cryptocurrency 2.0 project uses the blockchain for something other than simply creating and sending money.

They typically involve decentralized versions of online services that were previously operated by a trusted third party.

Cryptography

Cryptography is used in multiple places to provide security for the Bitcoin network.

Cryptography, which is essentially mathematical and computer science algorithms used to encrypt and decrypt information, is used in bitcoin addresses, hash functions, and the block chain.

Cypherpunk

1. A person with an interest in encryption and privacy, especially one who uses encrypted email.

2. Cypherpunk, a term that appeared in Eric Hughes’ “A Cypherpunk’s Manifesto” in 1993, combines the ideas of cyberpunk, the spirit of individualism in cyberspace, with the use of strong  encryption ( ciphertext is encrypted text) to preserve privacy.

Cypherpunk advocates believe that the use of strong encryption algorithms will enable individuals to have safely private transactions.

They oppose any kind of government regulation of cryptography.

They admit the likelihood that criminals and terrorists will exploit the use of strong encryption systems, but accept the risk as the price to be paid for the individual’s right to privacy.

Dark Web

The part of the World Wide Web that is only accessible by means of special software, allowing users and website operators to remain anonymous or untraceable.

The Dark Web poses new and formidable challenges for law enforcement agencies around the world.

Decentralized

Having a decentralized bitcoin network is a critical aspect.

The network is “decentralized”, meaning that it’s void of a centralized company or entity that governs the network.

Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer protocol, where all users within the network work and communicate directly with each other, instead of having their funds handled by a middleman, such as a bank or credit card company.

Difficulty

Difficulty is directly related to Bitcoin mining (see mining below), and how hard it is to verify blocks in the Bitcoin network.

Bitcoin adjusts the mining difficulty of verifying blocks every 2016 blocks.

Difficulty is automatically adjusted to keep block verification times at ten minutes.

Dogecoin

Dogecoin is an altcoin that first started as a joke in late 2013. Dogecoin, which features a Japanese fighting dog as its mascot, gained a broad international following and quickly grew to have a multi-million dollar market capitalization.

Double Spend

If someone tries to send a bitcoin transaction to two different recipients at the same time, this is double spending. Once a bitcoin transaction is confirmed, it makes it nearly impossible to double spend it. The more confirmations that a transaction has, the harder it is to double spend the bitcoins.

DYOR | #DYOR

“Do Your Own Research.” The trader’s caveat that advice shouldn’t be taken at face value.

“$BCY has an appealing risk/reward here. Could take a few months to play out, however, and will require patience. #DYOR”

Exit Scam

Traditionally a term for darknet markets and vendors that, after building up a good reputation, accumulate bitcoins and disappear; exit scams are also feared by ICO participants who worry that, once they’ve raised hundreds of millions in hard-to-trace money, the developers will take the money and run.

Fiat

Government-issued money.

Full Node

A full node is when you download the entire block chain using a bitcoin client, and you relay, validate, and secure the data within the block chain.

The data is bitcoin transactions and blocks, which is validated across the entire network of users.

FOMO | #FOMO

“Fear of Missing Out.” When a coin starts to moon, dumb money rushes in. “$LGD on a TEAR right now!!! It has major highs right now! Some major #FOMO going on!!! Sell while it’s high. It WILL drop before fight!!!”

FUD

“Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt.”

Another non-crypto term that describes attempts to scare weak-handed coin-holders into selling their positions, often with rumors of exit scams or hacks; the cheap, dumped coins are then picked up by the FUD-ers.

Fungibility

Fungibility is a good or asset’s interchangeability with other individual goods or assets of the same type.

Assets possessing this fungibility property simplify the exchange and trade processes, as interchangeability assumes everyone values all goods of that class the same.

HODL

HOLD ON FOR DEAR LIFE!

The intentionally misspelled word hodl has its roots in a December 2013 post on the Bitcoin Talk forum, “I AM HODLING”; when the author, GameKyuubi, couldn’t be bothered to fix his typo, the community instantly turned it into a verb: to hodl.


Along with other terms, hodl is an effective litmus test for sussing out newcomers, carpetbaggers, and tourists.

Halving

Bitcoins have a finite supply, which makes them scarce.

The total amount that will ever be issued is 21 million.

The number of bitcoins generated per block is decreased 50% every 210,000 blocks,roughtly four years.

This is called “halving.”

The final halving will take place in the year 2140.

Hash

A cryptographic hash is a mathematical function that takes a file and produces a relative shortcode that can be used to identify that file.

A hash has a couple of key properties:

• It is unique. 

Only a particular file can produce a particular hash, and two different files will never produce the same hash.

• It cannot be reversed.

You can’t work out what a file was by looking at its hash.

Hashing is used to prove that a set of data has not been tampered with.

It is what makes bitcoin mining possible.

Hash Rate

The hash rate is how the Bitcoin mining network processing power is measured.

In order for miners to confirm transactions and secure the block chain, the hardware they use must perform intensive computational operations which is output in hashes per second.

Hash Converter

Use an online hash converter, such as https://hash.online-convert.com and enter the text you want to convert.

Then, try changing just a letter in the input text to see how the resulting hash varies significantly

Hard Fork

A hard fork is when a single cryptocurrency splits in two.

It occurs when a cryptocurrency’s existing code is changed, resulting in both an old and new version.

Meanwhile a soft fork is essentially the same thing, but the idea is that only one blockchain (and thus one coin) will remain valid as users adopt the update.

So both fork types create a split, but a hard fork is meant to create two blockchain/coins and a soft fork is meant to result in one.

Segwit was a soft fork, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, and Segwit2x are all hard forks.

Immutability

In object-oriented and functional programming, an immutable object (unchangeable object) is an object whose state cannot be modified after it is created.

This is in contrast to a mutable object (changeable object), which can be modified after it is created.

Lambo | #Lambo

A running joke among traders, you’re cryptorich when you can buy a Lamborghini; though absurd, it’s not unheard of — when Alexandre Cazes, the suspected founder of a major darknet marketplace, was found hanged in his Bangkok jail cell, Thai media reported that he owned four Lamborghinis.

Mining

Bitcoin mining is the process of using computer hardware to do mathematical calculations for the Bitcoin network in order to confirm transactions.

Miners collect transaction fees for the transactions they confirm and are awarded bitcoins for each block they verify.

Moon | #Moon

A rapid price increase.

Peer-to-Peer

Typically, online applications are provided by a central party that organizes all the transactions.

Your bank runs its own computers, and all the customers log into the bank’s computer to handle their transactions.

If Bob wants to send money to Alice, he asks the bank to do it, and the bank controls everything.

In a peer-to-peer arrangement, technology cuts out the middleman, meaning that people deal directly with each other.

Bob would send the money directly to Alice, and there wouldn’t be any bank involved at all.

Pool

As part of bitcoin mining, mining “pools” are a network of miners that work together to mine a block, then split the block reward among the pool miners.

Mining pools are a good way for miners to combine their resources to increase the probability of mining a block, and also contribute to the overall health and decentralization of the bitcoin network.

Private Key

A private key is a string of data that shows you have access to bitcoins in a specific wallet.

Think of a private key like a password; private keys must never be revealed to anyone but you, as they allow you to spend the bitcoins from your bitcoin wallet through a cryptographic signature.

Proof of Work

Proof of work refers to the hash of a block header (blocks of bitcoin transactions).

A block is considered valid only if its hash is lower than the current target.

Each block refers to a previous block adding to previous proofs of work, which forms a chain of blocks, known as a block chain.

Once a chain is formed, it confirms all previous Bitcoin transactions and secures the network.

Pump

A rapid price increase believed to be the result of market manipulation, a.k.a. pump and dump.

Public Address

A public bitcoin address is cryptographic hash of a public key.

A public address typically starts with the number “1.”

Think of a public address like an email address.

It can be published anywhere and bitcoins can be sent to it, just like an email can be sent to an email address.

Private Key

A private key is a string of data that shows you have access to bitcoins in a specific wallet.

Think of a private key like a password; private keys must never be revealed to anyone but you, as they allow you to spend the bitcoins from your bitcoin wallet through a cryptographic signature.

Rekt | #Rekt

Meaning “wrecked”.

“I never sell because of #FUD, and I never buy because of #FOMO.

That’s the easiest way to get #Rekt”

Sats

Satoshis, currently the smallest unit of a single bitcoin, useful for tracking coin prices. “At the rate $XRP’s moving, I wouldn’t be surprised if it hits 10K sats by the end of the day.”

Security Tokens

A security token (sometimes called an authentication token) is a small hardware device that the owner carries to authorize access to a network service.

The device may be in the form of a smart card or may be embedded in a commonly used object such as a key fob.

Shitcoins

Pejorative term for altcoins, especially low-cap coins, often affectionately used by shitcoin hodlers.

SEGWIT

SegWit is the process by which the block size limit on a blockchain is increased by removing signature data from Bitcoin transactions.

When certain parts of a transaction are removed, this frees up space or capacity to add more transactions to the chain.

Transaction

A transaction is when data is sent to and from one bitcoin address to another.

Just like financial transactions where you send money from one person to another, in bitcoin you do the same thing by sending data (bitcoins) to each other.

Bitcoins have value because it’s based on the properties of mathematics, rather than relying on physical properties (like gold and silver) or trust in central authorities, like fiat currencies.

Wallet

Just like with paper dollars you hold in your physical wallet, a bitcoin wallet is a digital wallet where you can store, send, and receive bitcoins securely.

There are many varieties of wallets available, whether you’re looking for a web or mobile solution.

Ideally, a bitcoin wallet will give you access to your public and private keys.

This means that only you have rightful access to spend these bitcoins, whenever you choose to.

Whale

Anyone who owns 5 percent of any given coin, often used as a boogeyman to explain unwanted price movements.

“Nice support $NEO. Clear whale manipulation.”

Blue Pill vs. Red Pill
Choose wisely
When You’re ready …

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What bitcoin is … NOT

Bitcoin is not Abracadabra…
but Bitcoin can be Avada Kedavra for the current Banking system!

Bitcoin is not Magic…
but it can be for Muggles!

Bitcoin is not an “Investment” …
but educating yourself about bitcoin can be!

Bitcoin is not an “Investment”…
but knowing  the basics and being educated about it, lowers the chances of loosing your hard earned money!

Bitcoin is not an “Investment”…
but staking Sats proved to be a preety good Strategy in the Long Term!

Bitcoin is not digital money…
but it’s ons of it’s first applications!

Bitcoin is not money…
but is Money for the Internet!

Bitcoin is not PRICE !!!

Bitcoin is not PRICE…
but the market is driven mostly by FUD & FOMO people

Fear
Uncertainty
Doubt

bring the market Down


Fear
Of
Missing
Out

bring the market Up

Bitcoin is not a “Get Rich Quick Scheme” and the one’s that got rich were the one’s that were there from the begining…

Bitcoin is not voodoo people, magic people…
but a bunch of smart geeks & nerds that support the bitcoin’s philosophy and what it stands for…

Bitcoin is not under no juridstiction…
but it is a global p2p network of like-minded people that with the power of their equipment sustain, mantain and make the bitcoin network stronger and more decentralized!

Bitcoin is not a Coin…
but an entry in a digital ledger!

Bitcoin is not illegal activity money…
but bitcoin can be used in such activity…
Reports show that FIAT is still the No. #1 choice for “Evil Doers” as it doens’t have an public, open and visible ledger …
Duh…

Bitcoin is not evil…
but bitcoin can be used to do evil!
As does a Pen!
It can be used to do evil!
How, you would ask?
If  I take this ✏ and stick it up your a… who is Evil ?!?
The One who invented the pen?
The Pen?
Me?
Your a.. cause it was in the way 🤣
Perspective is a matter of opinion…

Bitcoin is not News…
but instead read pools, github, exchanges, wallets…
They are the ones that pave the way where bitcoin could, should or would go!

Bitcoin is not DEAD…
It was already declared Dead 441 times!

see :

https://99bitcoins.com/bitcoin-obituaries/

Bitcoin is not …
Yapidi Yapidi Yap people…

If someone says :

1 – Bitcoin consumes too much electricity, they don’t understand POW!

2 – Bitcoin isn’t a government backed currency, you should ask who backs their government…
If the answer is the Army…

3 – Bitcoin isn’t backed by gold like the the US$…
Neither is the $ since ’71

4 – Bitcoin isn’t real because I can’t see it…
80% of world’s money is Digital…

5 – Bitcoin isn’t a store of value as good as Gold is…
Gold had thousands of years to prove that, bitcoin only 13… give it time!
It already proved a lot !!!

6 – Bitcoin’s inventor is annonymous and can’t be trusted…
Who invented money then? How do money come up into existance?

7 – Bitcoin will never be largely accepted because it isn’t issued by a government…
You know what else wasn’t issued by no government ? Cars, Electricity, Steam Engine, Facebook, Uber, Google, Amazon, etc bla bla bla

8 – Bitcoin can’t be a currency cause I can’t buy anything with it…
I think I have shared a list with places that you can buy things with bitcoin…Quite a few!!!

9 – Whales… Beware of yapidi yap of whales cause they say one and do the opposite 🙂 😉 !!!

9 – Bitcoin is not this, bitcoin is not that but they all swarm around the bee’s honeypot as if it were honey 🤣🤣🤣

I forgot…In the meantime, little unsignificant countries like El Salvador, mine bitcoin with 🌋 !!!

And still newspapers, investors that bite their whatever not having invested when it was under $1, and a hole portion of the world are all saying…

Etc bla bla bla Yapidi Yapidi Yap

Never Forget The Golden Rules:

Not Your Keys, Not Your Crypto!!!

Don’t Trust, Verify!!!

Don’t Believe, Do your own Resesearch and due diligence!!!

Save your Wallet’s Mnemonic Phrase in at least 3 places for safe-keeping!!!

WE ARE SATOSHI

When you’re ready…
Timothy C. May
Hal Finney

Poem of the Legacy

From the ashes of the long forgotten past,
A bright mind wrote a code that would for ever last…
A code so powerful and strong,
That would change the world for oh so long…

The code he wrote and set it free,
For the humankind legacy to be…
To change the lives of future generations to come,
He wrote the code and he was gone…

Oh, bright mind your legacy will last,
For generations to come and be thankful about the past…
Nobody knows who you might be,
Some do and say Kudos to You for Ethernity!

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Bitcoin Taproot

Bitcoin Taproot Timeline

On November 14th, block height 709,632, Bitcoin’s Taproot upgrade was activated. The update brings with it improvements to the flexibility, security, and efficiency of bitcoin transactions. And as Bitcoin’s first protocol upgrade in over four years, it’s a major milestone in the development of the network. 

Below, we outline the Taproot upgrade, what it changes, and how it will impact the bitcoin network going forward.

Three interconnected upgrades, deployed simultaneously

The Taproot upgrade is actually an umbrella term referring to three interconnected Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIPs) set to activate simultaneously: 

  1. BIP 340, or Schnorr. This proposal introduces Schnorr signatures, a digital signature scheme that is faster, more secure, and less data-intensive than the cryptographic method currently in use (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm, or ECDSA).
  2. BIP 341, or Taproot. This proposal defines Pay-to-Taproot (P2TR), a new way to send bitcoin that enhances privacy and flexibility for users. It also implements Merklized Alternative Script Trees (MAST), which compress complex Bitcoin transactions into a single hash. This reduces transaction fees, minimizes memory usage, and improves Bitcoin’s scalability.
  3. BIP 342, or Tapscript. This proposal defines Tapscript, an update to Bitcoin’s original scripting language that enables P2TR transactions, leverages Schnorr signatures’ improved efficiency, and allows for more flexible upgrades going forward.

Taproot adoption timeline

On June 12th, 2021, these upgrade proposals reached a 90% consensus among miners, thus locking in their November activation as a soft fork to Bitcoin’s protocol. As a soft fork, the Taproot upgrade is backwards compatible with older versions of bitcoin and does not create a separate, parallel blockchain, as was the case with Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. 

Adoption of taproot is expected to grow slowly over a period of years, just as it did with SegWit, the last major Bitcoin upgrade. Two years after SegWit’s activation, roughly 50 percent of transactions used it; today, four years after, that proportion is 80 percent. The main reason for this slow rate of adoption is that cryptocurrency wallets and service providers choose to opt-in on their own schedule.

Taproot’s impact

The Taproot upgrade will improve Bitcoin in a number of ways, such as:

  • Lower fees: Since the data size of complex transactions will be reduced, transaction fees will decline proportionally.
  • Improved lightning network efficiency: Taproot will make transactions on the Lightning Network cheaper, more flexible and more private.
  • Enhanced smart contract functionality: With Taproot, Bitcoin will be able to host smart contracts with any number of signatories while retaining the data size of a single-signature transaction. This lays the technical foundation for DeFi on the Bitcoin network.
  • And many others

In other words, the Taproot upgrade is a massive improvement to the Bitcoin protocol.

Lightning network improvements and expanded smart contract capabilities will improve bitcoin’s utility; meanwhile, lower transaction fees and increased network speed will improve its scalability. 

For this reason, we’re thrilled to welcome BIP 340, 341, and 342 at block height 709,632 and beyond.

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Starting a Bitcoin Mining Business – A Complete Guide

Why Start a Bitcoin Mining Business?

If you love working from home, then you should consider starting an internet based business.

One of the businesses that you can easily start at home with a computer and mining rigs is bitcoin mining.

Simply put, bitcoin is a digital currency that operates independently of any country’s central bank. In order to get an updated value of the worth of a bitcoin, you can make use of Google’s currency converter; it is a reliable platform to know the value of bitcoin each time.

If you are interested in mining bitcoin, then you have two options to follow.

You can choose to mine a block of bitcoins from the computer or you can choose to pool.

If you want quick returns on your investment, then joining a pool is your best option because mining a block of bitcoins from your computer may take you a month or more before you get any return on your investment.

Please note that if you join a pool, you will only get smaller payments, but you can be rest assured that you will get them at a regular basis.

Starting a bitcoin mining business can be rewarding but you would have to compete with other well established bitcoin miners on the World Wide Web. The fact that you will be competing with people from all over the globe is enough reason for you to be result oriented and at the same be creative with your bitcoin mining business.

So, if you have done the required online or offline bitcoin mining related courses, then you might want to venture into this business.

Starting a Bitcoin Mining Business – A Complete Guide

Industry Overview

Bitcoin mining in its simplest term is the practice of adding transaction records to Bitcoin’s public ledger of previous transactions or block chain.

This ledger of previous transactions is called the block chain as it is a chain of blocks. The block chain serves to confirm transactions to the rest of the network as having taken place.

As a matter of fact, Bitcoin miners help keep the Bitcoin network secure by approving transactions.

Mining is indeed an important and integral part of Bitcoin that ensures fairness while keeping the Bitcoin network stable, safe and highly secured.

Bitcoin mining as the name implies is similar to the mining of other commodities: it requires deliberate and calculated effort and it slowly makes new currency available at a rate that looks like the rate at which commodities like gold and copper et al are mined from the ground. Mining is also a mechanism used to introduce Bitcoins into the system.

Bitcoin is a type of digital currency that is created and held electronically; it is a cryptocurrency and a digital payment system that is invented by an unknown programmer, or perhaps a group of programmers. No one controls it.

Unlike Dollars, Euros, Pounds and other currencies, bitcoins are not printed, they are produced by people and businesses running computers all around the world, using software that solves mathematical problems.

If you want to start mining bitcoin, you would need an online wallet where your bitcoins will be stored.

There are several wallet options available online for bitcoin mining. The rule of thumb to follow before choosing an online wallet for your bitcoin mining is to choose a wallet that will allow you save bitcoins, buy bitcoins, use bitcoins and also accept bitcoins as a means of payment.

The Bitcoin (cryptocurrency and a digital payment system) industry is indeed a large internet based industry and pretty much active in countries such as United States of America, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Nigeria, Sweden, Australia, Japan, China, Germany, and Canada et al.

Despite the fact that the bitcoin mining business is still much of a green business, the business will continue to blossom because more and more users will embrace the use of bitcoins in the nearest future.

So, if you have an entrepreneurial mentality and you wish to join a massive technological revolution, you can start your own bitcoin mining business.

The truth is that you can build a bitcoin mining business even if you are not too ICT savvy and have limited capital to invest in software development and infrastructure, as long as you have internet access and you know how to use the internet.

Some of the factors that encourage entrepreneurs to start their own bitcoin mining business could be that the business is easy to set up and the startup capital is indeed affordable; you can actually start your own bitcoin mining business from the comfort of your house.

All you need to do is to create an office somewhere in your house. You don’t necessarily need to see the people you are doing business with since you can transact bitcoin mining business with clients from any part of the world.

Lastly, starting a bitcoin mining business requires professionalism, advanced mathematics skills and a good grasp of how cryptocurrency and the digital payment system works on a global platform.

Besides, you would need to get the required certifications and license and also meet the required standard for such business before you can be allowed to start a bitcoin mining business in the United States.

Starting a Bitcoin Mining Business – Market Research and Feasibility Studies

Demographics and Psychographics

The demographic and psychographic composition of those who require the services of bitcoin miners are not restricted to bitcoin exchange and trading companies and bitcoin traders, people and organizations that make online transactions in your immediate community or state, but it cuts across people on the cyber space who make use of bitcoins from all over the world.

This is so because bitcoin is a cryptocurrency and a digital payment system used basically on the internet hence the leverage to work for people and organization all across the globe.

So, if you are looking towards defining the demographics of your bitcoin mining business, you should make it all encompassing. It should include bitcoin exchange and trading companies and bitcoin traders, programmers, investors, and internet – business oriented people and organizations within and outside the United States.

List of Niche ideas Within the Bitcoin Mining Business That You Can Specialize in

Most bitcoin mining companies tend to operate the general bitcoin mining business that a standard bitcoin mining poll/company is expected to offer, that is why it seems like there are no niche areas in the industry.

But on the other hand, some bitcoin mining company may decide to major in some key areas such as:

  • Bitcoin cloud mining
  • Bitcoin cloud hashing
  • Providing other related bitcoin, cryptocurrency and digital payment system consulting and advisory services

The Level of Competition in the Bitcoin Mining Services Industry

The level of competition in the cryptocurrency and a digital payment system industry does not in any way depend on the location of the business since most people that mine bitcoin can operate from any part of the world and still effectively compete in the bitcoin mining line of business cum cryptocurrency and a digital payment system industry.

When it comes to bitcoin mining, distance is never a barrier when competing for clients especially international clients.

What most clients want is result, hence they are ready to make use of bitcoin miners or bitcoin mining platforms no matter the part of the world they operate from as long as they have good track record and can deliver excellent results when it comes to mining and selling bitcoins to them.

There are several bitcoin miners and bitcoin mining pools scattered all around the United States and in the cyber space.

So, if you choose to start your own bitcoin mining company in the United States, you will definitely meet stiffer competitions not only amongst bitcoin mining companies in the United States, but also all over the globe especially if you choose to specialize in cryptocurrency and digital payment system.

List of Well – Known Brands in the Bitcoin Mining Business

In every industry, there are always brands that perform better or are better regarded by customers and the general public than others. Some of these brands are those that have been in the industry for a long time, while others are best known for the results they deliver.

These are some of the leading bitcoin mining companies (bitcoin mining pools) in the United States of America and also in the globe:

Economic Analysis

As an ICT aspiring entrepreneur who is looking for a business that requires programming and mathematics skills and perhaps minimal startup capital to start, then you can consider starting a bitcoin mining pool.

The cost of running a standard bitcoin mining pool when compared to the turnover you get can be poles apart (this is applicable when you have been able to establish your feet in the industry).

One thing is certain when it comes to the bitcoin mining business and most internet based businesses, you are sure of making profits when you successfully produce results that are measurable.

As a matter of fact, the cost of running the business from start to finish could be restricted to the cost of making phone calls, transportation and internet subscriptions, PR and of course bitcoin mining and hashing hardware and software et al.

Starting Your Bitcoin Mining Company from Scratch vs Buying a Franchise

When it comes to starting a business of this nature, it will pay you to start from the scratch as against buying a franchise.

First and foremost, it is your ability to mine or hash bitcoin that matters not a brand name.

Except you want to join a well-established bitcoin mining pool that fits into your business ideology.

Unfortunately, you can hardly find a franchise of a bitcoin mining pool – company to purchase meaning that if you want to own a bitcoin mining (pool) business, then you must be ready to start from the scratch.

This is so because the business is easy to start if you have the required expertise and it is still pretty much thriving and there are loads of opportunities available to aspiring entrepreneurs that are interested in the industry.

The truth is that it will pay you to start your bitcoin mining company from the scratch. Starting from the scratch will afford you the opportunity to conduct thorough market survey and feasibility studies before choosing a location to launch the business.

Please note that most of the big and successful bitcoin mining companies around started from the scratch and they were able to build a solid business brand.

Possible Threats and Challenges You Will Face When Starting a Bitcoin Mining Business

If you decide to start your own bitcoin mining business today, one of the major challenges you are likely going to face is the presence of well – established bitcoin mining companies who are offering same services that you intend offering. The only way to avoid this challenge is to create your own market.

Some other threats that you are likely going to face as a bitcoin mining company operating in the United States are hosting issues, installation or upkeep troubles, heat, unfavorable government policies, and global economic downturn which usually affects purchasing/spending power. There is hardly anything you can do as regards these threats other than to be optimistic that things will continue to work for your good.

Starting a Bitcoin Mining Business – Legal Matters

Best legal entity to use for this type of business

Generally, you have the options of either choosing a general partnership, limited liability company which is commonly called an LLC, or a sole proprietorship for a business such as a bitcoin mining company.

Ordinarily, general partnership should have been the ideal business structure for a small – scale bitcoin mining business especially if you are just starting out with moderate startup capital.

But people prefer limited liability Company for obvious reasons. As a matter of fact, if your intention is to grow the business and have clients both corporate and individual from all across the United States of America and other countries of the world, then choosing general partnership is not an option for you. Limited Liability Company, LLC will be highly suitable for you.

Setting up an LLC protects you from personal liability. If anything goes wrong in the business, it is only the money that you invested into the limited liability company that will be at risk. It is not so for sole proprietorships and general partnerships. Limited liability companies are simpler and more flexible to operate and you don’t need a board of directors, shareholders meetings and other managerial formalities.

These are some of the factors you should consider before choosing a legal entity for your bitcoin mining (pool) business; limitation of personal liability, ease of transferability, admission of new owners, investors’ expectation and of course taxes.

If you take your time to critically study the various legal entities to use for your bitcoin mining business, you will agree that limited liability company; an LLC is most suitable. You can start this type of business as limited liability company (LLC) and in future convert it to a ‘C’ corporation or an ‘S’ corporation especially when you have the plans of going public.

Catchy Business Name ideas Suitable for a Bitcoin Mining Company

Generally, when it comes to choosing a name for a business, it is expected that you should be creative because whatever name you choose for your business will go a long way to create a perception of what the business represents. Usually it is the norm for people to follow the trend in the industry they intend operating from when naming their business.

Insurance Policies

In the United States and in most countries of the world, you can’t operate a business without having some of the basic insurance policy covers that are required by the industry you want to operate from. So, it is imperative to create a budget for insurance policy covers and perhaps consult an insurance broker to guide you in choosing the best and most appropriate insurance policies for your bitcoin mining business.

Here are some of the basic insurance policy covers that you should consider purchasing if you want to start your own bitcoin mining business in the United States of America:

  • General insurance
  • Health insurance
  • Liability insurance
  • Workers compensation
  • Overhead expense disability insurance
  • Business owner’s policy group insurance
  • Payment protection insurance
  • Intellectual Property Protection/Trademark

If you are considering starting your own bitcoin mining business, usually you may not have any need to file for intellectual property protection/trademark. This is so because the nature of the business makes it possible for you to successfully run the business without having any cause to challenge anybody in court for illegally making use of your company’s intellectual properties.

Is Professional Certification Needed to Run a Bitcoin Mining Business?

Apart from the results you produce, professional certification is one of the main reasons why most bitcoin mining companies stand out.

If you want to make an impact in the Bitcoin industry, you should work towards acquiring all the needed certifications in your area of specialization.

Certification validates your competency and shows that you are highly skilled, committed to your career, and up-to-date in this competitive market.

These are some of the certifications you can work towards achieving if you want to run your own bitcoin mining company:

  • Certified Bitcoin Professional (CBP) | Crypto Currency Certification
  • Blockcerts Certification
  • Cryptocurrency certification
  • Ethereum certification
  • Blockchain professional certification

List of Legal Documents You Need to Run a Bitcoin Mining Company

These are some of the basic legal documents that you are expected to have in place if you want to legally run your own bitcoin mining business in the United States of America:

  • Certificate of Incorporation
  • Business License and Certification
  • Business Plan
  • Non – disclosure Agreement
  • Employment Agreement (offer letters)
  • Operating Agreement for LLCs
  • Insurance Policy
  • Contract documents
  • Online Privacy Policy Document (basically   for online payment portal)
  • Company Bylaws
  • Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
  • Apostille (for those who intend operating beyond the United States of America) 

Financing Your Bitcoin Mining Company

Aside from the amount required to purchase bitcoin mining software and hardware, bitcoins and of course cryptocurrency and other forms of digital payment required to trade with, starting a bitcoin mining business can be cost effective especially if you choose to run the business from your home, share office space with a friend or make use of a virtual office.

Securing a standard office is part of what will consume a large chunk of your startup capital, but if you choose to start the business on a small scale, you may not have the need to go source for fund to finance the business.

When it comes to financing a business, one of the major factors that you should consider is to write a good business plan.

If you have a good and workable business plan document in place, you may not have to labor yourself before convincing your bank, investors and your friends to invest in your business.

Here are some of the options you can explore when sourcing for start – up capital for your bitcoin mining/trading business:

  • Raising money from personal savings and sale of personal stocks and properties
  • Sell of shares to interested investors
  • Pitching your business idea and applying for business grants and seed funding from donor organizations and angel investors
  • Source for soft loans from your family members and your friends

Choosing a Suitable Location for your Bitcoin Mining Business

Bitcoin mining business and most internet service based type of businesses do not require that you see physically with your clients, hence the location you chose does not necessarily need to be top-notch.

But the fact that you can operate your bitcoin mining business from your home does not mean that location has little influence on the success of a bitcoin mining company.

If you have taken your time to study the bitcoin mining and other internet based businesses, you will realize that they are willing to pay expensive rents in order to stay in an ICT hub; a place with pretty strong internet network and of course a place where ICT activities are at its peak.

It is important to note that a business facility in a good location does not come cheap hence you should be able to allocate enough fund for leasing/renting in your budget.

If you are new to the dynamics of choosing a location for a business such as bitcoin mining business, then you should feel free to talk to a business consultant or a realtor who has a full grasp of the city and perhaps country you intend starting your company.

So, if you are looking for a location for your bitcoin mining company, ensure that it is a place that is located in an ICT hub; a place with pretty strong internet network and of course a place where ICT activities are at its peak.

Of course, you would not want to locate this type of business in the outskirts of town or a place without strong internet network. Your clients should be able to drive down and locate your office with little or no difficulty.

Starting a Bitcoin Mining Business – Technical and Manpower Details

In order to successfully launch a bitcoin mining business, you will definitely need bitcoin mining software apps and hardware such as Application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) machines and other cryptocurrency and digital payment system related software apps and wallet.

So also, you will need computers, internet facility, telephone, fax machine and office furniture (chairs, tables, and shelves).

When it comes to choosing between renting and leasing an office space, the size of the bitcoin mining company you want to build, and your entire budget for the business should influence your choice.

If you have enough capital to run a standard bitcoin mining company, then you should consider the option of leasing a facility for your office.

As regards the number of employees that you are expected to kick start the business with, you would need to consider your finance before making the decision.

Averagely, you would need a Chief Executive Officer or President (you can occupy this role), an Admin and Human Resource Manager, Bitcoin Miners and Hashers, Programmers and Software Developers, Business Development Executive/marketing Executive, Customer Service Officer or Front Desk Officer, and Accountant.

Over and above, you would need a minimum of 8 key staff to effectively run a medium scale but standard bitcoin mining company.

Please note that there will be times when you are expected to go out of your way to hire experts to help you handle some high – profile internet based currency consultancy contracts especially from big corporations.

If you are just starting out, you may not have the financial capacity or required business structure to retain all the professionals that are expected to work with you which is why you should make plans to partner with other programmers and software app developers and computer engineers that operates as freelancers.

The Service Delivery Process of a Bitcoin Mining Company

It is the tradition in the cryptocurrency industry for bitcoin miners to help keep the Bitcoin network secure by approving transactions.

The truth is that mining is an important and integral part of Bitcoin that ensures fairness while keeping the Bitcoin network stable, safe and secure.

In the cryptocurrency and other forms of digital payment system industry, bitcoin miners use special software to solve math problems and are issued a certain number of bitcoins in exchange. This provides a smart process of issuing the currency and also creates an incentive for more people to mine.

For instance, when a block is discovered, the miners are rewarded a certain number of bitcoins, which is agreed-upon by everyone in the network.

Currently the reward is 6.25 bitcoins and this value will halve every 210,000 blocks.

Additionally, the bitcoin miner is awarded the fees paid by users sending transactions. The fee is an incentive for the bitcoin miner to include the transaction in their block.

It is important to state that a bitcoin mining (pool) company may decide to improvise or adopt any business process and structure that will guarantee them efficiency and flexibility; the above stated business cum services process is not cast on stone.

Starting a Bitcoin Mining Business – The Marketing Plan

Marketing ideas and strategies

As a bitcoin mining company, you would have to prove your worth over and over again before you can be awarded any bitcoin mining and hashing contracts from corporate clients.

So, if you have plans to start your own bitcoin mining company, it will pay you to first build a successful career in the digital payment system industry.

People and organizations will hire your services to help them handle all their bitcoin mining and hashing needs if they know that they are going to get good returns on their investment.

So, when you are drafting your marketing plans and strategies for your bitcoin mining company, make sure that you create a compelling personal and company profile.

Aside from your qualifications and experience, it is important to clearly state in practical terms what you have been able to achieve in time past as it relates to the cryptocurrency industry and the organizations you have worked for in time past.

This will help boost your chances in the market place when sourcing for bitcoin mining and hashing contracts.

Businesses these days are aware of the power of the internet and which is why they will do all they can to maximize the internet to market their services.

In other words, a larger percentage of your marketing efforts should be directed to internet users.

Here are some of the platforms you can utilize to market your bitcoin mining company:

  • Introduce your business by sending introductory letters alongside your brochure to all the bitcoin exchange and trading companies and bitcoin traders, programmers, investors, and internet – business oriented people and organizations within and outside the United States
  • Promptness in bidding for bitcoin mining and hashing contracts from bitcoin exchange and trading companies cum bitcoin traders, programmers, investors, and internet – business oriented people and organizations within and outside the United States
  • Advertise your business in relevant programming magazines, radio and TV stations (make yourself available for bitcoin mining and cryptocurrency related talk shows and interactive sessions on TV and Radio)
  • List your business on local directories
  • Attend international bitcoin mining and cryptocurrency related seminars and business fairs
  • Create different packages for different category of clients in order to work with their budgets
  • Join related associations around you with the main aim of networking and marketing your services; you are likely going to get referrals from such networks
  • Engage the services of online marketing executives and business developers to carry out direct marketing

Factors That Will Help You Get the Right Product Pricing

Some of the key factors that will help you mine or hash bitcoin in a profitable pricing system is to ensure that you work with highly talented programmers and mathematicians in your bitcoin mining pool.

You should also ensure that you get your bitcoin mining software and hardware at good deal not forgetting to run your maintenance as at when due.

Another strategy that will help you offer your bitcoin mining and hashing services at the right price is to ensure that you cut operational and maintenance cost to the barest minimum, and channel your efforts towards marketing and promoting your brand name.

Aside from the fact that this strategy will help you save cost, it will also help you get the right pricing for your products.

Strategies to Boost Your Bitcoin Mining Brand Awareness and Create Your Corporate Identity

If your intention of starting a bitcoin mining company is to grow the business beyond the city where you are going to be operating from to become a national and international brand, then you must be ready to spend money on promotion and advertisement of your brand.

In promoting your brand and corporate identity, you should leverage on both print and electronic media and also social media (the internet).

As a matter of fact, it is cost effective to use the internet and social media platforms to promote your brands, besides it is pretty much effective and wide reaching.

Another strategy is to sponsor relevant programmer/ICT based programs, TV and radio programs, advertise your business in relevant magazines and newspapers. Below are the platforms you can leverage on to boost your brand and to promote and advertise your business.

Place adverts on ICT magazines and related newspapers, radio and TV stations

Encourage the use of word of mouth publicity from your loyal customers

Leverage on the internet and social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Badoo, Google+ and other platforms to promote your business

Ensure that you position your banners and billboards in strategic positions all around your city

Distribute your fliers and handbills in target areas in and around our neighborhood

Contact bitcoin exchange and trading companies cum bitcoin traders, programmers, investors, and internet – business oriented people and organization within and outside the United States by calling them up and informing them of your organization and the bitcoin mining and hashing services you offer

Advertise your business in your official website and employ strategies that will help you pull traffic to the site

Brand all your official cars and ensure that all your staff members wear your branded shirt or cap at regular intervals.

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Satoshi Nakamoto Quotes

CODE IS LAW

“ It might make sense just to get some in case it catches on.

If enough people think the same way, that becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

Once it gets bootstrapped, there are so many appli­ca­tions if you could effort­lessly pay a few cents to a website as easily as dropping coins in a vending machine. ”

Get some in case it catches on

“ In this sense, it’s more typical of a precious metal.

Instead of the supply changing to keep the value the same, the supply is prede­ter­mined and the value changes.

As the number of users grows, the value per coin increases.

It has the poten­tial for a positive feedback loop; as users increase, the value goes up, which could attract more users to take advan­tage of the increasing value. ”

Potential for a positive feedback loop

“ Maybe it could get an initial value circu­larly as you’ve suggested, by people foreseeing its poten­tial useful­ness for exchange. (I would definitely want some)

Maybe collec­tors, any random reason could spark it.

I think the tradi­tional quali­fi­ca­tions for money were written with the assump­tion that there are so many competing objects in the world that are scarce, an object with the automatic bootstrap of intrinsic value will surely win out over those without intrinsic value.

But if there were nothing in the world with intrinsic value that could be used as money, only scarce but no intrinsic value, I think people would still take up something. (I’m using the word scarce here to only mean limited poten­tial supply) ”

“ A rational market price for something that is expected to increase in value will already reflect the present value of the expected future increases. “

Rational market price

” In your head, you do a proba­bility estimate balancing the odds that it keeps increasing. ”

Probability

“ I’m sure that in 20 years there will either be very large trans­ac­tion volume or no volume. ”

In 20 Years

“ Bitcoins have no dividend or poten­tial future dividend, there­fore not like a stock.

More like a collectible or commodity.“

Collectible vs Commodity

” [Lengthy exposition of vulnerability of a systm to use-of-force monopolies ellided.]

You will not find a solution to political problems in cryptography.

Yes, but we can win a major battle in the arms race and gain a new territory of freedom for several years.

Governments are good at cutting off the heads of a centrally controlled networks like Napster, but pure P2P networks like Gnutella and Tor seem to be holding their own. “

Pure P2P networks

” It’s very attractive to the libertarian viewpoint if we can explain it properly.

I’m better with code than with words though. “

Libertarian Viewpoint

” The proof-of-work is a Hashcash style SHA-256 collision finding.

It’s a memoryless process where you do millions of hashes a second, with a small chance of finding one each time.

The 3 or 4 fastest nodes’ dominance would only be proportional to their share of the total CPU power.

Anyone’s chance of finding a solution at any time is proportional to their CPU power.

There will be transaction fees, so nodes will have an incentive to receive and include all the transactions they can.

Nodes will eventually be compensated by transaction fees alone when the total coins created hits the pre-determined ceiling. “

Transactions Fees

” Right, it’s ECC digital signatures.

A new key pair is used for every transaction.

It’s not pseudonymous in the sense of nyms identifying people, but it is at least a little pseudonymous in that the next action on a coin can be identified as being from the owner of that coin.”

Pseudonymous

Bitcoin is a new electronic cash system that uses a peer-to-peer network to prevent double-spending.

It’s completely decentralized
with no server or central authority

New electronic cash system

Total circulation will be 21,000,000 coins.

It’ll be distributed to network nodes when they make blocks, with the amount cut in half every 4 years

first 4 years: 10,500,000 coins

next 4 years: 5,250,000 coins

next 4 years: 2,625,000 coins

next 4 years: 1,312,500 coins
etc…

When that runs out, the system can support transaction fees if needed.

It’s based on open market competition, and there will probably always be nodes willing to process transactions for free.

Open Market Competition

” I would be surprised if 10 years from now we’re not using electronic currency in some way, now that we know a way to do it that won’t inevitably get dumbed down when the trusted third party gets cold feet.

It could get started in a narrow niche like reward points, donation tokens, currency for a game or micropayments for adult sites.

Initially it can be used in proof-of-work applications for services that could almost be free but not quite.

POW applications

It can already be used for pay-to-send e-mail.

The send dialog is resizeable and you can enter as long of a message as you like.

It’s sent directly when it connects.

The recipient doubleclicks on the transaction to see the full message.

If someone famous is getting more e-mail than they can read, but would still like to have a way for fans to contact them, they could set up Bitcoin and give out the IP address on their website. “

Pay-to-Send Email

“Send X bitcoins to my priority hotline at this IP and I’ll read the message personally.”

Send bitcoin

You can securely control neither your land nor your digitally centralized financial assets without the help of government. Thus the locality & importance of legal ownership in these things. You can securely control your globally seamless Bitcoin without the help of government.

Nick Szabo

From the People For the People !!! Be your Own Bank !!! REVOLUTIONARY IMMUTABLE PUBLIC COLLABORATIVE OPEN RESISTANT DECENTRALIZED

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Bitcoin (BTC) :

1P1tTNFGRZabK65RhqQxVmcMDHQeRX9dJJ


LiteCoin(LTC) :

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Ethereum(ETH) :

0x602e8Ca3984943cef57850BBD58b5D0A6677D856


EthereumClassic(ETC) :

0x602e8Ca3984943cef57850BBD58b5D0A6677D856


Cardano(ADA) :

addr1q88c5cccnrqy6xesszzvf7rd4tcz87klt0m0h6uvltywqe8txwmsrrqdnpq27594tyn9vz59zv0n8367lvyc2atvrzvqlvdm9d


BinanceCoin(BNB) :

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BitcoinCash (BCH)

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Bitcoin SV (BSV)

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ZCash(ZEC) :

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Dash(DASH) :

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Shiba(SHIB) :

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Anarchy Legacy

A Crypto Anarchist’s Legacy

Airfoil Dec 20, 2018

Timothy May on the cover of the second issue of Wired magazine with 2 fellow cypherpunks

Sadly, this past week we lost an icon that helped to spur the cypherpunk movement. Timothy May, who wrote The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto in 1988, lauched a movement that is still very prominent today.

For the uninitiated, a Crypto-Anarchist focuses on subverting the current laws and using new technologies to the benefit of the common man.

In the original manifesto, May says crypto-anarchy focuses on “encryption, digital money, anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero-knowledge, reputations, information markets, black markets, collapse of governments”.

The manifesto was written just before the first crypto wars began during the early 1990’s.

The governments of the world fiercely opposed the general public using cryptographic encryption protocols.

The idea that a normal citizen could completely hide what they say in an electronic message was their biggest concern.

The governments cited national security as a concern (We’ve heard this excuse used many times before).

Tim May was embroiled in the center of this alongside his group of fellow cypherpunks.

RSA Security, a leading computer securty company founded by world-renowned cryptologists, created this poster against a hardware chip that used a US-government supplied encryption standard

The legislation of the anti-encryption laws would also affect payment processing technology. There was a large push back from tech companies that would have to deal with these issues first-hand.

The crypto wars of the 1990’s ended with the concession from the government that encryption was readily available around the world.

The public had won their first bout against the government surveillance state. Alongside the public, you had the cypherpunks and large tech companies that were all fighting a common threat.

There was not much of an issue in terms of encryption for quite a few more years.

Every few years afterward, the idea of backdoors into encryption schemes were brought up but nothing ever came about these new ideations.

The Crypto Wars Redux

The expansion of computational power and development of more efficient processing equipment closed the gap as to who can gain access to encryption software.

The widespread availabilty of software/hardware that can perform these cryptographic calculations involved in encryption and the ease of use has made it possible for the layman to encrypt their own personal messages, video calls,emails, and notes.

Encrypting an email with someone who has never imported a key to their keyring, or generated their own PGP public/private key pair is a thing of the past.

Many of the services that exist today offer these solutions out of the box. The process has become much easier for all parties involved.

Anyone that is now using this technology benefits from this on a privacy and security level.

With all parties benefitting, the leviathan rears its head once more. Australia has passed an anti-encryption bill that will force large tech companies to allow the Australian government to obtain hardware access(citing national security as a major reason).

Outrage has spilled out of the larger tech companies. The end-to-end zero knowledge messaging/calling app, Signal, has taken a stand against this bill.

This sounds very similar to the issues Tim May was battling with during the early days of the First Crypto War.

The cypherpunks came out on top and I’m sure this legislation will face a similar fate.

May’s Impact on the World

The imprint that Timothy May left on the world is profound. The mass adoption of encryption as well as cryptocurrencies shows just how far ahead of the times he was.

May urged the importance of privacy.

He insisted on the use of encryption to keep your communications private.

Currently on a majority of mobile phones there are applications that provide encrypted communications. Whatsapp uses the Signal protocol which was developed by cypherpunk Moxie Marlinspike.

The rise of cryptocurrencies is an ideal that May was very hopeful for.

May did come out against the anti-privacy issues of bitcoin.

There are projects that offer solutions for this privacy debate.

Much of the developer-base of these certain cryptocurrencies have their foundation based in the cypherpunk tradition.

The Cryptocurrencies that aim for a privacy by default mechanism are monero and the soon to launch GRIN which uses the Mimblewimble Protocol (To see an extremely entertaining introduction to the GRIN project via talk-to-text chat for privacy preservation, listen to the creator of Grin).

Zcash is moving in the direction of private by default and the superior cryptography of the ZK range proofs will help to create a very private cryptocurrency.

Cody WIlson and Amir Taaki who worked on projects focused on the crypto-anarchic tradition including Dark Wallet and Defense Distributed

The impact Tim May made on the world by helping to create a social movement shows the importance and strength of his ideals.

He has impacted a generation of people that are growing up in the digital age.

He influenced builders in the 21st century.

You have people creating new currencies, exposing government surveillance on a national scale, circumventing the broken bueracratic system by creating their own markets, anonymous internet protocols, as well as making encryption applicable to the common man (You can find a list of prominent cypherpunks here and also here).

There isn’t enough that can be said about the applications in which he believed could positively affect us.

May was cognizant of the encroaching all-seeing eye of the state but I believe we are in much better shape now than we’ve ever been.

There may be negative news about what we currently face as individuals, from the unprecedented surveillance of the Snowden leaks to the aforementioned Australian anti-encryption bill, but looking at the grand scheme of our daily lives, these tools and their functions have helped to create a much better day than May could have imagined in 1988.

He was a proponent for the industriousness of human nature to outpace the slow moving regulation that would try to bog down any progress.

You can listen here to what he thought people/creators should do when they develop ground breaking technology.

Arise, you have nothing to lose but your barbed wire fences!

Timothy C. May – “The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto”

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Arise…

Timothy C. May

Arise, you have nothing to lose but your barbed wired fences!

Timothy C. May

Wonder In Peace bright mind!

Thanks for the guidance and wisdom!

The world will never know how much they owe you!

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B-Money

Web Dai – B-Money

I am fascinated by Tim May's crypto-anarchy. 

Unlike the communities
traditionally associated with the word "anarchy", in a crypto-anarchy the
government is not temporarily destroyed but permanently forbidden and
permanently unnecessary. 

It's a community where the threat of violence is
impotent because violence is impossible, and violence is impossible because its participants cannot be linked to their true names or physical locations.
 
Until now it's not clear, even theoretically, how such a community could operate. 

A community is defined by the cooperation of its participants, and efficient cooperation requires a medium of exchange (money) and a way to enforce contracts. 

Traditionally these services have been provided by the government or government sponsored institutions and only to legal entities. 

In this article I describe a protocol by which these services can be provided to and by untraceable entities.
 
I will actually describe two protocols. The first one is impractical,because it makes heavy use of a synchronous and unjammable anonymous
broadcast channel. However it will motivate the second, more practical protocol.

In both cases I will assume the existence of an untraceable network, where senders and receivers are identified only by digital
pseudonyms (i.e. public keys) and every messages is signed by its sender
and encrypted to its receiver.
 
In the first protocol, every participant maintains a (seperate) database of how much money belongs to each pseudonym. These accounts collectively define the ownership of money, and how these accounts are updated is the subject of this protocol.
 
1. The creation of money. Anyone can create money by broadcasting the
solution to a previously unsolved computational problem. The only
conditions are that it must be easy to determine how much computing effort
it took to solve the problem and the solution must otherwise have no
value, either practical or intellectual. The number of monetary units
created is equal to the cost of the computing effort in terms of a
standard basket of commodities. For example if a problem takes 100 hours
to solve on the computer that solves it most economically, and it takes 3
standard baskets to purchase 100 hours of computing time on that computer
on the open market, then upon the broadcast of the solution to that
problem everyone credits the broadcaster's account by 3 units.
 
2. The transfer of money. If Alice (owner of pseudonym K_A) wishes to
transfer X units of money to Bob (owner of pseudonym K_B), she broadcasts
the message "I give X units of money to K_B" signed by K_A. 
 
Upon the broadcast of this message, everyone debits K_A's account by X units and
credits K_B's account by X units, unless this would create a negative
balance in K_A's account in which case the message is ignored.
 
3. The effecting of contracts. A valid contract must include a maximum
reparation in case of default for each participant party to it. It should
also include a party who will perform arbitration should there be a
dispute. All parties to a contract including the arbitrator must broadcast
their signatures of it before it becomes effective. Upon the broadcast of
the contract and all signatures, every participant debits the account of
each party by the amount of his maximum reparation and credits a special
account identified by a secure hash of the contract by the sum the maximum
reparations. The contract becomes effective if the debits succeed for
every party without producing a negative balance, otherwise the contract
is ignored and the accounts are rolled back. A sample contract might look
like this:
 
K_A agrees to send K_B the solution to problem P before 0:0:0 1/1/2000.
K_B agrees to pay K_A 100 MU (monetary units) before 0:0:0 1/1/2000. K_C
agrees to perform arbitration in case of dispute. K_A agrees to pay a
maximum of 1000 MU in case of default. K_B agrees to pay a maximum of 200
MU in case of default. K_C agrees to pay a maximum of 500 MU in case of
default.
 
4. The conclusion of contracts. If a contract concludes without dispute,
each party broadcasts a signed message "The contract with SHA-1 hash H
concludes without reparations." or possibly "The contract with SHA-1 hash
H concludes with the following reparations: ..." Upon the broadcast of all
signatures, every participant credits the account of each party by the
amount of his maximum reparation, removes the contract account, then
credits or debits the account of each party according to the reparation
schedule if there is one.
 
5. The enforcement of contracts. If the parties to a contract cannot agree
on an appropriate conclusion even with the help of the arbitrator, each
party broadcasts a suggested reparation/fine schedule and any arguments or
evidence in his favor. Each participant makes a determination as to the
actual reparations and/or fines, and modifies his accounts accordingly.
 
In the second protocol, the accounts of who has how much money are kept by
a subset of the participants (called servers from now on) instead of
everyone. These servers are linked by a Usenet-style broadcast channel.

The format of transaction messages broadcasted on this channel remain the
same as in the first protocol, but the affected participants of each
transaction should verify that the message has been received and
successfully processed by a randomly selected subset of the servers.
 
Since the servers must be trusted to a degree, some mechanism is needed to
keep them honest. Each server is required to deposit a certain amount of
money in a special account to be used as potential fines or rewards for
proof of misconduct. Also, each server must periodically publish and
commit to its current money creation and money ownership databases. Each
participant should verify that his own account balances are correct and
that the sum of the account balances is not greater than the total amount
of money created. This prevents the servers, even in total collusion, from
permanently and costlessly expanding the money supply. New servers can
also use the published databases to synchronize with existing servers.
 
The protocol proposed in this article allows untraceable pseudonymous
entities to cooperate with each other more efficiently, by providing them
with a medium of exchange and a method of enforcing contracts. The
protocol can probably be made more efficient and secure, but I hope this
is a step toward making crypto-anarchy a practical as well as theoretical
possibility.
 
-------
 
Appendix A: alternative b-money creation
 
One of the more problematic parts in the b-money protocol is money
creation. This part of the protocol requires that all of the account
keepers decide and agree on the cost of particular computations.
Unfortunately because computing technology tends to advance rapidly and
not always publicly, this information may be unavailable, inaccurate, or
outdated, all of which would cause serious problems for the protocol.
 
So I propose an alternative money creation subprotocol, in which account
keepers (everyone in the first protocol, or the servers in the second
protocol) instead decide and agree on the amount of b-money to be created
each period, with the cost of creating that money determined by an
auction. Each money creation period is divided up into four phases, as
follows:
 
1. Planning. The account keepers compute and negotiate with each other to
determine an optimal increase in the money supply for the next period. 

Whether or not the account keepers can reach a consensus, they each
broadcast their money creation quota and any macroeconomic calculations
done to support the figures. 
 
2. Bidding. Anyone who wants to create b-money broadcasts a bid in the
form of <x, y> where x is the amount of b-money he wants to create, and y
is an unsolved problem from a predetermined problem class. Each problem in
this class should have a nominal cost (in MIPS-years say) which is
publicly agreed on.
 
3. Computation. After seeing the bids, the ones who placed bids in the
bidding phase may now solve the problems in their bids and broadcast the
solutions.
 
4. Money creation. Each account keeper accepts the highest bids (among
those who actually broadcasted solutions) in terms of nominal cost per
unit of b-money created and credits the bidders' accounts accordingly

http://www.weidai.com/bmoney.txt

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