Digital Gold (36 page)

319
 
The
Newsweek
reporter, Leah McGrath Goodman, had: Leah McGrath Goodman, “The Face Behind Bitcoin,”
Newsweek
, March 6, 2014, http://www.newsweek.com/2014/03/14/face-behind-bitcoin-247957.html.

321
 
“Why did you create Bitcoin, sir?”: The video of Dorian Nakamoto leaving his house is viewable at http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/07/satoshi-nakamoto-denies-inventing-bitcoin.

323
 
“simply be an old man saying ANYTHING”: Gavin's letter to McGrath Goodman is available at http://www.reddit.com/r/bitcoin/comments/1zqjq6/open_letter_to_leah_mcgrath/.

323
 
In an Amazon review of Danish butter cookies: The review is available at http://www.amazon.com/review/R3U92F9YRUSF37.

323
 
The AP's story and video from its interview: The interview is viewable at https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-ts=1422579428&x-yt-cl= 85114404&v=GrrtA6IoR_E.

324
 
An Argentinian security expert, Sergio Lerner, had done: Sergio Demian Lerner, “The Well Deserved Fortune of Satoshi Nakamoto, BitcoinCreator,
Visionary and Genius,” Bitslog, April 17, 2013, https://bitslog.wordpress.com/2013/04/17/the-well-deserved-fortune-of-satoshi-nakamoto/. 333 “Friends, citizens, Bitcoiners, there is nothing”: Charlie's speech is viewable at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH7mCO5EnDU.

334
 
“I think it's very obvious to all of us”: Gregory Ferenstein, “Google's Jared Cohen: It's ‘Obvious' Bitcoin-Like Currencies Are ‘Inevitable,'”
TechCrunch
, March 8, 2014, http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/08/googles-jared-cohen-its-obvious-bitcoin-like-currencies-are-inevitable/.

335
 
“You don't get the new technology from”: Andreessen's comments are from his speech at Coinsummit 2014, which is viewable at https://www .youtube.com/watch?v=iir5J6Z3Z1Q.

339
 
Nick's writing: Nick's writings are available at http://unenumerated .blogspot.com/.

339-40
 
Most bizarrely, Nick altered the dates: the dates that Nick later put on the posts are at the top of each post. But the URL addresses of the posts still show the original posting date. For instance, his post on “Bit Gold Markets” says that it was written on December 27, 2008, but the URL is http://unenumerated.blogspot.com/2008/04/bit-gold-markets .html#links.

339
 
“repeated use of ‘of course' without isolating commas”: Skye Grey, “Satoshi Nakamoto Is (Probably) Nick Szabo,”
LikeinaMirror
, December 1, 2013, https://likeinamirror.wordpress.com/2013/12/01/satoshi-nakamoto-is-probably-nick-szabo/.

348
 
a hacker demanding ransom was targeting Hal: Robert McMillan, “An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin's Earliest Adopters,”
Wired
, December 29, 2014, http://www.wired.com/2014/12/finney-swat/.

353
 
The United States Marshals Service had auctioned off the 29,655: Tim Draper's announcement is available at https://medium.com/mirror-blog/tim-draper-wins-govt-auction-partners-with-vaurum-to-provide-bit coin-liquidity-in-emerging-markets-88f04a1d8598.

353
 
Wences officially announced the $20 million: The Xapo announcement is available at https://blog.xapo.com/xapo-raises-20-million-investment-led-by-greylock-partne/.

354
 
Gates had initially bet against the open Internet and built a closed network: Kathy Rebello, “Inside Microsoft: The Untold Story of How the Internet Forced Bill Gates to Reverse Course,”
BusinessWeek
, July 15, 1996.

“The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific passage, please use your e-book reader's search tools.”

Abedier, Osama, 101

Alcor Life Extension Foundation, 7

Alibaba (Chinese Internet company), 261

Alice (hypothetical user), 9, 11, 21–23, 358–359

Alipay (Chinese payment processor), 260–261

Allen & Co., 181, 292, 349, 353

altoid (screen name), 69, 248.
See also
Ulbricht, Ross

Andreessen Horowitz, 186, 192, 329

Andreessen, Marc, 181, 186–187, 293–295, 303, 335

Andresen, Gavin

  
beginnings with Bitcoin, 44–47, 49–50, 323

  
as Bitcoin central figure, 59–62

  
Bitcoin mining, 53, 192–197, 329

  
Bitcoin promotion, 75–76, 101–106

  
creation of Bitcoin Foundation, 138, 141–142

  
dealing with scandals, 99

  
relationship with Satoshi, 55–56, 80–86

  
responding to Mt. Gox collapse, 309

  
2014 Bitcoin Pacifica (Lake Tahoe), 346–348

Anoncoin (digital currency), 270–271

Anti-state.org (website), 29

Argentina, 153–161, 182, 240–242, 259, 277–280, 286, 349–353

ASIC (computer chip), 189–190, 259, 329–330

Assange, Julian, 56–57

Athey, Susan, 345

Atlantis, 245

Australia, 44–45, 117, 168, 171

Automated Clearing House (ACH), 133

Avalon (ASIC), 190, 206

Back, Adam, 17–22, 339, 348

Baidu (Chinese search engine), 261–262

bank bailout of 2008, 32, 111

Bank of America, 272

Bates, Richard, 75–77, 115–116

bee-te-bee
(Chinese Bitcoin), 255–256

Beijing Summer Olympics (2008), 145

Benchmark Capital, 282, 293, 305

Bernanke, Ben, 266

Bezos, Jeff, 353

Bharara, Preet, 299–300

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 353–355

Bitcoin

  
arrival of Gavin Andresen, 44–47

  
arrival of Martti Malmi, 29–30

  
building trust, 24–25, 33, 48, 61–62, 69, 99–100, 279, 315, 339

  
buying/selling with, 43–44, 82, 119–120, 129–130

  
changing business model, 236–239

  
characterization as “cryptocurrency,” 36

  
comparison to gold, 157–158, 165, 182

  
comparison to paper money, 219, 286–287

  
creation and operation of original code, 4–6, 20–24

  
disappearance of Satoshi Nakamoto, x–xiii

  
hacking and scandals, 91–99

  
increasing price/value, 38, 66–69, 79, 81–85, 89–91, 131, 175, 180, 184, 193–196, 204–206, 210–211, 250–253, 262–264, 267, 271–275, 284–285

  
legality/government regulation, 196–198, 251

  
limitations based upon computers, 347

  
Mt. Gox collapse busts bubble, 308–317

  
origin and ideology, vii–xv, 5, 113–114

  
as Ponzi scheme, 220

  
proof-of-work, 18–19

Bitcoin Foundation

  
candidacy of Bobby Lee, 345

  
dealing with Bitcoin collapse, 314–315

  
Gavin Andresen as member, 192

  
involvement in Senate hearing, 265–267, 270, 300–302

  
Patrick Murck as member, 176

  
planning and creation of, 138–142

  
regulatory problems, 217–219, 233–236

  
resignation of Charlie Shrem, 302

Bitcoinica, 237

Bitcoin Investment Trust, 314

Bitcoin Meetups.
See
conferences (Bitcoin and others)

Bitcoin mining

  
about process vulnerability, 41–42

  
creating blocks and recording transactions, 359–361

  
creation of ASIC chip, 189–192, 259, 329–330

  
creation of Avalon chip, 190, 206

  
formation of mining companies, 294–295, 328–329

  
formation of mining pools, 192–194

  
GPU technology, 42, 56, 189–191

  
growth in China, 259–261, 329

  
Litecoin mining, 283

  
more users increased difficulty, 53

  
role in securing system, 100

  
Satoshi Nakamoto patterns, 324

  
specialized computers/computing power, 105, 170, 190, 233, 324, 330, 347

The Bitcoin Show
(TV program), 102, 128

Bitcoin software

  
about operation, 23, 357–362

  
beta testing, 25–26, 58

  
changes to code, 22–24, 35–39, 43–46, 55–58, 61–62, 141, 309, 346–347

  
creating/maintaining protocol, x, 5–6, 32, 99, 215–216

  
creation and launch, xiv, 30–31, 319, 346

  
downloads, 49–51, 80, 237, 261

  
Google interest, 100–102

  
hard fork, 193, 195

  
“1 RETURN” bug, 56

  
role of public-key

  
cryptography, 9–10, 17–18

  
running on Macintosh, 41

  
transaction malleability problem, 309–314

  
updates and old versions, 37, 59, 193–195

  
version 0.2, 37

  
version 0.3, 47–48

  
version 0.319, 59

  
version 0.7, 194–195

  
version 0.8, 194–195

The Bitcoin Trader (blog), 195

Bitcoin White Paper, 21, 45, 339

Bitfury, 330

bit gold, 18, 338–339

BitInstant.
See also
Shrem, Charlie

  
attracting investors, 130–135

  
creation and function, 128–130

  
dealing with problems and competitors, 201–207

  
hacker penetration, 150

  
investment by David Azar, 134, 150–151

  
investment by Roger Ver, 128

  
investment by Winklevoss twins, ix, 173–176, 211–215

  
involvement of Erik Voorhees, 135–137

  
management problems, 220–222

  
regulatory problems, 222–224

  
trading volume, 201, 205–207

BitLicense, 302, 317

Bitomat (Polish exchange), 97–98

BitPagos (Argentinian payment service), 278–279

BitPay, 134, 211, 219, 272

Bitstamp (Slovenian exchange)

  
about founding, 203

  
attendance at 2014 Bitcoin Pacifica, 252–253, 337

  
regulation of virtual currencies, 271

  
response to Mt. Gox collapse, 309–310, 315

  
surpassing Mt. Gox volume, 236

  
trading volume, 262–263, 267

  
working with banks, 327

blind digital signatures, 12

blockchain

  
banking interest in the technology, 324–328

  
Bitcoin transfers, 97–98, 133, 148, 182, 203–204, 235–237

  
creation and function, 21–26, 43, 55, 61, 340

  
dealing with hard fork, 193–194

  
generating new coins, 361–362

  
increasing file size, 100–101

  
sidechains, 348

  
use by mining pools, 191–194

  
use by money transfer projects, 188–189, 336

  
winning acceptance and approval, 269–274, 289–290, 345

  
winning blocks, 361

Blockchain.info, 237–241, 252, 270, 315, 330–331

Blodget, Henry, 182–184

Bloomberg, Michael, 144, 325

b-money, 339

Branson, Richard, 297

Briger, Pete, 163–165, 201, 236, 252–253, 281–283, 287–288, 302, 342–343.
See also
Fortress Investment Group

Brito, Jerry, 79–80

Bruno, Joe Bel, 322

BTC China, 255–264, 267–269, 275, 284–285, 300, 315, 343–345.
See also
China

BTC Guild, 195

BTC King (screen name).
See
Faiella, Robert

Buffett, Warren, 353

Burges, Kolin, 310–312

Business Insider
, 184

BusinessWeek
, 197

Byrne, Patrick, 289

Canada, launch of Mint Chip, 133

Carper, Thomas (senator), 235, 267–268

Cary, Nic, 239, 252, 296–298, 333

Casares, Belle, 154, 162, 243, 352

Casares, Wences.
See also
Lemon Digital Wallet and Xapo

  
background and arrival at Bitcoin, 153–165

  
Bitcoin as commodity, 274

  
Bitcoin holdings, 287–288

  
Bitcoin promotion, 179–180, 185–187, 197, 209–210

  
Bitcoin promotion in Argentina, 240–242

  
conference attendance, 181–185, 214–216, 349, 351–355

  
development of Lemon Digital Wallet, 201–205

  
sale of Lemon Digital Wallet, 252, 280–283

  
seeking business investors, 291–296

  
startup business financing, 305–306

  
2013 Argentina, Bitcoin meeting, 277

  
Xapo founding and operations, 349–351

Casascius coins, 126–127

chronicpain (screen name).
See
Green, Curtis

cimon (screen name).
See
Variety Jones [vj]

cirrus (screen name), 246–248

Chaum, David, 10, 12, 23, 71.
See also
DigiCash

China, xiii, 128, 183, 190–191, 273–275, 280, 329.
See also
BTC China

CIA.
See
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency

Coinapult, 174, 338

Coinbase (Bitcoin service).
See also
Ehrsam, Fred

  
about the founding and operation, 203–204, 211–213

  
investment by Andreessen Horowitz, 293–295

  
maintaining private keys, 281

  
regulation of virtual currencies, 271

  
regulatory compliance, 236–237

  
response to Mt. Gox collapse, 315

  
transaction fees, 290

  
working with banks, 305–306

CoinLab, 138, 144, 200, 213

COIN (Nasdaq ticker symbol), 353

Collins, John, 265–266

conferences (Bitcoin and others)

  
2011 CIA interest in Bitcoin, 81

  
2011 NYC Bitcoin World Expo, 102–106, 135

  
2011 Thailand, Bitcoin, 104

  
2012 Amsterdam, Bitcoin, 104, 297–298

  
2012 Federal Reserve on money transfer, 132–133

  
2012 NYC, Bitcoin, 104

  
2013 Allen & Co., 181, 349

  
2013 Argentina, Bitcoin, 277–283

  
2013 San Jose, Bitcoin, 214–216

  
2014 Allen & Co., 262, 349, 353–355

  
2014 Austin, Bitcoin, 331–336

  
2014 Bitcoin Pacifica (Lake Tahoe), 337–345

  
2014 SXSW, 334–336

  
2014 Utrecht technology, 298

The Construction and Operation of Clandestine Drug Laboratories
(Jack B. Nimble), 69

Costollo, Dick, 181

Cowen, Tyler, 286

CRASH (CRypto caSH), 12

credit cards

  
Bitcoin as replacement, 23, 158–160, 235, 292

  
digital wallets and, 101, 154, 209

  
disputes and chargebacks, 64, 134, 343

  
lack of privacy, 11

  
Target Corporation, data breach, 288–289

  
transaction fees, xii, 102, 240–241, 272, 277–278, 290, 343

  
WikiLeaks blockade, 57

Crisis Strategy Draft, 313–315

cryogenics, 7

cryptocurrency, 36

Cryptonomicon
(Stephenson), 19, 252

currency debasement, 30–31

Cypherpunk Manifesto, 8–12

Cypherpunks

  
awareness of privacy and data vulnerability, 8–9

  
conceptualizing future of money, 11–13, 16

  
facing digital money obstacles, 19–20

  
philosophical influences, 70

  
termination of mailing list, 20

Dai, Wei, 19–20

Darkcoin (digital currency), 270–271