Money and Tech Launch

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Rebecca Ahn:

welcome to the launch of moneyandtech.com - I get to work in the basement with @jeredkenna and @tylorbohlman

Jered Kenna:

I ran the first US bitcoin exchange, but theres a lot of regulation it got shut down.

there's a big gap between techy forums and mainstream media, so we're in it

I started out with bitcoin in 2009 - I got sent 10,000 bitcoins, which I sent to someone else who deleted them

nym:

we were the first outlet to accept bitcoins in our cupcake shop, because we had an iPad in the shop

we're launching GogoCoin in the bakery - it's a pre-paid bitcoin card like a startbucks card

Paige Freeman:

I'm VP of sales for BitPay, headquartered in Atlanta, but out here to get companies to accept bitcoin

Jered Kenna:

Chris Larsen is trying to kill Bitcoin, but we still love him

Chris Larsen:

Ripple is using the same technology that made bitcoin possible, but to build an internet for value exchange

we think we're entering the age of the internet for value exchange, not just for file exchange

Jered Kenna:

bitcoin has been relatively stable recently. Will this last?

Paige Freeman:

Bitcoin's going to go up and down, but when people ask if they should invest I say yes

nym:

There aren't enough onramps into the bitcoin currently - it's a highway for money that we need to get on

I encourage you t sell things for bitcoin as that is an easy way to get in compared to buying them

Chris Larsen:

there is a ton of pent-up demand in this whole space - Wall Street is gearing up for it

it's still too hard to get funds into these protocols because of the reputational risk for big players

Jered Kenna:

now you have got major companies and banks interested, what's going to be the next big shift?

Chris Larsen:

as these get accepted and the reputational risk goes down, it'll bridge into SWIFT and VISA and so on

a lot fo big players are making PR announcements - we need fundamental bridging

nym:

videogames and videogame credits have been a bridge into this - buying Steam credits at 7/11

Banks are the most conservative investors of all. I expect a bank within a year

Paige Freeman:

once more merchants accept bitcoin, that will drive the banks into it too

I think airlines and travel are a natural fit for Bitcoin because of the currency exchange savings

nym:

of course I'm going to say pre-paid cards, but it is the last mile. I still invest in litecoin and ripple

suddenly you don't need armoured cars to move money. I think a tipping point is inevitable

Paige Freeman:

we need to help people to buy bitcoin. That is the next big thing.

Chris Larsen:

more front-end ways of getting money into the system, like coinbase are needed.

Security is going to be a service too - as funds look into the space they want that

Jered Kenna:

when we started there was no regulation - now people are talking about it. What does that imply?

nym:

ben Bernanke writing a memo in favour of it was a big move. So far it has been encouraging

Paige Freeman:

Our CEO testified before Congress, so far it has been positive.

Chris Larsen:

we testified to the Senate and banking - explaining that it isn't anonymous helps

there is goign to be more fraud, and then more regulation. If a bank steps in regulation will respond

Jered Kenna:

I like all the things that you can do with bitcoin that don't involve money - sending message etc

Chris Larsen:

there is a lot being worked on that is super-exciting - building outside the blockchain may make more sense

we're working on contracts and a scripting language within Ripple to use non-monetary tasks and utilities

nym:

there is an opportunity for distribution of information in different ways - notarizing documents for example

you can get rid of that third-party trust and do more dynamic things with money and value

I'd like to talk to anyone in the banking industry who is serious

regulators are viewing bitcoin as a hybrid between gold and currency. how ill that change?

as long as you aren;t working towards money laundering, regulators will be happy

Paige Freeman:

as we're not holding onto bitcoin, but just passing ti though, we don't have so much regulation

Chris Larsen:

regulation is not logical - it depends who grabs it first, whether the fed or the SEC

q:

the biggest concern is how people can keep bitcoins safely - maybe coinbase, maybe an offline wallet?

Jered Kenna:

everybody says you should start with a new linux laptop that never touches the net. Too hard.

There's a company called paperwallet that is a black box that prints out a key pair that never touched the internet.

if you lose that printout you're screwed, so keep copies. as time goes by it gets scarier

Paige Freeman:

I tell everybody to use blockchain.info, even if you use coinbase move it there. [keyloggers?]

Jered Kenna:

if you're going to go online use blockchain.info, but you're better off doing it offline

q:

I'm fascinated by the altcoins - these are interesting. Beercoin went up 4000% in the last 2 days

arbitrage is getting noticeable - there are big opportunities between the different altcoins

nym:

are these bringing something different from bitcoin - do they have merchants or are they a clone?

ripple and litecoin have good shots because they are doing different things from bitcoin

Chris Larsen:

I think we're going to see an explosion of these currencies - as long as they get a following they can work

q:

multisignature transactions got added in 2013 - Bitgo can hold one key, you have two so you are safer

I looked at the Bitpay website and saw benefits for them and miners and speculators. What do purchasers get?

in addition to the benefits for the person - what is the benefit for holding them?

Paige Freeman:

one thing is that companies that accept bitcoins will offer discounts for bitcoin, as there is for cash

Chris Larsen:

as bitcoin gets seamlessly integrated, vendors won't know that they are receiving it

q:

over time. more bitcoin will go out of circulation - how will you handle that?

Jered Kenna:

there are rooms full of dollar bills that aren't in circulation too. I don't see big dumping

anything that spooks people cna take a lot more of a hit than one guy cashing out

nym:

you can predict that most won't be cashed out - with a large system you can predict that [hah ask Taleb]

q:

where does bitcoin replace where money fails?

nym:

minimum purchase 5 dollars is one place; capital controls is another - both happen organically

Jered Kenna:

anything that requires settlement or remittance - why does that take 3 days?

sending money to Honduras should not cost 25%

nym:

once people realise there is a system that is cheaper it'll do to money what Craiglist did to Newspapers

Paige Freeman:

just because credit cards came out in 1950s, we don't have to use them forever