Dan Larimer to be Keynote Speaker at Inside Bitcoins in Vegas

[donkeypong]

I didn't say he wasn't being diplomatic. It would smooth the transition, since everyone knows he's going to talk about his baby, BitShares, at the end.

[matt608]

That looks like a great plan for your speech. I might suggest that in #11, when you are introducing BitShares, you also might also mention Ethereum and NXT, etc., as other examples of doing more with the blockchain. That might be a diplomatic transition to just mention them once, though not describe them any more than that. And then then go into BitShares. Best of luck; it's going to be great!

I don't think there's a need to be that diplomatic, he's flattering bitcoin greatly already. 

[Ander]

This sounds like a great speech.  Sad that I wont be there but I cant wait to watch a video of it.

[donkeypong]

That looks like a great plan for your speech. I might suggest that in #11, when you are introducing BitShares, you also might also mention Ethereum and NXT, etc., as other examples of doing more with the blockchain. That might be a diplomatic transition to just mention them once, though not describe them any more than that. And then then go into BitShares. Best of luck; it's going to be great!

[Method-X]

1) What Bitcoin is *to me*.... an idea, a vision, .... other things like the american dream...

You could say something like "Satoshi had a dream", and then go on to explain what his dream was. i.e. Martin Luther Kings "I had a dream" speech.

This should be a fantastic speech, I'm really bummed I can't fly to Vegas due to prior arrangements.

[bytemaster]

Just for the record... I am making no new announcements in Vegas...

A brief outline of my talk:

1) What Bitcoin is *to me*.... an idea, a vision, .... other things like the american dream...
2) What Bitcoin isn't to me...  a specific technology, blockchain, mining, or network effect.
3) Like the constitution of the US was meant to secure life, liberty, and property... so to was Satoshi's implementation of the Bitcoin vision.
4) Like the constitution either permits or is powerless to prevent world empire and global economic extortion... so too will Satoshi's Bitcoin unless we act to prevent it.

  Bitcoin is a new frontier and we are pioneers hoping to re-establish the land of the free and the home of the brave.   Satoshi set out to create a system without any centralized points of control and where the currency was distributed on an equal opportunity basis to anyone and everyone with a computer.  Mining was meant to simulate the discovery of gold that was evenly distributed across the world.   

But like the Constitution of the United States the ideal and the reality have diverged and Satoshi’s Bitcoin has fallen to the immutable laws of economics. Efficiencies gained by centralization and economies of scale has made decentralized mining unprofitable.

   What will Satoshi’s Bitcoin do then?   Is it safe to say, “we will deal with it if it becomes a problem”?   Should we not have a plan in place today the free Bitcoin from the risk of centralized control that mining poses?    Should Bitcoin adopt a different proof of work?   Sadly, the same immutable laws of economics will apply to all proof of work schemes.   

   Last year at Inside Bitcoin  the CEO of Butterfly Labs did a presentation on “The Future of Mining”.   In his presentation he pointed out that about 5 people collectively control 75% of the hashing power behind Bitcoin and 2 people control over 51%.   He then made the case that this centralization was good for Bitcoin because it means they could coordinate to rapidly resolve unexpected forks such as the one that occurred in March 2013.     According to Sonny Vleisides, without this centralization in mining Bitcoin would have died 18 months ago as decentralized clients would have been unable to reach a consensus on which fork to follow in a timely manner.

Whether or not you agree that Bitcoin would have died,  Sonny Vleisides has effectively admitted that Bitcoin has become centralized, that a small handful of powerful pool operators can unilaterally decide which block chain fork is the “official” fork, that they all know each other and that they effectively vote on which chain to support. 

    I was in line to ask a question that day, but unfortunately it had to wait until this years event to be asked.   If the major mining pool operators form a small group of insiders that are voting on which fork to follow and this is good for Satoshi’s Bitcoin, then why must we spend a half billion dollars per year to generate an insecure, forgeable, proof-of-work hash signature when these same individuals could simply provide a cheap, secure, unforgeable elliptic curve signature?    Are we claiming that the ability for todays wealthy elite to buy enough mining hardware to challenge this small group of individuals is worth $500 million dollars?   That wealthy outsiders will come to the rescue of Bitcoin by investing in enough hardware to break the monopoly of the mining incumbents?   

5) Shift in ecosystem toward proof of stake (new coins, many of the top 10)

6) Bitcoin as a company

7) Economic analysis of Bitcoin

Introduction to proof of stake (in general, not DPOS)

9) Profitability = Sustainability and Growth

Given two systems each attempting to realize the Bitcoin Ideal we have a choice between Satoshi’s Bitcoin where a half dozen self-appointed people vote on the ledger while charging the coinholders 10% per year and pocketing 5% for themselves or any one of a dozen different proof of stake systems that offer greater privacy, faster blocks, lower transaction fees, and most importantly the ledger is voted on by thousands of regular users while paying a positive yield?

Satoshi’s Bitcoin has the infrastructure advantage, the name recognition, and the network effect to garner a 5 billion dollar market cap,  but this market cap is being built on the backs of thousands of small businesses that are integrating Satoshi’s Bitcoin by investing millions in infrastructure. 

This infrastructure is not tied to Bitcoin and could quickly pivot to newer, better realizations of the Bitcoin Ideal for a fraction of the cost it took to setup initially. 

So all you in the audience who own tens of millions of Satoshi‘s are faced with the same delimia that shareholders of all companies face, sell or vote in new management to pivot the business and return to profitability.  Imagine the possibility if $500 million per year could be directed to building infrastructure rather than combatting global cooling?

10) Bitcoin is challenged by lacking a consensus mechanism for large changes to the network such as eliminating mining

Fortunately the free market is the ultimate form of decentralization and we can vote with our wallets, our investments, and our businesses.  My message for you today is to look beyond Satoshi, beyond the hype, and hold fast to the vision and ideal that Bitcoin stands for.

11) Overview of BitShares..

I am not here today to do a sales pitch but only to open your eyes to what kind of things are possible and to carry the flag of the Bitcoin Ideal to the moon. 

[Ander]

Well, most of the whales are probably people on this forum, and I don't think they have a goal of screwing the rest of us over yet.    BTSX isn't so well distributed yet that there are large whale traders who are just in it for the trading and don't believe in BTSX long term.  There is plenty of room for BTSX to appreciate, and the whales already had the opportunity to buy it for under a cent a couple months ago.

That said, I do think there is too much expectation surrounding Dan's vegas speech.  It could be a 'sell the news' event if the expected price rise doesnt materialize. 

[gamey]

I have the feeling that after Vegas the whole thing here will explode. Like a few days later, after some experts told their friends about it or wrote some articles.

I agree with you but  before it happens I have a strong feeling they (Whales?)will manage  Bitsharesx prices to tank aggressive for a while to make weak hands to leave their positions and have the opportunity to buy massively at lower prices before they see the price skyrocketing again... 

Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH 997D

I don't really think it is near as possible to manipulate the market downwards as people think.  You have to fool all the participants in the market to think the stock is overvalued.    Hard with to do with BTSX. 

[nomoreheroes7]

I have the feeling that after Vegas the whole thing here will explode. Like a few days later, after some experts told their friends about it or wrote some articles.

I agree with you but  before it happens I have a strong feeling they (Whales?)will manage  Bitsharesx prices to tank aggressive for a while to make weak hands to leave their positions and have the opportunity to buy massively at lower prices before they see the price skyrocketing again... 

Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH 997D

They better not, I ain't getting margin called. lol.

But yea, I have this feeling in the pit of my stomach that the price may explode right around Dan's keynote or soon thereafter...or maybe even around Patrick Byrne's keynote, if his announcement is exciting enough. I'm probably wrong as I usually am, but damn that'd be awesome.

[liondani]

I have the feeling that after Vegas the whole thing here will explode. Like a few days later, after some experts told their friends about it or wrote some articles.

I agree with you but  before it happens I have a strong feeling they (Whales?)will manage  Bitsharesx prices to tank aggressive for a while to make weak hands to leave their positions and have the opportunity to buy massively at lower prices before they see the price skyrocketing again... 

Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH 997D

[carpet ride]

I would rock BTS shirts 7/365


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Gentso1]

So were shirts ever made by chance ?

Thinking about it, it would be nice to have a 'ask me about bitshares' type shirts.  I wouldn't mind wearing it.

Sadly no, my friend that made the last batch had just received some large orders from some of the local schools and he said it would have been impossible for him to get it done in the time required.
If their is enough interest I can do another run with a different design I also had some vinyl bitshares stickers with the logo on a black back round made (great for cars and laptops). Any one that is interested please pm me so I can get a head count, if we can get at least 13 I will make a thread and we can try to all agree on a new mock up.     

[gamey]

So were shirts ever made by chance ?

Thinking about it, it would be nice to have a 'ask me about bitshares' type shirts.  I wouldn't mind wearing it.

[Riverhead]

Given what's at stake for Patrick I'm guessing it'll be something reasonably vague. If I had to place a bit it'd be that they have resolved critical regulatory barriers and have started the phase of vetting various blockchain solutions "for the next step".

Maybe that could be it... and I dont htink he would necessarily say hes leaning towards a particular one unless its already a done deal.. so the regulatory thing is pretty big and should be fairly bullish blockchain 2.0 currencies I would think.

Agreed. He's pretty savvy on how reactionary the crypto world is to news so I doubt he's going to send one company to the moon unless it is, as you say, a done deal.

[jsidhu]

Given what's at stake for Patrick I'm guessing it'll be something reasonably vague. If I had to place a bit it'd be that they have resolved critical regulatory barriers and have started the phase of vetting various blockchain solutions "for the next step".

Maybe that could be it... and I dont htink he would necessarily say hes leaning towards a particular one unless its already a done deal.. so the regulatory thing is pretty big and should be fairly bullish blockchain 2.0 currencies I would think.