Dustin Trammell to Satoshi: joining bitcoin-list and investment motive (January 15, 2009)

There’s at least one node who’s inbound IP keeps changing all the time within the same class B. Maybe every time the program is run. I wasn’t expecting that.

Pretty sure that’s not me. My BitCoin application at work should be coming from our static NAT address and my connection at home has had the IP that I gave you for at least 3 days now (that I’ve been transferring coins between them for test purposes).

Do you mind if I CC the rest of this to bitcoin-list or Cryptography?

Sure, no problem.

BTW, bitcoin-list is: bitcoin-list@lists.sourceforge.net Subscribe/unsubscribe page: http://lists.sourceforge.net/mailman/listinfo/bitcoin-list Archives: http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum_name=bitcoin-list

I’ll join right now, thanks (:

Hal sort of alluded to the possibility that it could be seen as a long-odds investment. 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 TTP gets cold feet.

Yes, I saw that message and was one of the other reasons I started up a node so quickly. My systems aren’t doing much of anything else while idle, so why not create BitCoins? And if they’re worth something someday…? Bonus!

Even if it doesn’t take off straight away, it’s now available for use by the next guy who comes up with a plan that needs some kind of token or electronic currency. It could get started in a closed system or narrow niche like reward points, donation tokens, currency for a game or micropayments for adult sites. 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.

I can see how various types of sites that have a need for micropayments could use them, however I also see an impedement to adoption if they want to use an existing BitCoin peer group rather than a closed system since they would first have to generate enough coins to support what they intend to do (or buy them from someone else). A closed system obviously doesn’t have that problem.

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

Interesting application (:

Subscription sites that need some extra proof-of-work for their free trial so it doesn’t cannibalize subscriptions could charge bitcoins for the trial.

Another good idea.

— Dustin D. Trammell dtrammell@dustintrammell.com http://www.dustintrammell.com