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Preparing For The BIP 148 Bitcoin Fork – How To Protect Your Digital Assets

by Will Long | Jun 20, 2017 | Bitcoin, blog, News

BIP stands for Bitcoin Improvement Proposal. On August 1st of this year Bitcoin will experience a BIP called a user activated soft fork (UASF).

The fork attempts to do 2 main things. It will implement SegWit and patch a security vulnerability on the Bitcoin Core software known as CVE-2017-9230.

The implementation of SegWit is a big deal and very political in the Bitcoin space. Many are for it and many are against it. Basically SegWit believes the solution is to the Bitcoin scaling challenge is to change how blocks are stored. It will creates smaller blocks more often. More details on SegWit.

Hard Fork vs Soft Fork

Both hard forks and soft forks both describe ways to update the Bitcoin core wallet software.

A hard fork is a permanent divergence in the blockchain, while a soft fork is a temporary divergence . BIP 148 is technically a soft fork.

Trace Mayer & Jeff Berwick Discuss The BIP:

How Should You Prepare?

You should prepare for BIP 148 by creating and storing your own private keys. It is also suggested to perform your own network consensus by running a full-node.

This means you should move or make sure your Bitcoin is in a wallet that A. gives your total control of your keys and B. supports the BIP 148.

Here is a list of wallets that support the upcoming Bitcoin improvement proposal:

09 Apr 2017 – Electrum
09 Apr 2017 – Samourai Wallet
11 Apr 2017 – Coinkite
12 Apr 2017 – Coinomi
22 May 2017 – GreenAddress
24 May 2017 – Ledger Wallet
27 May 2017 – Mycelium
28 May 2017 – Electrum
29 May 2017 – Airbitz
09 Jun 2017 – Bitgo

What About Exodus?

Exodus is one of our prefered wallets at BitcoinShirtz. They have yet to fully support the BIP but Exodus users retain full control of private keys, so they should be good to go.

Exodus is designed to allow you to control your own wealth. With this control comes the ability to make decisions for yourself and also have 100% control over your funds – this includes Bitcoin and all assets.

Exodus gives the power to you as a user to decide how you want to proceed in the case of a fork. No matter the decision of Exodus, the software is designed to give you the user total ownership and full autonomy over all assets.

Unlike an exchange or hosted wallet, Exodus gives you the user full control of your private keys. With these private keys you will be able to retain control of both sets of coins when and if a fork takes place.

Since Exodus is a light-wallet that depends upon information from other services like ShapeShift, BlockCypher, and Bitpay Insight Exodus is dependent upon their decisions. Until we know the position of each service, we are unable to give a firm position.

Again, we want to stress, the power of Exodus is it gives you the user 100% control over all assets. No matter what Exodus as a company decides to do in a fork situation you always have and maintain full control and management of your assets.

Last updated: Tuesday, May 30th, 2017

Source

Read more about the BIP 148 and UASF on uasfguide.com

What Is Money And Where Does It Come From

by Will Long | Apr 12, 2017 | Bitcoin, Facts

Have you ever wondered how money is created, or even what is money?

Some people such as economist point out the differences between money and currency. But for the average person, they are the same.

There are many forms of money. Gold and silver have been considered money for most of human history. But over the last 100 years we have seen a rise in fiat currencies. These currencies begin as worthless paper and governments dictate the value. People must agree to it’s value and use it as a means of exchange.

Cryptocurrencies and money built with blockchain technology will consume the next phase of money. People want control of their assets and they don’t want governments printing more money at random and inflating their currency.

Good money tends to have attributes like wide acceptance, being fungible, being divisible, good at holding value, and easily transportable.

Check out this episode of the True Liberty Podcast.

Watch to learn about money, Bitcoin, fiat notes, and modern systems of central banking (and why decentralized banking is the future)

About The True Liberty Podcast

Why

The world today is broken. There is poverty, suffering, violence, and enslavement. These conditions are not the proper state of the world, nor are they necessary. This world is a reflection of the people within it; people who do not understand Truth, people who are not Free.

How

An answer without a question is a solution without a problem. The world is full of people arguing about answers, but not understanding the questions. One cannot be Free without knowing the Truth, and one cannot learn the Truth without asking questions. One cannot ask questions when one believes he already knows the answer.

What

A better world is possible. A world of Free people, people who seek the Truth. This is the world we wish to create; this is the world in which we want to live. We know it is possible, but we cannot build it alone, for as one suffers, all suffer. By asking questions, and inviting others to ask them with us, together we will learn the Truth, and the Truth will set us Free.

Who

The Co-Founders of True Liberty are Adam Ernest, Nathan Hourt, and Will Long. Read their stories on the True Liberty Blog.

trueliberty.com

Bitcoin Recognized As Currency In Japan

by Will Long | Apr 3, 2017 | Bitcoin, blog, Facts, News

As of April 2017, Bitcoin is now recognized as an official currency in Japan. The change is due to a new law which categorizes the cryptocurrency as a legal payment option.

The Good Part

New money will be flowing into the global cryptocurrency ecosystem. In this regard the recognition of Bitcoin as money is a good thing. As adoption increases, demand for Bitcoin will drive the price up. Early adopters of bitcoin will see great returns on their investment.

From newsbtc.com:

“The new developments are expected to drive the cryptocurrency usage in Japan to over $9 billion in the next three years (2020), which is more than five times the 2015’s $1.7 billion worth of cryptocurrencies in circulation.”

The Bad Part

Because Bitcoin is now recognized as legal tender in Japan, the government will step in and begin to try and regulate the currency and businesses that operate with Bitcoin.

The new law has big implications for cryptocurrency exchanges, as they will come under heavy regulatory scrutiny.

Businesses that use Bitcoin will have to deal with strict anti-money laundering requirements in addition to know your customer stipulations and annual audits.

THIS IS NOT GOOD.

Bitcoin is a decentralized currency with no central authority. The digital currency is a means to escape the regulatory harassment of governments, that only slow innovation and kill productivity.

Bitcoin Is For Free People

Bitcoin is a currency for free people. Free people know and realize that governments are simply large cartels with no real authority. They magically make new laws, that benefit themselves at the cost of their citizens.

Governments will always try to take a cut of your profit, even when you do not consent. Digital currencies built with blockchain technology prevent this.

But Blockchains provide transparency, right?

Yes blockchains are transparent and allow anyone to see the transactions. Governments may track and record Bitcoin transactions all day long, but they can’t steal your account like they can with a traditional bank account that holds fiat currency.

With Bitcoin you are in control. If you do not wish to send someone money, you don’t have to. You hold the private keys.

It will be interesting to see what governments do when they learn this. They still don’t understand blockchain technology, and will likely never fully comprehend the tech as they will always be looking for a way to control the entire currency system.

And with Bitcoin, it is almost impossible, as it is decentralized or distributed. The only way would be to take over the mining network with at least 51% of the total hashrate. At that point the attacking entity could control the public ledger. In reality, they could only deny new transactions and reverse new transactions. The blockchain history is still immutable. The majority controller in this situation would still not be able to reverse transactions from years ago, steal coins from wallets, or creat new bitcoins.

EXODUS Bitcoin Wallet Review

by Will Long | Apr 3, 2017 | Bitcoin, blog, Dash, Ethereum, Facts, Wallets

In order to obtain and store digital currency, you will need a wallet. For this post we will focus on a popular desktop wallet application for storing multiple types of cryptocurrency. Here is our EXODUS Bitcoin Wallet Review:

In layman’s term a wallet is simply software program that can communicate with a blockchain. It must have unique addresses to receive and send cryptocurrency (virtual tokens).

The Exodus Wallet Fully supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash, Litecoin, and Dogecoin. It is rumored that they will soon support Factoids, the digital token for Factom (a project that stores digital records on the blockchain).

Exodus is rated quite well on CryptoCompare. It currently has a 4.8 out of 5 rating.

We prefer Exodus because of the beautiful user interface, private key control, and multi asset support.

Built In Exchange

The Exodus wallet leverages the ShapeShift digital currency exchange. It is conveniently built into the wallet.

No longer do you have to risk keeping your funds on an exchange. You can get great exchange rates from within the wallet.

Full Control Of Private Keys

“Exodus encrypts private keys and transaction data locally for your eyes only – no accounts, no servers, no data sharing.”

Additionally you can easily keep your wallet safe and backed up with the Exodus backup wizard.

Exodus Bitcoin Wallet Review Video:

Download & Start Using The Exodus Wallet.

Exodus.io

How To Purchase Bitcoin With Coinbase

by Will Long | Apr 3, 2017 | Bitcoin, blog, Facts

In this post, we will show you exactly how to purchase Bitcoin with Coinbase.

TL/DR [Too Long, Didn’t Read]

Go to Coinbase.com
Signup and create a digital currency wallet.
Connect your bank account, debit card, or credit card.
Purchase either Bitcoin or Ethereum, easily and securely.

About Coinbase:

Coinbase is a reputable digital currency platform. Founded in 2012, the company is currently based out of San Francisco, California.

Coinbase is well known for allowing people to buy Bitcoin, but as of 2017 Coinbase fully supports Ethereum. This is great news, as the company has announced that they want to support even more cryptocurrencies in the future.

Is It Secure?

Yes Coinbase is secure. It is worth noting that the majority of their digital assets are in secure offline storage.

Coinbase technically holds the digital assets for you. If you want complete control of your digital currency tokens. We suggest the more advanced Exodus Wallet.

Coinbase also offers wallets for Android and iPhones. This allows you to access your account securely from different devices, which can be handy. Coinbase utilizes the authy app to complete 2-factor verification.

Customers of Coinbase can be at ease. All the digital currency stored on Coinbase servers is covered by an insurance policy.

Several members of the Bitcoin Shirtz team use Coinbase. We have yet to have an issue with the Coinbase platform / company. And we don’t expect to.

Video Tutorial:

Start Using Bitcoin With Coinbase Today!

Try Coinbase

How Profitable Is Bitcoin Mining in 2017?

by Will Long | Mar 31, 2017 | Bitcoin, Dash, Facts, News

Bitcoin mining is how new bitcoins are made. The official term for mining is called proof of work consensus.

With fiat money like dollars, the government decides when to print the money and who gets it. With Bitcoin there is no central bank or authority. The system is decentralized.

The Bitcoin network rewards miners for approving transactions. A transaction can only be approved once a miner has dedicated enough computational power or effort to the block. Bitcoins are created when a new block is added to the blockchain (public ledger). In this manner the currency has real underlying value as it costs energy in the form of electricity and computer power (running math problems) to be created.

Bitcoin Mining: Go Big Or Go Home

Bitcoin mining was once a thing that could be done by anyone with a little extra computer power. Now economies of scale has taken effect. That is to say that the bigger the mining operation, the more profits gained. This has led to large centralized mining operations.

Miners now prefer locations where energy is cheap. There are huge mining operations in China and Iceland due to cheaper electricity costs. Another factor is heat. Due to the computer power needed to compensate for the exponential rise of computation difficulty, the mining rigs need to be cooled constantly. This leads to mining in locations that are already cold.

Video Resource:

Bitcoin Mining in 2017 : The Rise of Bitcoin Cloud Mining

So how does a regular Joe start mining in 2017? One of the options is to join a cloud mining operation.

A mining pool is an operation where many people get together and combine their mining rigs or hash power (mining power in layman’s terms). This allows them to compete with the large mining companies.

Cloud mining is slightly different in that customers purchase a share in the ongoing mining operation, rather than bring their own equipment.

Mining pools and cloud mining can be profitable. They can also be unprofitable. It depends on the mining difficulty, hashrate, and current price.

Some mining websites are scams, so watch out.

The best way to mine in 2017 is to mine smaller alt coins. There are plenty of other cryptocurrencies that can be mined and have the ability to rise in price significantly. Back in the day you could have mined ridiculous amounts of Bitcoin that would be worth millions today. You can still do that with another budding cryptocurrency.

Other Crypto coins you can mine besides Bitcoin: