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Posted on 02/03/2014 2:51:57 PM PST by Errant
While the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) successfully monopolized media attention last week with a cast of bitcoin of A-listers debating the future of US virtual currency legislation, it wasn’t the only government agency to explore the topic in a way that could impact the global community.
On 29th January, the US Postal Service (USPS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) held a webinar on virtual currency attended by representatives from the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and World Bank that sought to “explore the possibility” of a “potential role” for bitcoin at post offices around the globe.
Topics included whether post offices could leverage their physical stores to act as in-person bitcoin exchanges and whether they could color coins as a way to underpin bitcoin’s value and increase adoption.
Darrell Duane, a Washington, DC-based bitcoin consultant who was initially approached by the USPS and later helped promote the event, said that though much of the material was educational, there were some suggestions that, if adopted, could have big implications for the bitcoin community.
(Excerpt) Read more at coindesk.com ...
•BitBeat: Your Daily Bitcoin Round-Up [I've been plagiarized!]
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No way! I can’t believe it.
Whoa...this would be an amazing advancement!
I kind of wish things would slow down somewhat, mainly because of my own greed, I need more time, for a solid investment base.
Somebody once paid me with a USPS money order (around $800).
I took it to my bank - and it was rejected. Why? Too easy to counterfeit, so bank policy was no USPS money orders.
I went to other banks, check cashing places, grocery store check cashing service...NONE of them would accept it.
So, I spent 3 days of my life calling the post offices in town and waiting for a drawer to accumulate at least $800.
What did I learn from this? The USPS is a large organization that suffers from huge inertia, and is apparently unable to keep up with the times, with the security of something as simple as a money order.
And they want to open a bit coin exchange....
Run away.
Wow, thanks for sharing. I had no idea.
Lol! Diversify... ;) Don’t get stuck with too much of any one thing!
Sounds like good advice for... YOU!
My post office has been closed almost 5 months due to the flooding. They ought to be able to do this quite well.
Hey, people can make their own decisions. I just think its helpful for people to hear my parable about the USPS.
Should I keep quiet about it, or give out the information I know?
Between bitcoins and payday loans the US PO might become profitable, :-)
I went to other banks, check cashing places, grocery store check cashing service...NONE of them would accept it.
Money orders are what they are. Try cashing a Western Union money order in a place that doesn't have a Western Union sign out front: banks and post offices included. It's not a particularly effective argument.
I glossed over the part where the USPS would not honor the money order. Their drawers didn’t have enough money...I drove to every office in town with no luck - and frankly all I got was a lot of bad attitudes. After 3 days ofendlessly calling to check drawers, I found one with enough money and drove across town to redeem.
How about they take that attitude with redeeming Bitcoin.
I believe that would give them a crumb through which to find your wallet and then they can track your purchases
assuming they can crack the encryption (which has me wondering these days after the snowden / SSL revelations)
Good point. I doubt they can crack the encryption, but wouldn’t doubt they already know many of the addresses.
if you had your wallet confiscated, ther is no doubt they would crack it... just like the guy from silk road and those bitcoins being exchanged to dollars.
once cracked, they have the ability to find all your transactions
An example of a pass phrase practically impossible to crack: 4Score&7YearsAgoOurFathersBrought4thOnThisContinentANewNation,ConceivedNLiberty,&Dedicated2ThePropositionThatAllMenRCreatedEqual!
Would the bank let you deposit it in your account and wait till it cleared before you got the money?
actually, no. that’s the point of the snowden reveal.
the long passphrase is used to form your crypto keys which relies on a proper random number generator. if the set if random numbers isn’t billions and billions... but thousands... then it’s easily crackable
The experts who rolled out the Obamacare website should be able to whip up the right software to allow the USPS to do this.
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