Satoshi Nakamoto Revealed - Reluctant Bitcoin Inventor Revealed

Leah McGrath Goodman of Newsweek has shocked the Bitcoin world by revealing the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto in an article that is due out on the newsstands but currently available online here.

If you have ever looked into Bitcoin you have undoubtedly heard the story that the inventor of Bitcoin was a secretive unknown entity that goes by the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto. 

Opinions on who the real Satoshi was ranged from some wunderkind in Japan to the CIA to....well you get the picture.

If Ms. Goodman is correct, it turns out that Satoshi Nakamoto is actually Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto, a 64 year old Japanese American living in Temple City, California a middle class suburb of Los Angeles with a population of 36,000.  He lives in a modest home, drives a clunker, and is passionate about model trains.

Newsweek's article lays out that Satoshi wants very little to do with Bitcoin these days and has no interest in being a public figure, to the point that most of his family did not know of his involvement.

When confronted by Ms. Goodman and asked of his role in the Bitcoin project, she claims Satoshi "Tacitly acknowledging" his role, then gave this quote:

I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it, it's been turned over to other people. They are in charge of it now. I no longer have any connection.

He refused to say anymore...

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Updated: Mt.Gox Goes Silent - Markets Falling

MT. Gox has gone silent! Checking www.mtgox.com as of 9:02 p.m. Pacific rewards you with a blank screen.

More telling is a quick check of their Twitter account at https://twitter.com/MtGox. Still followed by over 28,000, it appears Mt.Gox has erased all their previous tweets.

Mark Karpeles the CEO of Mt.Gox resigned from the board at the Bitcoin Foundation yesterday.

BTC is nosediving on most exchanges and LTC is following, as of 9:04 p.m. Pacific, BTC is sub $500 on BTC-e and LTC is sub $13.

Time to take your loses early, go to FIAT and look for a buy back opportunity when the panic starts to settle down.

Remember there is often profit to be made when the panic comes. We at Crypto Pros wishes you all good luck!

Taken @ 9:20 p.m. Pacific 2-24-14

Coinbase took this opportunity to publish the following letter on their blog in an attempt to shore up confidence in the viability of Bitcoin.

Joint Statement Regarding MtGox

Feb 24th, 2014

The purpose of this document is to summarize a joint statement to the Bitcoin community regarding Mt.Gox.

This tragic violation of the trust of users of Mt.Gox was the result of one company’s actions and does not reflect the resilience or value of bitcoin and the digital currency industry. There are hundreds of trustworthy and responsible companies involved in bitcoin. These companies will continue to build the future of money by making bitcoin more secure and easy to use for consumers and merchants.  As with any new industry, there are certain bad actors that need to be weeded out, and that is what we are seeing today.  Mtgox has confirmed its issues in private discussions with other members of the bitcoin community

We are confident, however, that strong Bitcoin companies, led by highly competent teams and backed by credible investors, will continue to thrive, and to fulfill the promise that bitcoin offers as the future of payment in the Internet age.

In order to re-establish the trust squandered by the failings of Mt. Gox, responsible bitcoin exchanges are working together and are committed to the future of bitcoin and the security of all customer funds. As part of the effort to re-assure customers, the following services will be coordinating efforts over the coming days to publicly reassure customers and the general public that all funds continue to be held in a safe and secure manner: Coinbase, Kraken, BitStamp, Circle, and BTC China.

We strongly believe in transparent, thoughtful, and comprehensive consumer protection measures. We pledge to lead the way.

Bitcoin operators, whether they be exchanges, wallet services or payment providers, play a critical custodial role over the bitcoin they hold as assets for their customers.  Acting as a custodian should require a high-bar, including appropriate security safeguards that are independently audited and tested on a regular basis, adequate balance sheets and reserves as commercial entities, transparent and accountable customer disclosures, and clear policies to not use customer assets for proprietary trading or for margin loans in leveraged trading.

The following industry leaders stand by this statement:

Fred Ehrsam — Co-founder of Coinbase

Jesse Powell — CEO of Kraken

Nejc Kodrič — CEO of Bitstamp.net

Bobby Lee — CEO of BTC China

Nicolas Cary — CEO of Blockchain.info

Jeremy Allaire — CEO of Circle

Crypto Pros applauds the efforts of Coinbase and the industry leaders above who lend their support to the statement.

Update 8:13 a.m. Pacific 2-25-14

Checking www.mtgox.com this morning we find they have posted the following message on their website, the rest of the site remains blank:

Dear MtGox Customers,

In the event of recent news reports and the potential repercussions on MtGox's operations and the market, a decision was taken to close all transactions for the time being in order to protect the site and our users. We will be closely monitoring the situation and will react accordingly.

Best regards,
MtGox Team

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BTC ATMs to be Added in Seattle and Austin

There was a article out on Yahoo today announcing a Las Vegas companies plans to add a ATM machine in Seattle and Austin.  The article itself was what I would term low information and leaned to the negative, but did get the basic point across that these machines would allow a user to buy or cash out BTCs with a swipe of your drivers license or passport.

Now generally, most miners/traders are aware of the MT.Gox issues.  Certainly not good press for cryptocurrencies in general, but then again not the end of the world as other market places are stepping up and doing business as usual.  I do see this as positive news, though not earth shaking as a couple ATMs are not going to move the market significantly, or garner huge exposure for BTC.

What I found interesting was the comments section after the article.  Now granted this is probably not representative of the the overall population, but I expected a few more educated comments.  There were a few open minded individuals expressing lack of knowledge and a interest to know more, but the vast majority of the comments were negative, uninformed, and many wreaked of out right fear.

The comments were far ranging referring to cryptocurrencies as a scam, pyramid, ghost money, a means to topple governments, a way for the IRS to track every penny, etc........  Now yea, the IRS comment I can believe because if they want to stick it to you they can.  Just look what they did to Al Capone.

Cryptocurrencies are by no means a sure thing, but to ignore them completely or write them off over some bad press is a bit foolish.  Everything had issues when it first started and began to gain traction on the world stage.

We need to raise the knowledge bar and each of us can have a part.   I have yet to find a friend involved in cryptocurrencies, and only one kinda heard about it.  Talk with your friends and family and get them involved.  Show them how mining works, show them your rigs if you have them, help them build one,  show them how to make a buck every day, warn them of the pit falls, and show them the potential profitability.  

There are very few investments out there, or that I have come across that are capable of yielding a immediate return.  A few more weeks and I will have recouped my initial investment and it is effectively gravy after that. 

I do not have grand illusions of cryptocurrencies making me rich beyond my wildest dreams, but then again no one thought much of Coca-cola, Microsoft, or Apple when they first started either!

Be safe and find MoAr blocks!

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Mt.Gox got Goxed

The concept of insolvency is on the minds of a lot of Mt.Gox customers at the moment.  What was once the worlds biggest Bitcoin exchange has found itself in very troubled waters.

Mt.Gox, the Japanese based Bitcoin exchange, has just recently announced a halt on all withdrawals from its exchange, this includes USD as well as Bitcoin.  They are blaming a vulnerability in the Bitcoin protocol (the software code that operates Bitcoin) known as "Transaction Malleability" for the the halt, which has brought on the very real concern that the exchange might be having serious insolvency issues.

Transaction Malleability is a bug in the Bitcoin protocol that makes it possible for someone to use the Bitcoin network to alter a transaction's details to make it seem as if the coins did not reach it's intended destination, when in fact they did. In reality, this has been a known flaw for quite some time, and should factory lightly on the ability of Mt.Gox to transfer fiat currency or Bitcoins to its clients.

If Mt.Gox is actually insolvent, this will be a sad day for Bitcoin. Mt.Gox was one of the key reasons behind the rapid price rise of Bitcoin late last year, and even with their poor customer support, played a vital roll in the popularity of the coin. At one time Mt.Gox handled 80% of all bitcoin transactions, and even if they fix the the vulnerability issues in the protocol they are are claiming is the cause behind the cessation of withdraws from their platform, it is doubtful they will ever reach that level again.

Mt.Gox's issues are having a ripple effect on the price of Bitcoin, and we have already seen a massive drop in price across all exchanges. Mt.Gox is currently trading at $371 (as of the time of writing this article) while other exchanges are above the $600 mark though several, such as BTC-e, dropped to the low $500's in the last 24 hours.

If Mt.Gox fixes their "issues" and opens up withdraw functionality, it is most likely we are going to see a huge dump of the coins into other exchanges as wary ex-Mt.Gox customers pull their Mt.Gox holdings and look for perceived safer and more stable grounds. It is our opinion this will have a negative effect on the price of Bitcoin for quite some time, at the very least it will induce increased volatility for all you day traders to enjoy.

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Storing Bitcoin & Litecoin Offline - Or A Paper Wallet How To

If you have ever Googled Bitcoin you have probably seen images such as these pop up:

source: bitaddress.org

source: evilwallet.wordpress.com

source: bitcoinpaperwallet.com

These are examples of what are called paper wallets.  A wallet in the cryptocurrency sense is the pairing of a public payment address and a private key.  Wallets can be hosted online such as at exchanges like Crypsy or Coinbase or CEX.IO, hosted on your computer (Bitcoin wallets available here, Litecoin wallet available here), or as in this case, printed on paper.

The two key components of a paper wallet (or any wallet for that matter):

• Public Payment Address:  This is where anyone sending you coin would address the payment to, and is often refereed to as your Bitcoin or Litecoin address.  These addresses are NOT a secret, and you should not be concerned about sharing them.  A Bitcoin address is a sting of 27 to 34 alphanumeric characters starting in either a 1 or a 3, and looks like this 171w5mkp3Z4vrAGwDTof5RYcn65PnbJdC3.  The address is often shown as a QR code.  Liteoin addresses look very similar, also often are shown as QR codes, are 33 characters long and start with a L.
• Private Key: The private key is literally the keys to your coins, if someone was to obtain it, they could withdraw the funds currently in the wallet, and any funds that might be deposited in that wallet in the future. PROTECT YOUR PRIVATE KEYS!!!! For paper wallets, the key is typically in the Wallet Import Format (WIF).  WIF keys are quite short at 51 characters, mainly to make them easier to enter into electronic wallets when you transfer, also known as sweeping, the funds from the paper wallet to the electronic.  These keys can also be shown as QR codes.  Important Note: The private keys of paper wallets should NEVER be saved to a computer hard drive, online cloud service or email. 

So understanding this, it should become clear that a paper wallet really is nothing more than two paired strings of characters, the address and the private key.  The pictured examples above are admittedly pretty cool looking, especially if you're a Dr. Evil fan, but they are really just window dressing. 

As an example, this paper wallet:

Is exactly the same as this paper wallet:

Which is exactly the same as this paper wallet:

All three of these have the same Bitcoin address and the same private key, all three are just as valid and functional, save the convenience the first two offer via the QR code.  

Before we get to the how, lets go over the why.

There are many reasons to create and fund a paper wallet, here are a few:

• Security, security, security.  Holding coin in a paper wallet safeguards the coin form cyber attacks (if you create it securely, more on this in a bit) by removing your coin from all forms of electronic storage.  Just remember, if it is connected to the internet, it is vulnerable...period.
• Protection from corrupted or faulty hard drives or operating systems, i.e. your 98th reinstall of ubuntu just went belly up...again. No worries, your coin is safe and sound.
• Protection from a lost phone.  Only have a wallet on your phone, ever lose your phone?  Yeah me too...
• They make a great gift!  Don't scoff, this is where some of those fancy smancy wallets pictured above come in handy. You can print one out and fund it to whatever value you like for a unique an interesting gift.  It is also a great way to get someone into cryptocurrency.
• Longterm storage of coin.  Not going to be trading or spending it anytime soon?  Then why keep a large balance online where it is vulnerable.  Put it in cold storage and sleep soundly.
• It becomes real!  Okay you can scoff at this one a bit, but some people prefer the tangible to the cyber, and having printed coin in the form of a paper wallet brings them comfort and peace of mind, to each their own.
• Did I mention security, security, security?  

So now for the how.

I should start by stating you can never be too security cautious when it comes to your cryptocurrency wallets, be they electronic or paper.  You need to take every step possible to protect your holdings, which in this case amounts to protecting your private key(s).  That said, what "every step possible" is to one person may be worlds apart from what it is to another.  This is where you need to find your own comfort level, I personally fall somewhere in the rather cautious and diligent realm.  Which is to say I am a long way away from sweeping for bugs and wearing tinfoil hats, but I do take steps others might find excessive.  Of course if my portfolio was to grow to a staggering amount, I'm pretty sure I could make a tinfoil hat look damn good.

The short version (i.e. don't do JUST this):

• Go to one of several free websites and create a wallet pair of address & key
• Print it out
• Send funds to the address
• Store paper wallet someplace safe

Lets flesh these steps out a bit.

Create an address & private key pair.
There are two main ways this can be done, using an online tool to create the wallet, or using a utility program such as the Bitcoin Address Utility which you can find here or the Litecoinaddress client here. For our purposes lets focus on the online tools available at websites such as these.
     Bitcoin:

• www.bitaddress.org
• www.bitcoinpaperwallet.com
• www.offlineaddress.com
• www.safepaperwallet.com

      Litecoin:

• www.liteaddress.org
• www.litecoinpaperwallet.com

Any one of these options can quickly and easily produce a wallet for you, but you need to give some serious thought to how to safely use them.  If your computer is online when you use them, you are vulnerable.  So it is HIGHLY suggested that at a minimum you:

1. Go to one of the sites listed above and let it load
2. Then take the computer offline completely (LAN, Wifi, Bluetooth, AirPlay, etc.)
3. Now follow the directions to generate the wallet(s).  This is normally done by erratically moving the mouse around to drive a random generator which will produce the private key(s)
4. Print the wallet(s)
5. Clear out all your cache, including the printers if it has memory
6. Log back on to the net
7. Transfer coins to the wallet(s)
8. Verify the funds are there
9. Securely store the paper wallet(s)

That is the minimum suggestion and maybe you feel that is good enough for you.  Maybe you have good karma, or you're not storing that much coin so really whats all the fuss, or maybe you are blissfuly ignorant and like it that way.  It is your money so whatever floats your boat.

For the rest of us who prefer a more secure means of offline wallet creation, the process follows the fundamental steps listed above with one BIG difference.  Do all the above, except going online, from a dedicated, clean, never been connected to the internet operating system!  The easiest way I have found to do this is by utilizing live-boot Linux run from a USB flash drive, though I know others who prefer a new clean install of an OS running in a virtual machine. By using a live-boot Linux when you reboot your computer, all cache files are deleted from memory and no jobs are ever written to disk. If you are unfamiliar with running Linux from a USB flash drive, give this post a quick read.

Besides creating an instance of Linux or some other operating system, you will also need to obtain the the code to create the wallet (normally HTML/JavaScript).  Each of the sites listed above have a GitHub repository listed on their pages. Download the one you like and transfer it to your offline machine via a flash drive.  Extra tinfoil credit points for scanning it first.

I have the wallet(s), now what?

Lets assume you are looking at the wallet, or wallets on your screen. You can, and probably should, create several wallets at one time, this is advantageous for two main reasons.  First, I firmly believe it is better to have ten wallets with 10BTC in each, than to have one wallet with 100BTC in it.  By spreading the coin out over multiple wallets you decrease your chance of unrecoverable loss should the paper wallet get destroyed or stollen. The second reason deals with the how transactions within the protocol, the subject of change, and using paper wallets, we will go into that a bit later.

The next thing you will need to do it print the wallets. Give some thought to how you are going to do this. A paper wallet functions like cash in that if you lose it, or it gets destroyed, the coin it holds is gone for ever.  With that in mind, I opt to print my paper wallets with a laser printer on thick coated paper as laser prints stand up to moisture far better than inkjet prints.

Tip: Print more than one copy of each wallet and store them in different locations as a safeguard against loss due to unforeseen circumstances. 

Once printed, it is time to transfer funds to the wallets.  I assume you are familiar with how to transfer coin to an address so I will not go into detail here.  Suffice it to say, transferring coin to a paper wallet is no different than transferring between electronic wallets.  

I do strongly suggest you verify that the coin transferred fully.  You can do this by entering in the paper wallet's address into one of several websites that search the blockchains.

The nature of how Bitcoin and Litecoin's blockchains work make it feasible to search all deposit, withdraw and balance information for any given address.  Though this is a very useful tool, being a big fan of privacy, I also consider this another good reason to have multiple wallets and have your holdings dispersed among them.  

For Bitcoin I suggest using blockchain.info, for Litecoin I suggest using ltc.block-explorer.com or ltc.blockr.io

Once you have verified the funds are in the wallets, it is time to store them someplace safe and protected from moisture, rodents, your mother-in-law, the kids, and any other destructive forces.  I keep mine locked away in multiple locations to mitigate against loss due to fire or theft.  It is also a good idea to fold them in such a way, or otherwise obscure them, so that the payment address and the private key are not visible at the same time without intending them to be so.  In todays world of camera phones and social media, more than a few paper wallets have unwittingly ended up pictured online and subsequently and quickly fleeced. 

There are several companies that sell specialty items such as holographic tape, QR code cover stickers and other clever and good looking supplies to help you both secure and customize your paper wallets.

Important difference to understand - Change

There is a very important difference you need to understand when it comes to using a paper wallet as compared to just using a computer based wallet such as Bitcoin-QT.

When you initiate a transaction that does not account for the total balance of a wallet, say you send a buddy 1BTC out of a total of 10BTC in your Bitcoin-QT. client, the client utilizes a "change" address. This "change" address in our scenario would receive the remaining 9BTC from the original 10BTC. This all happens behind the scene and you never see this address, and your Bitcoin-QT wallet will still show that it has a balance of 9BTC.  

The difference you need to understand with paper wallets is if we take the same scenario from above and add a paper wallet to the mix, when you import or sweep your private key to your Bitcoin-QT client and then send your buddy the 1BTC, the paper wallet will not end up with a balance of 9BTC, it will in fact have a 0BTC balance as the remaining 9BTC will move to a change account.  You could move it back, but you will have exposed your paper wallet's private key to an internet connected computer when you swept it, so transferring the 9BTC back to the original paper wallet is a security risk.  The better option is to move it to an entirely new paper wallet.  See I told you I would give you another reason to create more than one wallet at a time :-)

If you want to understand the concept of "change" more clearly as it pertains to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, read this article.

Sweeping your paper wallet into Bitcoin-QT or Litecoin-QT

So the time has come to bring your coin out of cold storage.  There are of course many wallets/clients out there, I use Bitcoin-QT and Litecoin-QT so I will speak to those.  If you have experience with other wallets you are willing to share, please post in the comments section bellow.

To sweep the coin from your paper wallet into Bitcoin-QT or Litecoin-QT:

1. Run Bitcoin-QT or Litecoin-QT
2. Select Help (to the right of Settings)
3. Select Debug Window
4. Select Console
5. Next to the > input box type importprivkey <bitcoinprivkey>

Example: importprivkey 5Kjp97fafTzBQTUgfeJCzSwr21tWhtHT7B1PF6WK9hhVic7NWUH

I hope this posting was helpful and you consider utilizing paper wallets to safeguard your coins and share the opportunity of cryptocurrency by using them for gifts.  

If you enjoyed the guide, please leave a comment and share the article with others.  It is easy to do, just click on the button below or on the side for your favorite social media. 

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Crypto Pros Marketplace - Classifieds To Turn Your Unwanted Items Into Coin!

Crypto Pros is proud to announce the launch of our cryptocurrency Marketplace!

The Marketplace offers a convenient and TOTALY FREE way to sell items and services around the world for Bitcoin or your favorite altcoin.

The Marketplace is simple to use and does not require you to register an account, though we suggest you consider registering one as it will make managing your postings easier.  If you choose to, you can even log in using your Facebook login.

Simply click on the Marketplace tab on the main navigation bar of www.cryptopros.com to get to the Marketplace homepage. The site has a familiar classifieds layout, reminiscent of Craigslist, where you will find not only a general For Sale and Services section, but also a Cyptocurrency specific section for listings such as trading bots, mining equipment and other cryptocurrency centric postings.

Posting a listing is easy and it can be anonymous if you so choose.  Simply click on the "Publish Your Ad For Free" link and fill out the form.  You start by choosing a category, then give the post a title and write a description, next set the price and currency you want to transact in.  We have made every coin currently trading on Cryptsy available, and will keep the list updated as new altcoins come on to the market.

AlphaCoin	ALF	CraftCoin	CRC	Franko	FRK	MemeCoin	MEM	RedCoin	RED
AmericanCoin	AMC	CryptoBuck	BUK	FreiCoin	FRC	MinCoin	MNC	RonPaulCoin	RPC
AnonCoin	ANC	CryptogenicBullion	CGB	Galaxycoin	GLX	MoonCoin	MOON	RoyalCoin	RYC
Argentum	ARG	CryptsyPoints	Points	GameCoin	GME	NameCoin	NMC	SecureCoin	SRC
AsicCoin	ASC	DevCoin	DVC	Globalcoin	GLC	NanoToken	NAN	SexCoin	SXC
BattleCoin	BCX	Diamond	DMD	GoldCoin	GLD	NeoCoin	NEC	Spots	SPT
BBQCoin	BQC	DigitalCoin	DGC	GrandCoin	GDC	Netcoin	NET	StableCoin	SBC
Betacoin	BET	Dogecoin	DOGE	HoboNickels	HBN	Nibble	NBL	StarCoin	STR
BitBar	BTB	Doubloons	DBL	HyperCoin	HYC	NoirBits	NRB	TagCoin	TAG
BitCoin	BTC	EarthCoin	EAC	InfiniteCoin	IFC	NovaCoin	NVC	TekCoin	TEK
BitGem	BTG	ElaCoin	ELC	IXCoin	IXC	OpenSourceCoin	OSC	TerraCoin	TRC
BottleCaps	CAP	ElephantCoin	ELP	JouleCoin	XJO	Orbitcoin	ORB	Tickets	TIX
ByteCoin	BTE	eMark	DEM	JunkCoin	JKC	PayCoin	PYC	TigerCoin	TGC
CasinoCoin	CSC	Emerald	EMD	KrugerCoin	KGC	Peercoin	PPC	Unobtanium	UNO
CatCoin	CAT	EZCoin	EZC	LiteCoin	LTC	Pennies	CENT	WorldCoin	WDC
CHNCoin	CNC	FastCoin	FST	LottoCoin	LOT	PhilosopherStone	PHS	XenCoin	XNC
ColossusCoin	COL	FeatherCoin	FTC	Lucky7Coin	LK7	PhoenixCoin	PXC	YBCoin	YBC
CopperBars	CPR	FedoraCoin	TIPS	LuckyCoin	LKY	PrimeCoin	XPM	ZetaCoin	ZET
CopperLark	CLR	FireflyCoin	FFC	MasterCoin	MST	ProtoShares	PTS
Cosmoscoin	CMC	FlorinCoin	FLO	MegaCoin	MEC	Quark	QRK

Once you select the coin and price the item, you can add up to 5 pictures to better market your item or service.  

Next enter the location of the item, and an email address which you wish to receive the replies to your ad on.  Press "Post" and your ad will be live!

We just made the service live and we need your help to populate the listings and spread the word. Please post items for sale and share this article with you friends and associates interested in cryptocurrency.  

If we can build a vibrant classifieds marketplace where goods and services can easily be exchanged for digital currency between buyer and seller, we will all benefit from the increased validation of cryptocurrencies as a means of commerce exchange.  

So next time you decide to clean out your garage or closet, skip eBay and Craigslist and sell your items at http://market.cryptopros.com for the cryptocurrency of your choice!

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