“Craig S. Wright Gets Patent On Bitcoin White Paper And Code” … This is what I read when I got out of the shower and I thought to myself. “How is this possible?” The code is open source, you can’t hold a patent on it. It turns out I am right and you cannot do that. This is an insane attempt to “prove” to the world that he is something that he is not.
As I learned after I read this, anyone can register for a patent, and in order to dispute it, you have to fight it in court. To clarify, the U.S. patent office does NOT recognize Craig S. Wright as Satoshi Nakamoto. This just means that he registers a file to be recognized as Satoshi (since no one else has before). You can read that article here.
PATENT ON BITCOIN -BREAKING NEWS: 5/21/19
Craig Wright, the self-proclaimed creator of bitcoin, has filed registrations with the U.S. Copyright Office supporting his claims of authorship over the original bitcoin code and the Satoshi white paper.
The registrations, which are visible here and here, pertain specifically to “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” and “Bitcoin,” meaning the original 2009 code.
To be clear, registration does not imply ownership nor is this an official patent. The copyright process allows anyone to register anything in an effort to prepare, say, for lawsuits associated to ownership.
Computer code and white papers can be copyrighted insofar as they are considered literary works and, as the copyright office writes: “In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work.”
In other words you, the reader, could register this post and I would have to fight you in court to contest it.
Jerry Brito, executive director at advocacy group Coin Center, tweeted:
“Jerry Brito@jerrybrito
Registering a copyright is just filing a form. The Copyright Office does not investigate the validity of the claim; they just register it. Unfortunately there is no official way to challenge a registration. If there are competing claims, the Office will just register all of them.
Neeraj K. Agrawal@NeerajKA”
Craig Wright filed a copyright registration for the Bitcoin whitepaper
WHAT’S THE VERDICT?
“People register things for a reason. They want to exploit it and they want the credit for it,” said David H. Faux, Esq., an intellectual property attorney in New York City. “Someone dishonest would register the Bitcoin white paper to put it on his website and get speaking engagements. But at some point it would catch up with him.”
“The market takes care of itself,” said Faux.
When asked for comment noted Wright critic Jameson Lopp said “LOL.”
UPDATE – WRIGHT WROTE:
“BTC is not bitcoin. Bitcoin is set in stone and does not change. Where there is a protocol change, there is developer control which is the exact opposite of what bitcoin is about. BTC is passing off as Bitcoin. It is an air drop copy that has been designed to slowly alter the protocol allowing the system to be anonymized to such an extent that criminal activity can happen. The goal is to create a system that allows people to commit crimes, extort money, have automated ransomware and worse. This is not the goal of Bitcoin.”
CONCLUSION
In the end, I don’t think anyone is going to recognize Craig as Satoshi, regardless of this filing. There is absolutely NO way that Satoshi would go through these measures to “prove” who he is, mainly because he came from out of nowhere, and then provided the world with a ton of value, and then disappeared. This was no accident. He created one of the most powerful, open source tools the world has ever seen and made it impossible for people to find him.
He believed in liberty,freedom, and democratizing power by undermining the the world governments and banks. Satoshi would never try to use these powers against the community it developed from the beginning. This is just a slap in the face to all the believers and early adopters who nurtured and cultivated this technology from the very beginning.
Do you think that Craig is Satoshi? Sound off below!
Cheers,
The Crypto Renegade
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Proof Of Work Vs. Proof Of Stake | How Does It Work? (Beginner’s Guide)
What is Proof Of Work Vs. Proof Of Stake | How Does It Work? If you spend enough time in the crypto-community and you’ll witness debates over Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS). Fans of PoW will argue that it’s the transaction system Satoshi Nakamoto had in mind for cryptocurrencies. Those in favor of PoS, on the other hand, will argue that mining is outdated, inefficient, and insecure compared to staking.
So you might be wondering, what’s the difference, is one actually better than the other, and why is it better? Well like most things here at Bitcoin Lockup, I am not here to give you my unsolicited opinions, but we are here to give you some objective information that might help you determine for yourself which proof has best proven its worth.
Proof Of Work Vs. Proof Of Stake | How Does It Work?
PROOF OF WORK
When Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin in 2008, he envisioned a currency that would rely on a trustless and distributed consensus system. This would allow Bitcoin to be decentralized both in technological and financial terms. For instance, when you transact money through a trusted system, a third-party (think banks, credit/debit cards, PayPal) handles these transactions in terms of debit and credit. If Mark sends Sally $100 dollars, the institution will debit Mark’s account $100 dollars and credit Sally with $100. All of the money is handled by and within the third party, so none of the transacted funds belong to either Mark nor Sally until they are withdrawn from the system.
Bitcoin differs from traditional financial hubs by being trustless. This is not to say you can’t trust Bitcoin and blockchain with your money. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Bitcoin’s trustless nature allows for a peer-to-peer exchange without the need for a third-party mediator.
The traditional mediators are replaced with miners, and these miners work on behalf of Bitcoin holders to see that transaction are successfully processed. In order to see that these transactions are approved, miners commit their computer’s processing power to solve the encrypted algorithms within each transaction. This is what we mean by Proof of Work.
Under a Proof of Work system, miners compete to verify that all the transactions within the candidate block (the block currently being built) are legitimate. To do this, they must solve the encrypted puzzles that verify the integrity of the transacted coins. The first miner to solve these puzzles receives an amount of the transacted currency, also known as a block reward. Once the problem is solved, the transactions create a block that is stored as a public ledger on the blockchain, and the miner announces the solution to the entire network.
As you can see, PoW is dictated by competition and computational output. Imagine an international math competition wherein a previously unsolved proof (the block) is given to the competitors (the miners). Whoever solves this proof first is awarded a prize (block reward), and the solved proof is then posted on the internet for all to see (the block being established in the blockchain).
PROOF OF STAKE
Proof of Stake differs entirely from Proof of Work. Instead of building blocks through work output, the creator of a block is determined by their share, or stake, in a currency.
Under this system, forgers (the PoS equivalent of a miner) are chosen to build blocks based on their stake in a currency and the age of that stake within the blockchain’s network. For instance, let’s say you hold 500,000 Cardano. First of all, allow me to hypothetically congratulate you on your fat stacks. Getting back to the example, under the Proof of Stake system, you’d be more likely to create the candidate block than someone with 100,000 ADA.
To go even further, if you had been holding your 500,000 ADA in the same address for a year, you’d be more likely to generate the next block than someone who also has 500,000 ADA but who has been holding it in a network address for half a year.
To give you another analogy, imagine if your odds to win the lottery increased based on a) how much money you put into it and b) how long you had been buying tickets. Now, you won’t make millions of dollars by staking your favorite PoS currency, but you can make some nice passive income on top of your investment gains.
It’s important to note that, for a stake to be chosen, it must be held on an address within the coin’s network. So if you were holding Cardano like in the above example, you would need to store it in Cardano’s core wallet. There are also no block rewards in the PoS system. Seeing as there’s no work-centric incentive to outcompete other miners, forgers are only awarded transaction fees.
There’s also a marked difference between Delegated Proof of Stake and regular Proof of Stake, but that’s for another article at another date.
PoW Coins:
PoW/PoS Hybrids:
–Dash
–Pivx
PoS Coins:
–QTUM
KEY DIFFERENCES AND TAKEAWAYS
Proponents of PoW will tell you it allows crypto to more effectively function as a currency. The PoS model, they argue, incentivizes users to stake their coins for extended periods of time, thereby making them inactive.
PoS fans, however, will defend their system’s overall superiority. For starters, it solves the problem of energy consumption that Bitcoin has created. As more transactions and users are added to Bitcoin’s network, more computing power will be needed to accommodate growth. The more computing power that is added to the network, the more the hashrate increases in difficulty. With more difficulty comes an increase in the amount of work a computer must generate to generate blocks, and this increased output leads to greater energy consumption.
Bitcoin’s growth and mining difficulty are exponentially tied to energy consumption, and critics see this as an unsolvable issue under the PoW model. It’s the reason that Bitcoin’s network alone consumes more energy than 159 countries.
Proof of Stake also defends against 51% attacks on the blockchain. As we’ve seen with the recent Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin civil war, disproportionate mining power can lead to de facto centralization of a blockchain’s network. In order to control a majority of a PoS blockchain, a validator would have to own 51% or more of that crypto’s overall supply. So in order for someone to attack Cardano’s blockchain, for instance, they would have to $609,286,157.643 worth of Cardano to do so. I really don’t see that happening.
Both PoS and PoW have their ups and downs, and I’ll be excited to see how the market responds to coins that utilize either system or a hybrid of both. One last thing to keep in mind for PoW, however, is that once all a currency’s coins are minted and circulated, block rewards will cease to exist. This may incentivize PoW coins to update to a PoS model, but only time will tell.
Still don’t have cold storage for your private keys? click HERE for the Ledger Nano S to hold all of the PoW and PoS coins discussed above!
What do you think? Do you think PoS will overtake PoW in popularity? Sound off below!
Cheers,
The Crypto Renegade
NOTE: This post may contain affiliate links. This adds no cost to you but it helps me focus on giving as much value as possible in every single post by being compensated for recommending products that help people succeed.
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D’CENT Wallet Review (2020) | The ONLY Biometric Crypto Hardware Wallet
In this review, we are going to deep-dive into the new hardware wallet by D’CENT! Does the D’CENT Wallet have a better user experience than the Ledger Nano X? Does It work with Bluetooth? How secure is this relatively new wallet? Does it provide a better hardware wallet experience than the main competitors? We are going to answer all of these questions and more in this in-depth review, so stay tuned!
If you are new to cryptocurrency hardware wallets and you want to compare which wallet is going to be best for you, you may want to check out the “Product Reviews” tab HERE.
But, since you are here for the D’CENT wallet review, let’s take a look at these details on the first biometric hardware wallet on the market. Let’s go!
D’CENT Wallet – Overview
The D’CENT is a mobile and bluetooth connected wireless hardware wallet device. With additional biometric security and the ease of use, this is a contender for the easiest to use mobile and wireless wallet. So how is it different than Ledger Nano X or other bluetooth devices? The Biometric security is a large differentiator here. It’s super convenient and makes it easy to sign and authenticate transactions on the go.
This means if you want to move your crypto from cold storage to a hot wallet, it can be done quickly and easily. A common scenario here would be if you are trying to pay a friend or you’re shopping and want to pay for a product in store very seamlessly. Let’s take a look at the security, features, and price below to go into a little more detail.
Features & Price
One of the main features I like here is the option to generate a valid QR code on the large OLED screen of this device as a way to send funds directly from your smartphone to your D’CENT wallet. This is super convenient and truly makes this a wireless and independent device that can be used on the go via the D’CENT app, which also includes a market price section and of course all of your wallets and current fiat amount stored within each one.
The PRICE is the nice part. Normally, this device is $159 USD, but for my readers, I am able to offer a special discount down to $140 (UPDATE: Until 11/28/19, You can get this device for only $106), when using code “bitcoinlockup” at checkout. This will ensure you will save some money in the process and will be more in line with the prices of other top-tier bluetooth hardware wallets.
What’s also nice, is you no longer need to backup and restore this device for firmware upgrades like you do with other devices (although you can, since this device can also support bluetooth and USB connectivity if you choose). This makes this a very convenient choice when considering the ease of use and security when choosing how to secure your private keys.
Security
The flagship feature of D’CENT is hands down the biometric security feature of the fingerprint sensor. There are some other hardware wallets that communicate with mobile, and can utilize Face ID or Touch ID for extra authentication with their mobile app, but this gives your authentication on the physical device as well. This is a unique and very secure feature that is not used by any other hardware wallet currently on the market.
The hardware wallet features a built-in fingerprint scanner that manages access to the hardware wallet. This security process improves the convenience for the users and enhances the security during access control. It also provides the wallet with fast transaction signing.
- Multi-IC architecture design
- Bank grade EAL 5+ Secure Element (This is the same security chip used in the Ledger Nano X)
- Secure OS embedded on microprocessor
Additionally, you have multiple authentication methods, with the option to have a PIN and/or fingerprint sensor to authorize changes and sign transaction, so you will 2-step authentication built in.
Coins Supported
The coin support is varied. The D’CENT can store and support Bitcoin, Ethereum, ERC20 tokens, RSK, RRC20 (RSK tokens), Ripple (XRP), and MONACOIN. To many, this may not seem like it is very much, however, a majority of the major tokens are ERC-20 tokens and all can be supported natively on this device, which is good. I have not come across a hardware wallet yet that supports RSK and RRC20 tokens yet natively, so that definitely makes this an exclusive hardware wallet first for the D’CENT wallet!
D’CENT Wallet – Conclusion
Overall, the D’CENT has some unique coin support choices, has a quality look and feel in your hands (even though it’s made of plastic), and kind of resembles a key fob for a very high end car. It feels very nice in the hand. As mentioned above, this is the first biometric hardware wallet with a fingerprint sensor built in to the device. It supports enough coins for the average user and it always plans to add more.
This device really feels like the first flexible wireless hardware wallet that is easy to use in a quick scenario on the go and doesn’t require additional steps to update the device and access all of its features. If you are looking for something that feels good in your hand, is super secure, and is easy to use, then this might be your best option for a premium hardware wallet.
What do you think? Would you rather have use the Ledger Nano X or try this new contender for wireless security? Let us know in the comments below!
Cheers,
The Crypto Renegade
NOTE: This post may contain affiliate links. This adds no cost to you but it helps me focus on giving as much value as possible in every single post by being compensated for recommending products that help people succeed.
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How To Spend Bitcoin Online: 5 Best Places (2020)
In this post, I am going to cover how to spend bitcoin online and the five best places to do so in 2019. Not only am I going to show you how to spend bitcoin online, but more importantly, WHERE to spend bitcoin online. If you have never made a bitcoin transaction before, please review my earlier post that explains how to do this. As mass adoption starts snowballing, and we’ve already seen evidence of this by way of Whole Foods, and other major retailers coming on board to to accept cryptocurrency as payment, people are starting to look at where they can send their bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
I believe a fundamental component of making this global adoption happen quicker is letting people see how useful and easy it is to actually SPEND it as a currency. This is a life changing tool and is very easy to obtain for free, if you’re already shopping at these places and more using the Free Life Info App, and you can accumulate bitcoin AND get a discount at these retailers we will discuss below, but also thousands more. I will leave the in-depth review of this free bitcoin tool, HERE. Let’s get right into it!
DOWNLOAD THE FREE LIFE INFO APP HERE
#1 HOW TO SPEND BITCOIN ONLINE AT PURSE.IO (AMAZON ON TOP OF BITCOIN)
People always ask me, “Does Amazon accept bitcoin?” The short answer is yes and no. Amazon does not accept it directly, but there are a few chrome extensions where you can earn bitcoin and spend bitcoin in very small amounts by doing this via the Lightning Network, but that is still in it’s infancy. There is a much better way to get what you want on Amazon, AND you can also save up to 33% off the price.
How do you do this? It’s called Purse.io. This website I have used personally during the holiday season 2018 for several items, and it works great! How it works is when you visit the site, it looks very similar to amazon and it’s built on top of Amazon’s platform, but it has one key difference. You can pay in bitcoin!
This means that it IS Amazon, but it just looks different, as it’s a platform built on top of Amazon. The point of this is so that you can spend bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies for payment, and it pairs you up with an individual who has amazon store credit or gift cards, and wants to order these things on your behalf, and send them directly to you.
Of course, you have to verify and approve everything arrives and is acceptable to you first. At this point, you can release the bitcoin payment once you are satisfied with your order. It’s a really elegant solution that matches up people who want to convert their amazon credit to receive bitcoin in return and you get a discount for doing this. Pretty slick, and highly recommended.
CLICK HERE FOR FREE 5$ IN BITCOIN ON YOUR FIRST ORDER
#2 HOW TO SPEND BITCOIN ONLINE AT CHEAPAIR.COM
Cheapair.com is a discounted airline affiliate site that helps you find the cheapest flights from all the top airlines and is built on top of major search engines like Trivago and Expedia. The difference is, this finds the cheapest flights and let’s you pay in bitcoin directly to book your flight. This is really exciting and allows you to check out using a QR code you can scan with your phone, or you can just simply copy and paste your bitcoin address in the dropdown menu at checkout. You can also sign up for fare trackers and it will notify you when your flight lands in your price zone if you’re not ready to book now.
Overall, I’ve only booked 2 flights myself here, but it was a good experience. I have been living off bitcoin for over 2 years now and it’s required creative ways to find how to get to where you need to go without trying to pay any exchange fees, and this was brought to my attention. I highly recommend if you are the type of person that likes to shop for the cheapest price and bargain hunt when looking for trips and flights.
#3 HOW TO SPEND BITCOIN AT OVERSTOCK.COM
Overstock.com is a large online retailer, similar to Amazon, but specializes in mainly home goods like furniture, decor, and larger items for very cheap. I believe they also offer a 2% additional discount when checking out with bitcoin.
You probably have heard of this website and perhaps even ordered something from here, but you probably didn’t know they accepted bitcoin for payment. They do this directly and it’s very easy to scan the QR code at checkout with your smartphone or with your bitcoin wallet address directly copying and pasting as well.
They frequently have holiday sales and other coupons and promotions you can use on top of the discounts of using bitcoin as well. I actually bought a rug a few years back from them using bitcoin and it was very simple to use and I had no issues.
This was one of the first major retailers to start accepting crypto, as the company’s founder Patrick Byrne has been a long time supporter of bitcoin. I personally like to support companies that allow you to pay in bitcoin as opposed to the ones that don’t, but that’s just me. I like to support the cause and businesses that do as well.
#4 HOW TO SPEND BITCOIN AT EXPRESSVPN
This is KEY when dealing with bitcoin. When spending bitcoin online and also trading or investing bitcoin online, it is imperative that you are not tracked and using a VPN is key in doing this. I use Express VPN when dealing with any online bitcoin transaction, especially when doing trading on exchanges, like Binance or Coinbase. Luckily, you can also buy Express VPN with bitcoin as well and it’s crucial to protect your anonymity when doing this. VPN’s are also useful when doing typical web browsing and not wanting to be tracked with what and where you spend your time online.
Additionally, you will be able to use this to access other popular streamers and websites that put limits on your IP address, such as Amazon and Netflix, without having to pay them more. You may not know but some major websites track your information from your IP address and sell that information to advertisers.
Have you ever been talking about something privately, and then when you look at your Facebook feed or Instagram feed and you see an ad for what you were just talking about? Very creepy, but very real. The ExpressVPN not only allows you to use this on your iPhone and Android, but it works on multiple devices at the same time, for each device in your home.
My favorite part of course (not to beat a dead horse) is the fact that you can get a free 30 day trial and test it out and the use BITCOIN to pay for it. Super cool.
CLICK HERE FOR YOUR EXPRESS VPN FREE 30-DAY TRIAL
#5 HOW TO SPEND BITCOIN AT EXPEDIA.COM
This one is probably my second favorite source as almost everyone has heard of Expedia.com for travel. At some point in our lives, we probably have researched vacations or even bought flights and hotel packages from this site, and for good reason. This site has a wealth of information and provides tons of value, including tons of reviews from people that have already taken a specific vacation and they incentivize people to do this.
For me, I like the fact that they take bitcoin. I always check Cheapair.com and this site before I book any trip, because I want to support the bitcoin ecosystem by contributing to the network and transactions.
Needless to say, Expedia is very much considered a trusted authority site and the fact that they are one of the only travels sites accepting bitcoin for payment. I don’t have to do much selling here, but you can also receive a discount by using the Life Info App link above and make sure to check out the article that gives an in-depth of that review on how to start earning your own bitcoin, for free.
CONCLUSION
All in all, these are the top 5 places I spend my bitcoin online, there are tons of other sites you can spend your bitcoin at, and I will leave a link with a MAP right here. It is my belief that the more we start seeing everyday stores that people use on a regular basis, and that includes gas stations and grocery stores, the more we will not only see the price and value of bitcoin go up, but it will be a free and sovereign way to manage your finances. The above video outlines what we covered here, and I will link other related videos to that as well for more crypto knowledge and value for you.
What are you favorite places to spend bitcoin online? Are there more retailers that I missed above? Let me know in the comments!
Cheers,
The Crypto Renegade
NOTE: This post may contain affiliate links. This adds no cost to you but it helps me focus on giving as much value as possible in every single post by being compensated for recommending products that help people succeed.
