Bitcoin News Bits - May 13th, 2013

I get quite a few emails from people looking to promote their products, services, events, and sites. Unfortunately I don't have the time to get back to everyone in a prompt manner, but I can assure you that all of your emails are read and I always take the time to check out your sites.

Here are the latest and greatest:

Pocket Rockets Casino - A new Bitcoin poker room (there are actually a bunch of new ones as of late) just opened up, called "Pocket Rockets Casino." They went live on April 16th. It's a great browser-based poker experience that just needs some players to get the ball rolling, which is usually the first big struggle for any poker site. They appear to be running some decent promotions to get bums in the seats, so be sure to check them out!


Silk Road - WhoisHostingThis.com put together a great infographic that questions the dependency of Bitcoin on Silk Road, and whether Bitcoin can survive without its most infamous service. Personally, I think if Silk Road disappeared, there would be another Silk Road ready to take its place. The bigger question being asked here is, "will anonymous transactions continue to be a mainstay of the Bitcoin economy?" I don't think there's any doubt about that.

Ripple Giveaway - If you were lucky enough to sign up to the Ripple email list prior to May 9th, then some free Ripples (XRP) are headed your way! Nobody knows how many are going to be given away this time around, but I'm going to venture a guess and say 1000ish to each person.

CoinCliff - Are you *still* staring at Bitcoinity or Clarkmoody, watching every Bitcoin trade? Well, stop! Get CoinCliff for Android (iOS coming soon) instead and set a variety of configurable alarms to let you get back to living your life again! By the way, if you've been staring at Bitcoin prices over the last week, you're more patient than I am.

The Bitcoin Catalog - Until I read The Bitcoin Catalog, I wasn't aware of how many Bitcoin sites existed that I hadn't even heard of; there are lots! The Bitcoin Catalog does a beautiful job of listing hundreds of Bitcoin-related sites, and would look great on a coffee table or in a waiting room. Be sure to take a look at the online .pdf version as well.

Inside Bitcoins (July 30th, NYC) - All eyes are focused on the Bitcoin 2013 conference, kicking off in San Jose this Friday (yours truly will be there). As a result, I bet most of you aren't aware that another big conference is planned just over two months later, on the east coast in New York City! "Inside Bitcoins" will take place at the New Yorker Hotel, and Charlie Shrem will be there to preach the good Bitcoin word!

WalletRSS - Looking for a way to track your Bitcoin transactions without opening your wallet? Check out WalletRSS and get real-time transaction info sent to the RSS applications that you already use!

BitcoinPaperWallet - One of the most secure ways to create a Bitcoin wallet is to do it on paper and store it safely. Keep in mind that no method is fool-proof, but BitcoinPaperWallet has done an amazing job of providing a free design for anyone looking to print their own paper Bitcoin wallet. Follow the additional security instructions for additional peace of mind.

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TorBroker - The Silk Road of Stock Brokers

A daring new service, "TorBroker," was quietly announced in the gambling (how ironic) sub-forum of bitcointalk.org last week.

TorBroker does for securities trading what Silk Road did for the drug trade, allowing users to buy and sell any of nearly 1000 stocks and ETFs anonymously and under the cover of the Tor network. Users fund their accounts with Bitcoin and pay a 1% fee to buy and sell securities.

The main selling points of the service are that users can access publicly traded securities without providing any identifying information, not even an email address, while masking their IP addresses through the Tor network, and of course, dodging capital gains taxes. Trades can only be executed at the opening bell, so day traders won't find this service overly useful.

Can you trust TorBroker to not run away with your Bitcoins? Well, there's an interesting answer, with a dramatic Bitcoin twist. Roger Ver, a.k.a. "Bitcoin Jesus," was contacted by the creators of TorBroker and was asked if he'd be willing to hold 1000 BTC as a security bond that could be used to pay back users in the event that TorBroker disappeared. Here's the full quote:

"I don't know TorBroker or any of the people behind it, but about a month and a half ago they contacted me, and at least one other well known member of the Bitcoin community, and asked us to publicly hold 1,000 BTC as a security bond that would be used to refund customers if TorBroker ever disappeared with their customers money.

While I fully support TorBroker's efforts to bring additional economic freedom to traditional financial markets, legally it didn't seem safe for me to be the front man for this.

The fact that they were looking for someone to hold this bond seems to be a strong indication that they are in this for the long term, and do not intend to disappear with everyone's money.

If the regulators are able to uncover the true identities of the TorBroker accounts, I am sure that they (the regulators) will steal everyone's money though.

I wish TorBroker the best of luck,  and financial tyrants the worst."

No doubt, if the Silk Road has pissed off the FBI, TorBroker is really going to get the SEC's skivvies in a knot!

TorBroker can be accessed with the Tor Browser at http://torbrokerge7zxgq.onion.

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10 Exciting Things About Bitcoin - Right Now

1) The success of Bitmit - Bitcoin's eBay. Over 550 listings and growing rapidly.

2) The boom happening over at Silk Road. While I don't condone the illegal applications of Bitcoin, the site's success if further proof that Bitcoin is a technology that fills a gap.

3) The appeal and rapid growth of Ogrr.com, which is bringing in hundreds of new users each month and expanding exponentially.

4) Mt.Gox is about to launch "e-commerce solutions" this week.

5) Recent discussions regarding making Bitcoin truly anonymous.

6) The upcoming completion and launch of Bitcoin.com by the good folks at Tradehill (currently down).

7) The popularity of coinworker.com.

8) The announcement of the upcoming Bitcoin Conference in London.

9) Through no fault of their own, tens of thousands of Bitcoins were stolen from various high profile Bitcoin businesses. Why is this good news? Not a single user was impacted as the owners chose to absorb the losses. It was also the first time that a major hack or closure didn't impact Bitcoin's market value.

10) And the most exciting news of all: you can now tip cows for Bitcoins.

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Silk Road Growing in Popularity at Impressive Rate

On the Bitcointalk Forums, Blitzboom posted a recent snapshot of the Silk Road Forum stats, showing the site is growing rapidly.

On a monthly basis, more users are joining the Silk Road Forums than the Bitcointalk Forums!

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Bitcoin Arms Dealer Goes Live

First there was the drugs...

Then there was the sex...

And now, there's the violence...

Color me... not surprised.

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