Friday, January 4, 2013

Bitcoin To The Rescue: Online Gambling Edition

By, Chris Rossini
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Just when government thinks that it has squashed online gambling, the spirit of freedom and creativity swoops in to take the day:


The Verge is reporting on how Bitcoin has come to the rescue:
Money never hits US banks at all, allowing the sites to operate without fear of reprisal from the government. Even the payouts are quicker — what normally takes up to 12 weeks with a US bank transfer takes only a matter of hours with Bitcoin. The new use for the decentralized currency will no doubt raise some legal questions, but for now the online US gambling community has found its workaround.
How frustrating this must be for the State.

Here they are, trying to save everyone from themselves, and the wily serfs just won't cooperate.

The State even provides "approved" venues for gambling, like Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and, of course, the government Lottery, with terrible odds.

The State hates anyone who trys to find a way to circumvent any type of restriction to limit its quest for unlimited power.

In the case of online gambling, chalk one up for the good guys, courtesy of Bitcoin. Let's see the state try and stop it.

16 comments:

  1. Ha, ha! F*** the state.

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  2. And therein lies the value of bitcoin...

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  3. This will be a good test of the security of Bitcoin. You know the state is going to eventually try and shut it down due to this. If they don't, this is going to drive Bitcoin popularity. If they try and can't, well, I'll actually start using it.

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    Replies
    1. This is nothing compared to the drug economy in bitcoin. Government officials have said multiple times that they will combat it, but they haven't been able to do anything at all yet.

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  4. First time here. I share your viewpoint. Thanks for spreading the word. Keep up the good work.

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  5. Not to be snide, but I am waiting for an explanation of Bitcoin that isn't written by an engineer. The website is techspeak.

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    1. All you need to know is that once someone, probably the governement, cracks the encryption it'll be more worthless than it is now.

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    2. > " I am waiting for an explanation of Bitcoin that isn't written by an engineer"

      Imagine trying to explain the HTTP protocol (the web) circa 1994 to someone that knows nothing about computers. Imagine explaining the internal combustion engine circa 1894 to someone that knew nothing about mechanics or physics.

      If you don't educate yourself, no one will. The creation of new and very useful tools requires an immense amount of self-education on the part of early adopters. That pays off when interfaces to those tools are built and larger numbers of people can use them.

      > "once someone, probably the governement, cracks the encryption it'll be more worthless than it is now."

      When that happens, the entire online banking and credit industry will also tank. They use the same level of encryption that the Bitcoin network uses. The way Bitcoin uses encryption is actually more complex than banking encryption in some ways. Just my own opinion, but Bitcoin as a payment network is safer than any online banking scheme that I've experienced.

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    3. @JFF:
      Many cryptographic systems currently in use are based on some form of integer factorization. Solving an integer factorization problem, for numbers that are the product of a few large prime numbers, using a classical computer is computationally infeasible. It can be done with a quantum computer, but we are still years from functioning quantum computers.

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    4. Thanks for the good news story, Chris. The Austrian mainstream is shooting itself in the foot by attacking Bitcoin.

      once someone, probably the governement, cracks the encryption

      LOL. The chance of that happening is nil.

      Many cryptographic systems currently in use are based on some form of integer factorization.

      Well maybe, but Bitcoin signs transactions with ECDSA; RSA's internal workings are not particularly relevant.

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  6. Chris (and Bob),

    Thanks for the noticing the bitcoin. The following illuminating discussion is from a gambling forum:

    http://www.pickmonitor.com/t/bitcoin-the-future-of-online-gambling

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  7. The law says that a bet cannot be taken over a phone line. These sites are still taking bets over phone lines so they're illegal.

    I wish it was a magic bullet but I'm afraid it's not.

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  11. Maybe government will destroy and encrypt bitcoin, but as what I can see, bitcoin is stronger now. It’s too late to destroy the whole protocol. Bitcoin has invaded industries and uplifting them from a massive turmoil. Surely, bitcoin system will save the gambling industry. In fact, bitcoin casino revenue is up when bitcoin entered the gambling arena.

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