TREN BITCOIN TETAP MENINGKAT.

Merdeka.com - Bitcoin mengklaim mata uang virtual yang mereka kelola tetap diminati oleh masyarakat Indonesia. Nominal transaksi per hari memang masih kecil, tapi dalam tren meningkat.
"Penggunaan Bitcoin di Indonesia cuma 0,05 persen dari transaksi di dunia. Indonesia kisarannya baru USD 30.000 sampai USD 50.000 per hari," kata CEO Bitcoin Indonesia Oscar Darmawan di Jakarta, Selasa (9/9).
Di Asia dan Eropa Timur, China jadi pengguna Bitcoin terbesar. Transaksi uang virtual itu di Negeri Tirai Bambu mencapai USD 2 juta per hari. Berikutnya pengguna paling aktif adalah warga Rusia, dengan transaksi USD 1 juta saban 24 jam.
Bitcoin sempat menghebohkan publik Indonesia sejak awal tahun ini. Pemerintah dan Bank Indonesia kompak mencap negatif alat tukar yang dihasilkan dari penyelesaian algoritma di Internet tersebut.
Gubernur BI Agus Martowardojo menyatakan Bitcoin tidak sah digunakan sebagai alat tukar. Bank sentral bahkan meminta masyarakat hati-hati kalau ditawari buat melakukan transaksi menggunakan Bitcoin.
"Statement kita, Bitcoin bukan alat pembayaran yang sah di Indonesia," kata Agus Maret lalu.
Oscar mengaku Bitcoin serius menggarap pasar Indonesia. Mereka membangun kantor pusat di Kuta, Bali. Di Pulau Dewata, transaksi menggunakan alat tukar virtual ini sangat tinggi.
Kantor itu bukan untuk menjual Bitcoin, melainkan pusat informasi bagi calon nasabah yang ingin mendapatkan atau berinvestasi dengan mata uang virtual tersebut.
Selain itu, penukaran dari Rupiah ke Bitcoin juga tetap marak. Dalam kurs yang ditetapkan manajemen internasional, 1 Bitcoin setara Rp 5,6 juta.
"Paling banyak online itu di Bali. Di Indonesia fokusnya tapi masih dari Bitcoin ke uang tunai atau sebaliknya," kata Oscar.

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Merdeka.com - Manajemen pengelola bursa Bitcoin di Indonesia sudah mendatangkan satu unit ATM khusus di Kuta, Bali. ATM ini tidak melayani penarikan tunai atau transfer, melainkan memfasilitas pembelian barang berdasar simpanan Bitcoin yang dimiliki nasabah.
Bitcoin Indonesia mengklaim masyarakat akan diuntungkan dengan beroperasinya mesin itu. Cuma, sampai sekarang mesin itu belum dioperasikan lantaran takut tersangkut hukum.
"Yang kita bawa ke Indonesia bitcoin vending mesin. Ini belum dioperasikan. Kita tunggu BI karena beda pemahaman. Jadi bukan ATM, ini menurut kami bisa membantu masyarat yang tidak punya akses ke bank," kata CEO Bitcoin Indonesia Oscar Darmawan di Jakarta, Selasa (9/9).
Supaya ATM khusus Bitcoin beroperasi, bahkan bertambah di kota lain, Oscar menilai perlu ada izin BI dan OJK. Selain masalah dengan regulator, tantangan buat mengoperasikan mesin ini adalah persepsi masyarakat bahwa ATM hanya untuk mengambil uang atau bertransaksi pindah rekening.
"Di kita ATM itu kan mesin uang, kalau di luar negeri ATM beda. Bisa berfungsi sebagai mesin pembelian barang," ungkapnya.
Di Indonesia, transaksi Bitcoin cukup aktif walaupun secara nominal tidak besar. Per hari ada penukaran Rupiah ke Bitcoin di kisaran USD 30.000 hingga USD 50.000. Perdagangan di dunia maya menetapkan kurs 1 Bitcoin setara Rp 5,6 juta.
Dari catatan Oscar, transaksi Bitcoin di Tanah Air kebanyakan masih jual-beli Bitcoin itu sendiri, bukan penukaran ke barang lain.
Supaya transaksi Bitcoin untuk membeli barang lebih masif, lagi-lagi Oscar berharap ada dukungan pemerintah. Sebab, alat tukar virtual ini tidak diniatkan menyaingi Rupiah, tapi lebih menyerupai prinsip logam mulia.
"Dari regulator harus jelas, Bitcoin itu apa, barang atau mata uang. Kalau di Singapura dianggap barang," kata Oscar.

SALAM BITCOINERS'S INDONESIA

Sebagai seorang Bitcoiner, kalimat seperti apa yang biasa Anda temui ketika berbicara dengan seseorang yang belum mengerti tentang Bitcoin?

 “Memangnya Bitcoin legal ya hukumnya?”

“Karena sifatnya anonim, Bitcoin mudah dijadikan alat kejahatan seperti untuk money laundering atau transaksi barang-barang illegal!”

“Bagaimana Bitcoin bisa menjadi mata uang dunia bila harganya selalu berubah-ubah?”

Mungkin ketiga pertanyaan di atas merupakan contoh kalimat yang umumnya dilontarkan oleh masyarakat yang belum mengenal konsep mata uang digital. Tidak dapat dipungkiri bahwa berita buruk mengenai Bitcoin memang terus-terusan berdatangan. Kasus bangkrutnya MtGox yang merugikan jutaan pengguna Bitcoin di dunia hingga hari ini masih belum jelas kabarnya. Penggunaan Bitcoin di situs gelap SilkRoad juga membuat Bitcoin tenar dalam bidang negatif. Belum lagi ditambah kasus Bitstamp yang baru-baru ini sempat tutup karena kehilangan 19.000 Bitcoin yang menyebabkan harga Bitcoin di seluruh dunia anjlok ke angka dua juta. Semua berita ini membuat masyarakat dunia mengakui keberadaan Bitcoin namun sebagai sebuah hal yang negatif dan terkesan ‘jahat’.



Jika Anda seorang Bitcoiner, Anda pasti paham betul tentang seberapa besarnya potensi yang ada dibalik Bitcoin untuk membantu pihak-pihak yang selama ini dirugikan oleh proses pengiriman uang yang menggunakan pihak ketiga. Sekarang, warga-warga di Afrika yang terkena wabah Ebola dapat tertolong dengan donasi yang diberikan oleh Bitcoin user yang tersebar di seluruh dunia. Greenpeace, American Red Cross, bahkan Wikileaks yang ditentang pemerintah pun bisa tetap menjalankan programnya berkat donasi Bitcoin dari masyarakat global yang menuntut adanya kebebasan dalam berbicara. Proses remittance di Filipina, contohnya, telah berhasil membantu orang-orang Filipina yang bekerja di Hong Kong untuk mengirim uang ke negara asalnya tanpa harus membayar biaya transaksi yang tinggi berkat Bitcoin. Namun, mengapa berita-berita ini cepat sekali tenggelam dan terlupakan atau bahkan tidak dianggap oleh publik?
Penelitian dari para ahli psikologis di dunia mengatakan bahwa seseorang pada dasarnya memang cenderung lebih cepat merespon berita negatif daripada berita positif. Ada juga pendapat bahwa kita cenderung lebih tertarik pada berita-berita buruk karena secara tidak sadar, kita selalu menganggap dunia itu lebih indah daripada yang sedang kita jalani. Hasilnya, ketika kita mendengar kabar buruk, berita tersebut akan kita ingat karena berlawanan dengan apa yang kita yakini. Kita juga lebih mengingat berita buruk karena sebagai manusia, kita sudah terlatih untuk melindungi diri kita dari berbagai ancaman. Keadaan tersebutlah yang membuat kita selalu ‘mencari’ berita buruk dan melawan hal baru yang menurut kita berbahaya.
Kini, Bitcoin terkesan terus dilanda ‘musibah’ yang tentunya mengurangi rasa kepercayaan orang dengan Bitcoin. Padahal jika dilihat dari kacamata yang berbeda, masalah yang melanda Bitcoin seperti kasus money laundering atau penjualan narkoba, sebenarnya juga terjadi kepada fiat money yang dikeluarkan pemerintah. Jika Anda memang seorang Bitcoin user, dan Anda sudah paham betul dengan apa yang bisa dilakukan Bitcoin bukan hanya dari segi buruknya saja, maka Anda tidak akan melepas Bitcoin hanya karena dipengaruhi oleh berita-berita seperti ini.
Dan ingat, selama kita percaya dengan Bitcoin, Bitcoin akan terus berharga.


Opini dari Suasti Atmastuti Astaman
Business Development Manager of Bitcoin Indonesia

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HashRabbit Raises $500k for its Bitcoin Mining Software Solution

HashRabbit, a startup that supplies enterprise-focused software to facilitate the management and security of bitcoin miners, has raised $500,000.
The funding comes from Tim Draper’s Draper Associates along with VegasTechFund, an investment firm run by Zappos founder Tony Hsieh. Alongside the funding announcement, HashRabbit is making its software suite available to all bitcoin miners.
The company also has announced a partnership with mining hardware manufacturer Spondoolies-Tech, whose gear is compatible with HashRabbit's management software.
Chris Shepherd, co-founder and CEO of HashRabbit, told CoinDesk:

“We make software for bitcoin miners. What that means is we are essentially the firmware that actually runs on the bitcoin miner itself.”

Benefits of experience 

Shepherd explained the idea for HashRabbit came from running his own mining rig in a Las Vegas garage during the winter of 2013. During this time, Shepherd kept having problems keeping his mining equipment operational, which resulted in lost revenue opportunities.
Shepherd said:

“Every minute, every second this thing is not hashing, not getting credit, you’re losing money.”

To figure out how to better manage his mining rig, Shepherd recruited his roommate, Gabe Evans, a developer and sometimes white-hat hacker.
Evans realized the code that was being run on most mining gear at that time was not terribly good. Eventually, he became the technical co-founder of HashRabbit.
A product user experience designer, Melissa Volkmann, who advocates for consensus on the bitcoin symbol, currently rounds out the team.
With an early product prototype of its mining management software, HashRabbit became part of 'Tribe 4' at Boost VC, the bitcoin startup accelerator.

Fixing security flaws

During its time at Boost's San Mateo, California, incubator, the company discovered that security was a huge issue in the bitcoin mining market. The team found several flaws that existed in many bitcoin miners on the market that critically needed to be fixed.
However, they also discovered there was no easy way to patch a miner, even when a solution to a flaw was found. That's when HashRabbit realized its existing management software would be able to help send updates when a security patch was required.
Shepherd said:

“We realized that firmware is the problem, and we needed to make a better system that allows for updates when zero days come out.”

By working directly with hardware manufacturers on security issues, HashRabbit has gained credibility with companies such as Israel-based mining manufacturer Spondoolies-Tech.
“[Spondoolies-Tech] is focused on hardware, and we can focus on the software and make sure it is consistently secure, fast and easily updated,” Shepherd noted.

HashRabbit software can send smart alerts to the user's phone

Shepherd indicated that HashRabbit is also working with other hardware manufacturers, but could not provide details at this stage.

The enterprise mining era

The dawn of ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits) in 2013 ushered in a new marketplace for consumers to purchase bitcoin miners. However, the industry has increasingly shifted from small home-based set-ups to serious enterprise operations based in the datacenter.
This is beneficial for HashRabbit, as many of these mining operations are labor-intensive – something the startup has a solution for with its product.
Shepherd added:

“There are a lot of mining operations right now that have a lot of manpower, using a lot of people. For example, when a mining rig goes down or overheats, they have someone go and manually fix it.”

With HashRabbit’s software, not only can miners expedite the process of making sure firmware is updated, it can also enable operators to power cycle and control each unit from one source.
Going forward, the company hinted it may expand its product to enable more advanced cloud mining capabilities.
Images via HashRabbit

NEW'S MAKERES

In what can only be described as a bombshell report, the New York Observer has published a near 15,000-word story that takes a detailed look at the allegedly sordid history of decentralized payment network startups Ripple Labs and Stellar, and the impact of this relationship on events in the wider bitcoin ecosystem.
“The interpersonal story of Stellar and Ripple Labs is emblematic of the turmoil roiling the entire industry,” the article, penned by Michael Craig, reads. “It has everything: sex, huge money, fraud, genius, betrayal, international intrigue and government raids.”
Of particular note are the stories main participants Jed McCaleb, the founder of now-defunct bitcoin exchange Mt Gox, Ripple Labs and Stellar, and Stellar executive director Joyce Kim who bear the brunt of the article's barbs.
The Observer reports that McCaleb and Kim have long had a personal relationship that complicated McCaleb’s relationship with other senior executives and board members at Ripple Labs, and ultimately lead McCaleb to leave that company and found competitor Stellar.
Also included in the report are allegations that hit home far beyond the companies themselves, as it suggests the feud at the two companies has had implications for mobile payments startup Stripe and banking giant Wells Fargo, among others.

Wells Fargo bitcoin unit collapses

Of all the details included in the report, however, none perhaps has greater relevance than the revelation that US banking giant Wells Fargo had assembled a task force compromising 20 of its “top executives and advisors” that was aimed at finding ways it could become the first bank to embrace cryptocurrency.
The report argues that due to a combination of the Mt Gox collapse, the closure of Silk Road and McCaleb’s personal track record, the unit was disbanded in 2014.
“Predictably, Wells got cold feet,” Craig writes. “At the bank, the crypto blackout was so severe that it extended not only to shutting the accounts that cleared funds for crypto companies, but even those companies’ operating accounts … were shut down.”
This includes the account held by Ripple Labs, whose CEO Chris Larsen, the paper said, had a more than 20-year relationship with the bank prior to the decision.
“The problem is your connection to Mr McCaleb,” Larsen was told, according to the report. “The guy founded Mt Gox. You’ve got to get that guy out of there or we won’t bank you.”
At the time, McCaleb was no longer with the company, but the report suggests even his association as a board member was “enough to make Wells Fargo skittish” and move ahead with the dismantling of its nascent cryptocurrency initiative.

Turbulent times at Ripple

Speaking to the Observer, Kraken CEO and Ripple Labs investor Jesse Powell indicated that he first introduced McCaleb and Kim, and that before long, Ripple had purchased Kim’s company SimpleHoney and brought her into the team.
The Observer described her tenure as one that was not only rocky, but saw her attempting to play up her importance and that of McCaleb. Eventually, the report argues that Larsen needed to intervene.
“Chris sat her down and was like, ‘Joyce you’re a CEO. It’s going to be hard fitting in. You’re obviously reporting to me. Two cultures coming together is always a hard thing. Let’s talk about everything before we do it just to make sure everything is good.’ And Joyce just of course wouldn’t hear of it,” an insider said.
Kim is alleged as having a “Yoko Ono” role at the company, according to those who spoke to the report.
“This is Jed’s thing, when you’re in a private conversation with him all of a sudden Joyce is CC’d on this private conversation, even when the conversation includes the person saying, ‘I don’t want you to share this with Joyce.’ So not only does he disregard that request but he’s letting you know she knows you don’t like her,” another source said.
Kim’s tenure lasted only six weeks. McCaleb, the report contends, soon “lost interest” in the project.

Stripe deal squashed

The end result of the ensuing turmoil is that a deal that would have seen Ripple Labs be purchased by Stripe for $13m in cash never came to pass. the Observer indicated it was unable to uncover an exact reason for the deal’s demise.
Yet, another sticking point however, was that most of the leadership team at Ripple Labs held significant holdings of XRP. McCaleb and Larsen, for example, both owned 9bn XRP, a factor that discouraged many in the wider bitcoin market from trusting the company.
At the time, Powell also sought to intervene to fix what he described as the company’s ongoing PR problem.
All of the problems came together, the report said, in a meeting in which McCaleb attempted to have Larsen removed from the company for reasons not disclosed.
Larsen kept his role, however, by a 5-1 vote, with McCaleb providing the dissenting voice.
“Every single person begged Jed not to make us choose between him and Chris,” said Roger Ver, a VC investor in Ripple Labs. “In the end, the vote was unanimous that Chris should stay. The only person who disagreed was Jed.”

Attacks on Stellar

McCaleb would go on to found Stellar, taking a $3m investment from Stripe, though the article questions the nature of the relationship between the companies.
For example, Stellar’s former head of community told the publication that the two companies are quite close, with everything Stellar does having to go through Stripe.
Still, Stripe’s relationship with Wells Fargo, the report suggested, has put limits on how close the two companies can publicly appear.
The report quoted those close to co-founder Patrick Collison as describing him as privately dismissive of banks, while highlighting the reliance the San Francisco-based payments company has on institutions like Wells Fargo.
The article went on to question Stripe’s designation as a non-profit, arguing that tax experts believe this claim won’t hold up under regulatory scrutiny.
“Once the IRS pieces together how Stellar benefits McCaleb, Patrick Collison and any other insiders receiving STRs or fattening up in the initial distribution, it will likely find the venture inconsistent with the charitable purpose of the 501(c)(3) exemption,” the report reads.

Article’s accuracy questioned

Following the publication of the article, CoinDesk reached out to the parties involved for their take on the report and its implications.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, McCaleb moved to denounce the article as one that failed to capture the facts of the story.
"Given the vast amount of inaccuracies and innuendo in the article, it is not worth commenting on. The bias in the article is so obvious no one can take it seriously,” he said.
CoinDesk reached out to Kim and Ripple Labs for comment, but has not received an immediate response.
Newspaper image via Shutterstock

New EU Legislation on VAT Could Be Bad News for Bitcoin

Aaron van Wirdum (@AaronvanW) | Published on February 4, 2015 at 16:07 GMT

Feature

Although it seems to have largely gone unnoticed, the European Union introduced new Value Added Tax (VAT) laws on 1st January this year.

As a consequence of this legislation, companies selling electronic goods or services to customers within the EU are now legally required to record the country of residence of their customers, which – according to some – spells bad news for bitcoin.

The new legislation was put in place to make sure that VAT is actually paid in countries where the products in question are consumed, as is the purpose of these kinds of taxes.

More specifically, the new VAT laws are supposed to prevent a certain form of tax evasion, where – mostly – large corporations open up an office in a VAT-friendly country in order to sell their products throughout all of the EU, while paying as little tax as possible.

But according to some tax lawyers, such as Richard Croker, head of corporate tax at London-based law firm CMS, these new VAT laws are consequently disadvantageous for anonymous (or pseudonymous) methods of payment such as bitcoin.

Speaking to CoinDesk, he said:

“Due to the inability to identify a buyer or his location, taking payments in bitcoin might be partially incompatible with these new laws. Whether it's a total drag on the market I don't know, but it's certainly a disincentive for companies to accept bitcoin.”

Proof of residence

In order to establish the country of residence for customers, companies both within and outside of the EU are required to collect two independent pieces of evidence that prove what their customer's country of residence is.

As a guideline, the European Commission has formulated nine options that would suffice (see the full explanatory notes here). Particularly relevant for bitcoin is the third option on that list, which entails “bank details such as the place where the bank account used for payment is and the billing address of the customer held by that bank”.

This might indeed seem like bad news for bitcoin and bitcoin users for obvious reasons, but not everybody sees it that way.

Prominent Dutch IT lawyer Arnoud Engelfriet of Legal ICT believes a customer's ability to pay with bitcoin should be no more than a minor issue.

Engelfriet said:

“Note that the nine options are not the only ways in which companies can prove where someone's country of residence is. They can use any two independent methods of proof.”

Excluding bitcoin, that would still leave more than enough options to play by the rules, according to Engelfriet.

“It is not necessary under the VAT rules to identify the consumer by name and address," he said. "You only have to identify the country of residence. If customers wish to pay with bitcoin, merchants could simply use the invoice address and the IP address, for example.”

Vanessa Mock, a European Commission spokesperson, acknowledged that the new rules are not meant to impede on buyers' potential desire to pay anonymously.

"All a company needs to establish is the country of residence of their customers. This can be done in a number of ways that don't include a buyers' identity. After a customers' country of residence has been established, using a potentially anonymous method of payment like bitcoin shouldn't pose a problem", she told CoinDesk.

What exactly counts as evidence to prove the customers' country of residence is determined by the individual member states of the EU.

EU VAT forms image via Shutterstock