
Blockchain Is Latest Bitcoin Start-Up to Lure Big Investment - nvk
http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/dealbook/2014/10/06/blockchain-is-latest-bitcoin-start-up-to-lure-big-investment/
======
midas
It takes a while to fully understand how blockchain.info works, and how their
wallet is very different from something like Coinbase/Circle/Xapo. Once you
do, you realize that blockchain.info is an amazing example of the types of
things that can be created with cryptocurrency that weren't possible before.
They truly embody the spirit of Bitcoin.

Now if only they would support HD wallets so you don't have to backup your
wallet after every transaction...

~~~
scottcanoni
And how exactly is Blockchain "very different from something like
Coinbase/Circle/Xapo"?

~~~
clarkmoody
The Bitcoin private keys are created and encrypted on the user's machine, in
JavaScript (Chrome extension available).

Those companies have custody of the user's private keys, meaning that there
exists the potential for government seizure / hacking theft of users' coins.

~~~
scintill76
In other words, exactly like the first Bitcoin wallet ever created
(Satoshi's), but less secure (subject to the JavaScript being MITM'd,
something breaking out of its JS sandbox and getting your private keys, keys
being recovered from de-allocated memory because they can't be wiped by JS,
etc.)

I'm just not a big fan of blockchain.info, so I have a strong reaction to
midas's gushing above. What does blockchain.info do that "wasn't possible
before"? It can't take credit for Bitcoin itself. It's like an online bank?
Doesn't seem very innovative in that sense.

Again, the things that might seem like pluses (being able to access your
bitcoins from any computer with an internet connection and a browser; keeping
your own keys) are also really dangerous. I'd rather just use an actual
application that lets me keep my own keys, without being subject to the
browser's attack surface.

------
vessenes
This is great news, and nice work by Roger and the whole team. Blockchain is
the way Bitcoin's lights are turned on so that most of the world can see
what's happening, and has awesome potential both for monetization and better
reach.

------
scintill76
I think someone already said it in another thread I'm not seeing now, but I
have to say I've been a bit miffed about the "Blockchain" name. It was OK when
they were blockchain.info, literally a few pages with public "info" about the
"blockchain". Since they've added wallets in the last few years, and now with
whatever they need $30M to do, it's confusing, incorrect, and maybe a bit
unfair to call themselves "Blockchain."

It'd be kind of like an American payroll company calling themselves Automated
Clearing House. It doesn't make sense, because ACH is actually the shared
technology, not created by them, that enables them to do their work. It's
unfair because people might hear about ACH transfers and think they can only
be done by this one company.

blockchain.info doesn't control the Bitcoin blockchain, and they shouldn't
control the name either.

------
7Figures2Commas
> But despite the failure of some Bitcoin-related sites and new regulatory
> challenges, more than $250 million has been invested in Bitcoin companies,
> most of that in the last 12 months, according to Wedbush Securities, a
> financial services firm.

Interestingly, there's a good chance that the sum of the valuations given to
these Bitcoin companies in the past year is equal to a not insignificant
percentage of the total value of _all_ the Bitcoin in circulation[1].

Xapo[2] and Coinbase[3] alone were both reportedly valued at more than $100
million in their last rounds, and I wouldn't be surprised if Blockchain
received a similar valuation.

From a technical perspective, the current Bitcoin chart[4] doesn't look good,
and hasn't for a while[5]. If there isn't a sustained recovery, the sum of the
valuations investors have given Bitcoin-related startups could one day exceed
the value of all the Bitcoin in circulation.

[1] [https://blockchain.info/charts/market-
cap](https://blockchain.info/charts/market-cap)

[2] [http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/07/08/bitcoin-startup-
xapo-...](http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/07/08/bitcoin-startup-xapo-valued-
north-of-100-million/)

[3] [http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/12/12/andreessen-boosts-
bit...](http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/12/12/andreessen-boosts-bitcoins-
legitimacy/)

[4] [https://blockchain.info/charts/market-
price](https://blockchain.info/charts/market-price)

[5]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7500000](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7500000)

------
jerguismi
Congrats to the blockchain.info team!

------
scintill76
Does anyone know where Blockchain Ltd is registered? In the UK, Nicolas Cary
(executive named in article) is the Director of Blockchain-UK Ltd[1], while
Blockchain Ltd appears to be registered to someone else[2] not named on
blockchain.info.

[1]
[https://www.opencompany.co.uk/company/08880875/blockchainuk-...](https://www.opencompany.co.uk/company/08880875/blockchainuk-
ltd) [2] [https://www.opencompany.co.uk/company/08858277/blockchain-
lt...](https://www.opencompany.co.uk/company/08858277/blockchain-ltd)

------
junto
Is it just me or does anyone else have a tendency to treat all .info TLDs with
a high degree of skeptisism?

I naturally assume that a .info site is going to be a scam or of poor quality
or fleeting at most.

I wonder if they will buy themselves the .com with all that cash?

~~~
scintill76
They have blockchain.com (and bitcoin.com), but they started out on
blockchain.info.

