
Show HN: Spread bitcoins by lending to friends - bearwithclaws
http://bitcoinswithfriends.com/
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yayitswei
We started this project at the Bitcoin 2013 Conference Hackathon in May and
have been working on it since. The idea is to get people started with Bitcoin
easily through friends. I'm close to 100% repayment rate on the loans I've
made, though not everyone pays back in cash!

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bearwithclaws
OP here: we are also doing a launch special where every new sign ups will get
0.001 BTC on us.

If you don't own any bitcoins yet, you'll get your first one with BWF :)

~~~
argumentum
If bitcoin succeeds, IMO one "satoshi" (0.000000001 btc) could be worth what
one dollar is worth today. So you might just be giving everyone 1 million
dollars ;).

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wikwocket
I know you are just spit-balling, but that value for a satoshi would put the
total value of all 21 million bitcoins at 2.1 quadrillion dollars, which
appears to be about 200 times the value of all USD in existence.:)

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kerkeslager
I don't have a Facebook account, so I can't sign up. I think this is probably
true of a lot of Bitcoin users--for a lot of Bitcoin users, Bitcoin is a way
to stay off the grid, and being on Facebook would defeat the purpose.

My suggestion is to provide a way to sign up without Facebook.

~~~
ErsatzVerkehr
Bitcoin... a monetary system that requires internet connectivity and CPU
usage... in which every transaction is recorded forever and the database is
replicated by all participants... is "off the grid"?

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milesokeefe
It's the closest you can get to off the grid.

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vhf
Nope. Zerocoin is.

(Disclaimer : I'm a fervent Bitcoin supporter, I like its pseudonymous
property and discard any anonymat claims. I've never used zerocoin because I
don't have any use for it.)

~~~
tlrobinson
You've never used ZeroCoin because an implementation of it doesn't exist
yet...

But libzerocoin is coming tomorrow:
[https://mobile.twitter.com/ZerocoinProject/status/3521365613...](https://mobile.twitter.com/ZerocoinProject/status/352136561397215232)

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BrainInAJar
Finally, a way to short BTC!

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dualogy
But how would you hedge your shorts?

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dnautics
by placing a corresponding bid on mtgox and paying back your friend in
bitcoin. It's kind of a dick thing to do to your friend, though, I suppose.

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BrainInAJar
Dick thing or no, it's just business.

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JoachimSchipper
Most ideas containing the word "friend" are not "just business".

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BrainInAJar
Most things containing "money" are. Don't mix business & friendship or you'll
lose both. That includes "lending" BTC.

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dnautics
>Most things containing "money" are.

So, donations to charity, "business" or no? For the donor. Obviously for the
charity, it is.

>Don't mix business & friendship or you'll lose both

I started a 501(c)(3)-pending nonprofit. My board members are my friends,
because I know that they are morally upright, mindful, and therefore will act
as a reliable second pair of eyes to keep me from doing something illegal,
immoral, or both. For now, it seems like having my friends help me out with
this business has strengthened our friendships.

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jessehea
This is a fantastic way to spread BTC over a social layer! Great idea

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cuttooth
The 1000 friends minimum thing is hilariously high.

~~~
bearwithclaws
Ah! It's a joke (albeit a bad one, by me). The minimum friends limit to join
is actually 50.

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blueprint
Big ups to you guys for launching!!

Two of the guys who built this are my pals. Very dedicated makers - they'll
look after you.

~~~
bearwithclaws
Thanks Paul!!

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btbuildem
I've always wondered, is interest possible on BTC loans? Technically, it
should not be, since there's a limited amount of coins.

Are you qualified/classified/stamped/branded/innoculated/whatever to comply
with US regulation bullshit?

What's your business model here? Keep a % of the loan?

~~~
wmf
There's nothing stopping you from loaning, say, 1.0 BTC and asking for 1.1 BTC
to be paid back later, but Bitcoin does not have any mechanism to help enforce
such loans. There's a forum dedicated to it:
[https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=65.0](https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=65.0)
Many people are skeptical of Bitcoin loans since the expected rate of return
of holding BTC exceeds the rate of return of almost all legitimate businesses.

~~~
patio11
_Many people are skeptical of Bitcoin loans since the expected rate of return
of holding BTC exceeds the rate of return of almost all legitimate
businesses._

To steal a tptacek line, "I hope to make the starburst of points which follow
by implication rather than by explicit statement."

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oxwrist
Awesome idea! If you just gotten your first bitcoin, you can immediately put
it into good use by purchasing the Humble Bundle now (they accept bitcoins):
[https://www.humblebundle.com/](https://www.humblebundle.com/)

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louiscipher
This is an awesome idea. I just with that they allow account creation outside
of facebook.

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argumentum
Right now, Facebook is the only good way to know that "Bob Jones" is really my
friend named "Bob Jones".

This idea depends on that level social trust. I wouldn't loan out bitcoins to
strangers. Just friends who want to learn about bitcoin, as they won't screw
me over. Even if they don't return the loan in btc, they might buy me a drink.

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daverecycles
When I shared my link on Facebook, it wouldn't show a thumbnail with the HTTPS
URL but I changed it to an HTTP URL and it appeared. The thumbnail/preview is
very attractive and I think it'll help get people to click. :)

~~~
yayitswei
Thanks for the feedback Dave. We're looking into the thumbnail issue, is
anyone else not seeing the thumbnail?

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tlrobinson
Very nice. Definitely one of the better looking Bitcoin services out there.

~~~
yayitswei
Thanks! Interestingly, one piece of feedback we got was that the site made
bitcoins seem like play money. They definitely have real-world value though. I
just used it to pay a friend back for an Amazon order.

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intelliot
I had the privilege of meeting these guys while they were developing the
initial version of the app. It has come a long way! Excited to watch it take
off.

~~~
yayitswei
Thanks for your help at the hackathon Elliot! You're still user number 3 in
the database.

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Aqueous
Cool beginnings of a micro-credit economy for bitcoin.

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bobbyongce
This is a great idea! This is one simple way to get started with Bitcoin and
make Bitcoin more mainstream for the average person.

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quackerhacker
Think this is cool, please consider a Twitter sign up at the least, (not sure
about others) I prefer not to reactivate my FB.

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EGreg
You should check out [http://ripple.com](http://ripple.com)

~~~
bernatfp
People should avoid Ripple. Building an economy under a system that is in
hands of one company isn't a very good idea.

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pdog
Isn't Ripple a decentralized system, and weren't there plans to open source
it?

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tlrobinson
That's their stated intention, but so far it's completely centralized and
(mostly) closed source.

The biggest problem most Bitcoiners have with Ripple is the creators control
the allocation of the currency used within the system (XRP).

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pattle
I really really like the design, good job

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mariusz331
you might get a cease and desist from zynga but don't give in!

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songzme
Great idea! Now Im going to Spread Bitcoins by lending to friends

