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sirius
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I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Wed Nov 18, 2015 6:08 pm

Hello everyone!

For an introduction: To put it briefly: Back in 2009 when I was studying computer science at Helsinki University of Technology, I was looking into the possibility of decentralized monetary systems as a means of actually changing the world for the better - giving people the control over their own life and money. Bitcoin, recently published, was the only completely decentralized and feasible option out there. I emailed Satoshi offering my help and ended up working on bitcoin.org, setting up the Bitcointalk forums and also contributing to the Bitcoin release 0.2.

In late 2009 I made the first BTC <-> USD transaction with NewLibertyStandard to help him get started with his Bitcoin exchange. I sold 5,050 BTC for 5.05 USD on PayPal. I ran my own bitcoinexchange.com for a little while, exchanging BTC for SEPA bank payments. In 2011, I helped Jed McCaleb and later Mark Karpeles with their banking in Europe.

I gradually withdrew from the Bitcoin community. I found the atmosphere less inspiring and exciting than in the early days, when none of Bitcoin's potential had realized yet. On the other hand, by then Bitcoin already had lots of skilled coders who would keep it running, whereas some other projects didn't.

In 2013 I started working on the identity & reputation project Identifi (interview). Currently, I'm a co-founder at the startup MONI, with which I'm hoping to advance Identifi and distributed payment networks such as Stellar.

Thanks for having me, looking forward to answering your questions!

-Martti Malmi (sirius)
Last edited by sirius on Thu Nov 19, 2015 2:21 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Wed Nov 18, 2015 6:17 pm

Hi Martti,

Thank you so much for being the second person to ever get involved with Bitcoin. Who knows, but without your contacting Satoshi when you did, he may have become discouraged and lost interest himself.

1. From your comments above, it sounds like you are currently more interested in Stellar than Bitcoin. Is that the case, and if so, why?
2. Are there other projects that you are keeping an eye on because they interest you?
3. Do you currently use Bitcoin for payments in your daily life?
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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Wed Nov 18, 2015 6:30 pm

I just saw that you have back on working on Identifi, and I'm really happy about this.

Is there a roundmap of what you are going to do about Identifi?

What is missing to give help to it? More developers?

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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Wed Nov 18, 2015 6:34 pm

What's pushed you away from Bitcoin related projects?

How has your opinion of Bitcoin changed from 2011?

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sirius
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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Wed Nov 18, 2015 6:44 pm

Hi Martti,
1. From your comments above, it sounds like you are currently more interested in Stellar than Bitcoin. Is that the case, and if so, why?
2. Are there other projects that you are keeping an eye on because they interest you?
3. Do you currently use Bitcoin for payments in your daily life?
1. I'm interested in Stellar's consensus method, and on the other hand, the built-in exchange of different types of assets. Bitcoin's consensus by mining is expensive and has seen a lot of centralization with all the specialized hardware and the huge mining operations. I'm interested in achieving the same results with less resources.

2. BitNation is an interesting challenger of perceptions about the role of governments in our life. Projects related to decentralization, online identity, drones, 3d printing etc. are generally interesting. :ugeek:

3. Yes, sometimes Bitcoin is the most convenient way to pay online. In point-of-sale situations the card is often easier, but I still use Bitcoin to support the merchants when it's available.
Last edited by sirius on Wed Nov 18, 2015 6:52 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Wed Nov 18, 2015 6:46 pm

Why don't you login your Bitcointalk account since August?


I feel you. Thanks for the reply.
Last edited by EAL on Wed Nov 18, 2015 11:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Wed Nov 18, 2015 6:49 pm

Why don't you login your Bitcointalk account since August?
I liked the forum better back when it was possible to read all the new posts every day and when there was less drama going on. These days I'm following Bitcoin mostly on Facebook and Twitter.

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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Wed Nov 18, 2015 6:50 pm

Hello Martti Malmi,

thank you so much for appearing on this AMA.
My question to you is how do you see the ongoing block size debate developing over time and do you think that the community ultimately is going to come to a consensus?

Kind Regards!

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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Wed Nov 18, 2015 6:50 pm

Hi Martii,

Thanks for doing this AMA!

I know that you said you aren't as involved as you were in the past, but have you been following the recent bitcoin block size debate? If so, what are your thoughts on it? Also, do you have any interest in coming back and being more involved with bitcoin? If you could talk to Satoshi now, what would you ask or say to him?

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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Wed Nov 18, 2015 6:50 pm

Hello Martti,I would like to hear your opinion about Block Size increase,recently we have seen the administrators of bitcointalk condemned bitcoinXT and transferred any post,topic about bitcoinXT to altcoins section what is your opinion about it?
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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Wed Nov 18, 2015 6:57 pm

Is there a roundmap of what you are going to do about Identifi?

What is missing to give help to it? More developers?
I need to get the minimal implementation on Node.js done, so others can join in more easily. Hoping to get to work on it over the Christmas holidays.

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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Wed Nov 18, 2015 7:17 pm

I know that you said you aren't as involved as you were in the past, but have you been following the recent bitcoin block size debate? If so, what are your thoughts on it? Also, do you have any interest in coming back and being more involved with bitcoin? If you could talk to Satoshi now, what would you ask or say to him?
I haven't followed the debate that closely. Bitcoin is still cool, but I'm probably able to make a bigger difference working on other projects. I would ask Satoshi to tell people to stop asking if I'm Satoshi. The joke is getting old. :)
Hello Martti,I would like to hear your opinion about Block Size increase,recently we have seen the administrators of bitcointalk condemned bitcoinXT and transferred any post,topic about bitcoinXT to altcoins section what is your opinion about it?
I'm generally not in favor of censorship, but I'm not familiar enough with the situation to comment on it. Anyway, there are other social media where everyone can express their opinion.

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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Wed Nov 18, 2015 7:41 pm

What's pushed you away from Bitcoin related projects?
It's just that I want to use the limited time on other projects.
How has your opinion of Bitcoin changed from 2011?
In 2011 it was quite unclear how Bitcoin would end up. On the first half, there was the first boom of media coverage and influx of people and money. On the second half, there was a lot of uncertainty and Bitcoin was pronounced dead by many. Since then it's been more evident that Bitcoin is here to stay. It's interesting to see what comes out of the billion dollars invested into Bitcoin startups.

In 2011 I was more for "all payments in the world should run on the blockchain". Public ledger cryptocurrencies are still the way to go, but the consensus method could be something else too.

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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Wed Nov 18, 2015 7:55 pm

Public ledger cryptocurrencies are still the way to go, but the consensus method could be something else too.
Have you looked into Peercoin and Proof of Stake?
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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Wed Nov 18, 2015 7:58 pm

Welcome Martti,

thanks for joining this AMA. :)


1. Why did you handover the bitcoin.org and the forum to theymos? Did you know him? And why only to one single person?

Because today we have the problem, that he is in control of all main news-sources and that cant be a good thing.

2. Do you still own some Bitcoin? If this is the case, how do you store them?

3. Do you still have the conversations/email with Satoshi? If that is the case, why and would you share them / make them public?


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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Wed Nov 18, 2015 8:02 pm

Hi Martti!

What upcoming features are you going to implement to the website?
What do you think about the block-size issue(BIP100/BIP101)?

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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Wed Nov 18, 2015 8:26 pm

1. Why did you handover the bitcoin.org and the forum to theymos? Did you know him? And why only to one single person?

Because today we have the problem, that he is in control of all main news-sources and that cant be a good thing.

2. Do you still own some Bitcoin? If this is the case, how do you store them?

3. Do you still have the conversations/email with Satoshi? If that is the case, why and would you share them / make them public?
1. I don't know him personally. He was made a forum and server admin back in 2010 because he had proven himself trustworthy and was able to spend time working on it. Bitcoin.org and bitcointalk.org domains are owned by someone trusted by Satoshi, while theymos has management rights. I resigned from the management, because I'm not active in the community and don't want to be involved in the politics. I don't want to say too much about the debate, as I'm not that familiar with all that's going on.

2. I do, although nowhere near the 55,000 BTC I mined on my laptop back then. No comments on storage!

3. I still have backups. I gave Nathaniel Popper some excerpts, that I deemed appropriate, but I wouldn't feel right publishing everything.
Last edited by sirius on Wed Nov 18, 2015 8:40 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Wed Nov 18, 2015 8:32 pm

I just want to thank you for everything you've done for Bitcoin. It's been very useful and certainly has made the world better.

Kiitoksia, mukavaa joulunaikaa ja kiintoisia hommia nykyisten / tulevien projektien parissa. :)
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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Wed Nov 18, 2015 8:48 pm

Hi Martti,
1. Is it likely that Bitcoin will be replaced by a more advanced crypto currency?
2. What do you think of Ethereum and Maidsafe?
3. Do you think it might become a problem that a few people accumulated huge amounts of Bitcoins?

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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Wed Nov 18, 2015 9:55 pm

Thanks for your contributions and for this AMA.

Question:

In the early days were you ever suspicious or cautious about dealing with Satoshi? I ask because if someone tried to work with me but tried to remain undiscovered I would be concerned.

In the early days (especially dealing with Jed McCaleb or Mark Karpeles) did you ever have odd thoughts about any of the early adopters. What I mean is, were there ever moments, let's take Mark for instance, where you thought "this guy is out of control!!!". Basicallly I just want to get a more personal idea of what was going on in early adopters minds.

In the early days what were your biggest "ah ha" moments? Obviously you likely thought Satoshi was onto something, but were there other "ah ha" moments that are worth discussing?

Are there any particular investors or players coming into Bitcoin Ethos that makes you mad or sad?

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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Thu Nov 19, 2015 12:17 am

Hi Martti,

First, thank you for your early contribution to, and enthusiasm for, bitcoin. Most of us might not be doing what we do now without your efforts.

Are you happy with the current state of the bitcoin industry/community? Do you think the right people are leading these days, or has the project been diverted from its original goals?

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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Thu Nov 19, 2015 11:22 am

hello theymos, what do you think about the rumour that terrorist used bitcoin as their fund sources lately? is it take an effect to bitcoin value? also i am curious how much your child ?
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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Thu Nov 19, 2015 2:21 pm

Did you ever regret giving thermos so much power? (in the mean time, I see that you are not involved anymore in the community. Let me tell you, giving theymos so much power is basically screwed the scene big time....)


What's your take on Blockstream/Core? ( I suppose you are not involved enough to have an opinion...)

Why did you even accept the AMA offer if you are no longer have time for bitcoin besides sitting on your stash?

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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Mon Nov 23, 2015 10:24 am

Thanks for your contributions and for this AMA.
In the early days were you ever suspicious or cautious about dealing with Satoshi? I ask because if someone tried to work with me but tried to remain undiscovered I would be concerned.
We never talked about anything personal and it took me long to realize Satoshi was a pseudonym. The whitepaper and the code spoke for themselves, regardless of the person behind them.
In the early days (especially dealing with Jed McCaleb or Mark Karpeles) did you ever have odd thoughts about any of the early adopters. What I mean is, were there ever moments, let's take Mark for instance, where you thought "this guy is out of control!!!". Basicallly I just want to get a more personal idea of what was going on in early adopters minds.
I have nothing bad to say about the people in the early days. I liked the spirit back then. People saw Bitcoin as an interesting project and invested their time into it without certainty of what it would become.
Are there any particular investors or players coming into Bitcoin Ethos that makes you mad or sad?
Centralization of mining to the chip manufacturers and huge data center operators probably isn't what Satoshi had in mind. But the miners are not to be blamed for that. That's where the design of the system has led to - we have to come up with something better if that is to be avoided.

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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Mon Nov 30, 2015 2:42 am

How did you "loose" powers over bitcointalk and pass them to Theymos?
I understand you quit but why havent still leave yourself a backdoor to be super admin.
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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Thu Apr 05, 2018 11:19 am

Bitcointalk is a great community, I am sure it became super popular due to recent Bitcoin growth! Thank you for sharing your story. What do you think about cloud mining? Is it worth trying if you're a complete noob? As for the developers, here is a great read to check by the way https://diceus.com/python-developer-salary/ .

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Re: I'm Martti Malmi, early bitcoin developer and the original founder of the Bitcointalk.org forums, AMA!

Wed Apr 11, 2018 8:12 am

I'm a noob- where do I purchase Bitcoin without transaction fees other than direct trading between wallets?

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