I'm John Bailon, Co-founder and CEO of Satoshi Citadel Industries (Rebit.ph, Bitbit.cash, BuyBitcoin.ph, Bitmarket.ph)

[johnbailon]

Hello, I'm John Bailon, co-founder and CEO of Satoshi Citadel Industries or SCI. I am also a developer, for those who want to ask technical questions.
SCI is a Bitcoin company based in the Philippines, and we've been building products that focus on providing financial services for the Philippines (for now).

Our suite of products:

• Rebit is a remittance via Bitcoin service. We accept bitcoins from all over the world and we payout in Philippine Pesos to anywhere in the country via over 10,000 cash pick-up locations or via bank deposit.
  
  BuyBitcoin.ph is a Bitcoin buy and sell website, we accept payments via online bank transfers, bank deposits, payments via 7-11, and a few more alternative payment channels.
  
  PrepaidBitcoin.ph allows you to purchase Bitcoins via physical scratch cards or e-Pins via your mobile airtime credit on Smart Telecom, one of two telcos in the Philippines.
  
  Bitmarket.ph is a payment processor service that enables online and offline merchants to accept bitcoins. One of our unique features is called Txtpay, which enables a merchant to accept bitcoins with just an SMS capable dumb phone.
  
  Bitbit is our upcoming iOS/Android/web mobile money wallet that allows users to store their funds Philippine Pesos and transmit it in Bitcoin. Bitbit will be able to hold on to funds in different currencies, including Bitcoin.
  
  Boom Cash is our latest proof of concept. Its an SMS based wallet that stores your money in Philippine Pesos and transmits it in Bitcoin, all through just an SMS capable dumb phone -- no Internet connection required.

Yes, we have a lot of products. Ask me anything.

[TGBEX]

What is the general awareness of bitcoin in the Phillipines? Have most people heard about bitcoin yet there?

Obviously the remittance market to the Phillipines is pretty huge from places such as the USA and Hong Kong, so this represents a huge potential opportunity but the obvious barrier is education on bitcoin to both the senders in foreign countries and receivers locally - how do you intend to bridge this knowledge gap?

Bitcoin (presuming decent liquidity/ low fees) for remittances has huge cost savings, but also potentially makes remittances more hassle-free (can be done from a smart phone anywhere, with no need to find a local WU for example) - is this something you promote?

[Stonesteel]

Hello Sir John,
From a previous discussion with Sir Miguel, he stated that it will take approximately 100 years before the bitcoin mining will be completed. But as time goes by, new mining rigs with much higher hashrates are being released to the market. Does these higher hashrate mining rigs can speed up the completion of bitcoin mining, and reduce to less than a hundred years?

[johnbailon]

What is the general awareness of bitcoin in the Phillipines? Have most people heard about bitcoin yet there?

Obviously the remittance market to the Phillipines is pretty huge from places such as the USA and Hong Kong, so this represents a huge potential opportunity but the obvious barrier is education on bitcoin to both the senders in foreign countries and receivers locally - how do you intend to bridge this knowledge gap?

Bitcoin (presuming decent liquidity/ low fees) for remittances has huge cost savings, but also potentially makes remittances more hassle-free (can be done from a smart phone anywhere, with no need to find a local WU for example) - is this something you promote?

I wouldn't say most people have heard of Bitcoin, but I can say that user signups and transaction volumes have been increasing at a rapid rate, both for our services, and our competitors' as well.

Although, you're right that there is a knowledge gap right now for Bitcoin, the more important problem is Bitcoin volatility, both of which are barriers to users acceptance, and both of which we are solving by removing the Bitcoin parts in the consumer facing front-ends. That is, with Rebit, we've partnered with companies on the sender side of the transaction that essentially acts as sort of agents for Rebit. They receive fiat and convert those funds on behalf of the sender to bitcoins that they then send to us. We deliver the payouts in Philippine Pesos to complete the transaction with both sender and receiver never having to understand Bitcoin.
Another way we're solving this is via our wallets, Bitbit and Boom Cash. Both wallets send and receive Bitcoin but funds are stored in Philippine Pesos, which protects users from volatility -- and yet they remain compatible to the wonderful world of Bitcoin.

[johnbailon]

Hello Sir John,
From a previous discussion with Sir Miguel, he stated that it will take approximately 100 years before the bitcoin mining will be completed. But as time goes by, new mining rigs with much higher hashrates are being released to the market. Does these higher hashrate mining rigs can speed up the completion of bitcoin mining, and reduce to less than a hundred years?

Around 125 years. No, Bitcoin's software was designed in such a way that the mining difficulty maintains the creation of rewards around every 10 minutes. The software was ingeniously designed to minting of new bitcoins to be predictable.

[brettarussell]

Hi John,

Congratulations, an impressive suite of offerings.

How is the regulatory climate for Bitcoin and companies in the space?

Thanks for doing the AMA.

[johnbailon]

Hi John,

Congratulations, an impressive suite of offerings.

How is the regulatory climate for Bitcoin and companies in the space?

Thanks for doing the AMA.

Thank you, my team includes some of the best in the industry!

The straight answer is that right now Bitcoin is not regulated yet in the Philippines. Our central bank (BSP) has issued a warning about this. Our Central bank though has been studying it closely and I have confidence in our government that they would not stifle innovation that has potential to improve key industries. To put in perspective, Uber is legal in the Philippines, I believe we are the first in the world to legalize it.

[Skin_in_the_game]

Hello John

I was re-reading Antifragile by iconoclast thinker Nassim Taleb recently. He writes

"Never ask anyone for their opinion [...] Just ask them what they have -or don't have- in their portfolio"

I have come to think it's a very relevant question and you can better weight people's opinions having an idea of how many Bitcoins they hold (or do not hold.) So Instead of asking their opinion on bitcoin, I'm now asking every participants the same question:

- Do you mind to tell us which percentage of your net worth and/or liquid assets you hold in Bitcoins ?

[johnronaldb]

Hi Sir John, do you have plans to extend your office in Visayas Region like here in Cebu City?

[johnbailon]

Hello John

I was re-reading Antifragile by iconoclast thinker Nassim Taleb recently. He writes

"Never ask anyone for their opinion [...] Just ask them what they have -or don't have- in their portfolio"

I have come to think it's a very relevant question and you can better weight people's opinions having an idea of how many Bitcoins they hold (or do not hold.) So Instead of asking their opinion on bitcoin, I'm now asking every participants the same question:

- Do you mind to tell us which percentage of your net worth and/or liquid assets you hold in Bitcoins ?

I have about 20% of my liquid assets in Bitcoin.

[johnbailon]

Hi Sir John, do you have plans to extend your office in Visayas Region like here in Cebu City?

No immediate plans. I have been hearing a lot of good things about Cebuano developers, but for the foreseeable future we will be staying in Makati.