The 21 Bitcoin Computer

[LiteCoinGuy]

http://techcrunch.com/2015/11/18/mining ... x92xe:7hZi

[DarthCoin]

I see that nobody ask the most important question about 21 Inc: Who bono? The user or the company? What is their real purpose of launching this device that for users didn't bring any real advantage? And that brings another question. What is doing in reality that 21 chip? Is really mining bitcoins or is just mining YOU the user?
We should question more all of these "wonderful IoT devices" before jumping into their "game". because at the end WE are the ones that we are USED not their devices.

[LiteCoinGuy]

-Qui bono? I guess 21inc and the whole bitcoin sphere. Ask the same quesion in 1994 about Netscape :

qui bono ?

-the real advantage are at the moment for developters and entrepreneurs who have a vision. the avergage joe has no advantage because of that device (at the moment)
additionally the 21inc mining chip can help to decentralize the whole mining business and that is a good thing.

[LiteCoinGuy]

-Bitcoin is valuable for internet-of-things devices, allowing devices to algorithmically exchange property rights.

-Ideally, IOT devices should be convenient to use with a "plug and go" design, just as normal devices exist today.

-One solution to achieve this "plug and go" is for IOT devices to have access to bitcoins somehow embedded into its design, without the need for the user to "set it up" and link it to their own Bitcoin address. But how?

-21 Inc. aims to solve this issue by embedding IOT devices with its bitcoin-mining chips.

-21 Inc. will provide bitcoins on demand to the IOT devices that use its chips and in return, 21 Inc. will keep all bitcoins mined from those devices.

-This works because the amount of bitcoins each IOT device needs is small and with high frequency. On the other hand, the amount of bitcoins each IOT device earns is large but with very low frequency.

-Similar to a bank that borrows short-term and lends long-term, 21 Inc. will profit from the difference in bitcoins mined and consumed over the life of all the devices in its portfolio. This is also analogous to how insurance works by pooling risk.

-In the end, 21 Inc. will be providing users a way to "pre-pay" for bitcoins that their IOT device will use over its lifetime without the hassle of set-up.

http://tannutuva.org/blog/2015/5/27/wha ... ying-to-do

[harrymmmm]

None of these articles are addressing the most important question; that bitcoin does not scale sufficiently to support this product. The current fees for a bitcoin transaction (which are only going to get worse) preclude using the network for true micro-transactions. Secondly, the current transaction limit is so low that it only supports a couple of million users per month. (Do the math, multiply 150,000 transactions a day times 31 days and then assume three or four transactions per month. You get a number in the low millions of active users).

The only way this product might work is if all transactions happened off-chain on a micro-transaction layer developed by 21 Inc. themselves (like a world-wide changetip).

Now, that doesn't bother me at all if that is the plan. I have no problem giving up milli-cents worth of value to a centralized and controlled off-chain vendor. That really doesn't concern me at all.

However, to date nothing that 21 Inc. has said publicly suggests they have any plans to create their own off-chain microtransaction network. In fact, everything they have stated publicly implies they intend to operate directly on the main blockchain which, as already pointed out, is impossible.

Did you not read the OP's medium.com article?
They have micropayments working on the chain now, and payment channels in the next upgrade.

[LiteCoinGuy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVzeHQLlUFQ

[LiteCoinGuy]

The 21 Bitcoin Computer is a Gamechanger

Advertised as “the first computer with native hardware and software support for the Bitcoin protocol” the 21.co Bitcoin Computer is the first of its kind and will catalyze a host of unforeseen use-cases for the bitcoin blockchain. The first product from the startup founded by Balaji Srinivasan, CEO and board partner at Andreessen Horowitz, (there are some valuable videos posted at the end of this post that will give context to some of the vision behind this company) 21.co has raised over $116 million dollars, from an impressive array of backers including but not limited to Qualcomm Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Data Collective, Khosla Ventures, RRE Ventures, Yuan Capital, Jeff Skoll and Peter Thiel.

https://rywalk.wordpress.com/2015/11/26 ... mechanger/

[LiteCoinGuy]

21 Inc.: Changing the way we pay for and play with the Internet of Things

When the mysterious Bitcoin mining company, 21 Inc., first appeared on the scene it was hard to tell what they were up to. Rumors coalesced into the famously questionable Bitcoin-mining toaster–but now it’s obvious that the company intends to change the face of markets that enable the Internet of Things by using Bitcoin as a medium of exchange.

http://siliconangle.com/blog/2015/09/24 ... of-things/

[LiteCoinGuy]

On Satoshis and Bytes.

https://medium.com/@santisiri/on-satosh ... .5d9gz0vv8

[LiteCoinGuy]

21 Update #1: Money From Helicopters

https://medium.com/@21/21-update-1-mone ... .iwchdot8g

[DiamondCardz]

I stated a while ago that unfortunately I think the 21 Bitcoin Computer is really, REALLY overpriced for what it does. I still stand by that - you could buy a Raspberry Pi 2 and a lot of equipment for it and still be $300 better off, enough for a decent ASIC. It's effectively an over-hyped Raspberry Pi.