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Topic: Bittrust API (Read 3112 times)

nickwit (OP)

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Bittrust API

July 12, 2011, 12:29:35 PM

Anyone seen this? bittrust.org

I read an article somewhere describing it as a fait-accompli, but it looks as dodgy as fuck to me.

BitcoinPorn

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Re: Bittrust API

July 12, 2011, 03:04:41 PM

Wow, reading about it right now, was about to make a thread, but this summed up what I know about it so far, reading in another window.

Edit, the article, which seems like it was paid for more than written, but that is wrong to accuse a writer I don't know of such things, it just feels that way.

Quote

BitTrust is an API in private beta that promises to make life easier for developers wanting to make use of Bitcoin as a fundamental part of their application.

The API facilitates transactions, commissions, affiliate sales and user profiles and messaging, as well as an auctioning system. Its a bit like eBay in an API for Bitcoin developers.

Most interesting, however, is BitTrusts ratings and reviews system. One of the biggest features of Bitcoin is that it provides a certain level of pseudo-anonymity, but its also a liability when youre buying from untrusted, anonymous sellers.

BitTrust has the lofty goal of providing a feedback system much like eBays, in which traders and retailers are rated and reviewed by buyers. The seller doesnt have to be identified and can retain their anonymity if they wish, with the system working off their chain of transactions and the ratings provided for those transactions.

It seems like a great first step towards providing verifiability and trust in such an unregulated economy. The strength of the system is that the ratings arent fragmented; all developers will be able to access the same ratings for sellers whether they were rated through another application or not.

Despite persistent trouble over the last couple of months, Bitcoin is still around and kicking, and the emergence of platforms like these bodes well for its future even if it ends up being a future in a niche.

Visit the BitTrust website for more information and details on how to get into the beta.

http://thenextweb.com/dd/2011/07/12/bittrust-api-makes-developing-apps-that-use-bitcoin-a-breeze/

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nickwit (OP)

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Re: Bittrust API

July 12, 2011, 03:47:42 PM

It rings alarm-bells all over the place - everything from social-links that don't link to anything, to the stock-photo of the woman in the header, to the admonitions for "investment" (avec typos) to the bad HTML under the hood to...

... New Bond Street? Sorry? I mean London's a funny place... it takes all sorts, but New Bond Street is where all the designer-clothes shops are, and anyone who can afford an office there, can afford a web-designer...

... except, that in London there are these agencies that rent out mailboxes in relatively salubrious neighborhoods, to businesses who are (more often than not) somewhat south of salubrious.

And if you google the address, you get (as you'd expect) a couple of clothes shops, but also a couple of Nigerian-style scams on every page.

I've been wrong about these things before. But... I know what open-source projects look like, and I wouldn't touch a bitcoin API with a bargepole unless it was open-source... and this just has "wrong" written all over it.

If I had to make a cynical guess, I'd say it's someone who's written a description of an API and is fishing for investment money... and just wants to get rich without really knowing what they're doing.

BitcoinPorn

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Re: Bittrust API

July 12, 2011, 04:31:34 PM

Asked on reddt http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/inibg/bittrust_api_transactions_commissions_affiliate/

Enjoyed this reply on whether or not this is trustworthy.

Quote

Domain ID:D162667975-LROR
Domain Name:BITTRUST.ORG
Created On:30-Jun-2011 08:58:18 UTC
Last Updated On:30-Jun-2011 08:58:19 UTC
Expiration Date:30-Jun-2012 08:58:18 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:GoDaddy.com, Inc. (R91-LROR)
Status:CLIENT DELETE PROHIBITED
Status:CLIENT RENEW PROHIBITED
Status:CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED
Status:CLIENT UPDATE PROHIBITED
Status:TRANSFER PROHIBITED
Registrant ID:CR87072261
Registrant Name:Registration Private
Registrant Organization:Domains by Proxy, Inc.
Registrant Street1:DomainsByProxy.com
No.

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GeniuSxBoY

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Re: Bittrust API

July 12, 2011, 04:35:49 PM

Assume not to trust anything with "trust" in its name.

Be humble!

ampkZjWDQcqT

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GNU is not UNIX

Re: Bittrust API

July 12, 2011, 04:47:57 PM

Quote from: GeniuSxBoY on July 12, 2011, 04:35:49 PM

Assume not to trust anything with "trust" in its name.

It's called "trust" because the owner of the platform trust it will do anything he (Not the user) wants.

If you found my comment useful please express your gratitude by doing an action of similar magnitude towards a better society. Thanks you!.

laanwj

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Re: Bittrust API

July 12, 2011, 05:05:33 PM

Quote from: ampkZjWDQcqT on July 12, 2011, 04:47:57 PM

It's called "trust" because the owner of the platform trust it will do anything he (Not the user) wants.

Yes like "trusted" computing

BitcoinPorn

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Re: Bittrust API

July 12, 2011, 07:09:16 PM

Some word/s from the owner of Bit Trust http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=28284.0

Hopefully he will either be out of the Newbie section or hit up reddit to talk more about his site.

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Serith

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Re: Bittrust API

July 12, 2011, 07:11:11 PM
Last edit: July 12, 2011, 07:22:23 PM by Serith

Quote from: nickwit on July 12, 2011, 03:47:42 PM

I've been wrong about these things before. But... I know what open-source projects look like, and I wouldn't touch a bitcoin API with a bargepole unless it was open-source... and this just has "wrong" written all over it.

The project is a database and specified format of requests to access the data over internet. From what i understand, it leaves to bitcoin client to do the actual payments, so what exactly should be an open source there? In general the idea is sound, but i dont know if they can pull it off and you might be right that they could be just fishing for investment money though.

nickwit (OP)

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Re: Bittrust API

July 13, 2011, 02:51:42 AM

#10

So it's not actually an API - rather a centralised site for handling ebay-style reputations? With an API?

The core philosophy to this looks to me like an attempt to de-anonymise the currency (and I'm not sure that that is a good thing) by putting all participating payments through a central system (and I'm not sure that's a good thing) in a non open-source/transparent way (and we all know that's a bad thing)... for money.

Bitcoin could really do with some system that allows people to build an ecosystem of applications on top of it... but it needs to be something like The Apache Foundation, rather than someone who looks like they're operating out of a rented mailbox, with a website with self-referencing links embedded in the page - presumably to trick google.

What we need is:

Open-Source
Free
Decentralised

And not just for the simple fact that we don't want another MtGox-style, opaque, single-point of failure going tits-up on us... but also because of the spirit of the thing. The currency itself should be optimised for scarcity, the supporting infrastructure should not be.

Serith

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Re: Bittrust API

July 13, 2011, 04:36:19 AM

#11

Quote from: nickwit on July 13, 2011, 02:51:42 AM

API is an Application Program Interface, it is a set of commands accepted by a host environment for execution, they have listed it here http://www.bittrust.org/About_BitTrust_API . The API lacks commands to manage money account, like "check balance" therefore i assume that payments would NOT go through bittrust.org but use bitcoin p2p network as any regular transaction, and i think the command "API - > send money to user" will just show users bitcoin address or something like that (owner of bittrust should step up and explain more about his website so we won't need to guess) .

Quote from: nickwit on July 13, 2011, 02:51:42 AM

Bitcoin could really do with some system that allows people to build an ecosystem of applications on top of it... but it needs to be something like The Apache Foundation, rather than someone who looks like they're operating out of a rented mailbox, with a website with self-referencing links embedded in the page - presumably to trick google.

What we need is:

Open-Source
Free
Decentralised

And not just for the simple fact that we don't want another MtGox-style, opaque, single-point of failure going tits-up on us... but also because of the spirit of the thing. The currency itself should be optimised for scarcity, the supporting infrastructure should not be.

So you are asking for unified, open-source and decentralized database that would be used to store and share data between any application in bitcoin ecosystem, not sure if it's technically possible, can't even recall an attempt to do something like that. Could you point me somewhere i can read about it?

nickwit (OP)

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Re: Bittrust API

July 13, 2011, 05:11:54 AM

#12

Quote from: Serith on July 13, 2011, 04:36:19 AM

Yea - we don't just need it for bitcoin either, we need it for all the social networks and centralised data-silos.

As to impossibility - probably no more so than bit-torrent before it was invented, and as far as I can gather, Bitcoin itself is exactly what you described - only it only records transactions. There may be a way of making a parallel model that stores sha hashes for "verified" data. Dunno - I'm a programmer, but I'd have to go into deep-trance mode for about a week to even start figuring this one out.

With regards transactions (rather than reputation management... oh, and an auction system and affiliate stuff etc)... with regards transactions, then what it probably requires is an API onto a bitcoin daemon - so people with genuine UX talent can turn the client into something that's not going to frighten away everyone who likes reassuring iPhone interfaces. This might already exist... I don't know, but the Pirate Party Founder guy was going on about this as one of the key-requirements etc, so I'm guessing it doesn't.

Quote from: Serith on July 13, 2011, 04:36:19 AM

Could you point me somewhere i can read about it?

nope, you'll have to look for that one yourself. There are moves afoot to decentralise DNS though - and I think maybe Diaspora or Friendika are having a crack at it.

We're at war basically - and the attacks on wikileaks highlighted major weaknesses in the system... a decentralised currency is just a part of it. We need to decentralise everything... and the "troubles" that bitcoin had about a month ago were all down to centralisation.

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