Bitcoin: Setting the Youth Free

What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a revolutionary currency that a mysterious programmer developed in 2008. He went by the pseudonym “Satoshi Nakamoto.” Bitcoin is a type of digital money. It has no central controller, and instead it is peer-to-peer and decentralized. It is enforced through computer code and cryptography alone. It is open source, meaning anyone can look at the code to verify it. This technology opens up all kinds of new opportunities, especially for the youth. It allows people, regardless of age, to break past the barriers of the system. It gives the youth control over their money, without needing consent from parents, banks, or governments.

For the first few years of Bitcoin’s existence, it remained largely under the radar. Aside from a few computer geeks, most people had never heard of it. As time went by, Bitcoin slowly gained recognition from more people. An online black market called the “Silk Road” was created, allowing people to buy and sell goods exclusively in Bitcoin. Because the transactions could occur anonymously, people were now able to buy and sell illicit goods (like drugs) on the Silk Road.

In the summer of 2011, the nonprofit organization Wikileaks began accepting Bitcoin for its donations. Not only did Bitcoin seem like a good fit (both Bitcoin and Wikileaks support anonymity), but Wikileaks had been blocked from receiving payments from financial providers, such as Visa and Paypal. Bitcoin allowed people to continue to donate to the cause in spite of these restrictions.

In the spring of 2013, Bitcoin’s value more than doubled in the wake of the Cyprus Banking Crisis. People began to worry that their money would not be safe in banks, and they began converting their bucks into Bitcoin.

Then in October of 2013, the FBI tracked down the creator of Silk Road and shut it down. Some worried that this would spell the end of Bitcoin. However, this was not the case. Within the next couple of months, Bitcoin’s price began to skyrocket. As investors from China and elsewhere began to realize the potential of the currency, its value went from just over $100 per Bitcoin to a peak of well over $1,000. At this point, Bitcoin began to make major news headlines. The general public became interested in this mysterious new currency.

Bitcoin Doesn’t Care Who You Are

If you know how to download a Bitcoin “wallet” (an application that facilitates Bitcoin transactions), you can get Bitcoin. Bitcoin is decentralized in such a way that it does not matter who uses it. This has great potential for the youth.

The website LocalBitcoins.com allows you to find people near you who are selling Bitcoin. Unlike some other websites, you don’t need a credit card or identification to create an account. If you can’t find anyone in your area, you may find a trusted seller on LocalBitcoins.com who is willing to sell it to you remotely.

Because Bitcoin does not care who you are, you can buy things that you otherwise might not be able to. For example, you can purchase an M-rated video game with Bitcoin. Heck, you can even take it a step further. Want to buy some porn? No problem.Cigarettes? Sure. Drugs? The Silk Road 2.0 has you covered. Goods that were previously restricted by age are now freed by the use of Bitcoin.

But Bitcoin also has plenty of legal uses. Currently, it is difficult for minors to obtain a credit card, and it is impossible without their parents’ consent. This can make buying goods online quite difficult if you are under 18, especially if you don’t want your parents to know. However, Bitcoin doesn’t care how old you are, and it allows you to hide your identity. There are many places online that you can spend Bitcoin. Some major outlets such as Overstock.com and TigerDirect.com have begun accepting Bitcoin. You can also buy gift cards on Gyft.com, and you can spend these Gyft cards at major outlets such as Amazon.com. You can now buy clothes, electronics, and anything else you may want to buy online with Bitcoin.

And Bitcoins are not just limited to online use. You can also spend them at physical stores. Some Subway restaurants, for example, have begun accepting Bitcoin. In addition, numerous small businesses and local restaurants now accept it for payment.

Oh, and don’t forget charity! There are several nonprofit organizations—such as Khan Academy, Wikileaks, Antiwar.com, and Sean’s Outpost—that accept Bitcoin donations. Wikileaks now receives the majority of its donations in Bitcoin. Sean’s Outpost, a homeless shelter and outreach organization located in Pensacola, Florida, receives all of its donations in Bitcoin, from people all over the world.

Another area in which Bitcoin opens up new doors for the youth is the job market. Currently, it is challenging for minors to find jobs. Many businesses have a policy of only hiring people who are 18 or older. But with Bitcoin, all of this begins to change. There are no age restrictions for working for Bitcoin online. Websites such as Bittask.com can help you find jobs working for Bitcoin. There is a Facebook group that helps connect people who want to do business in Bitcoin. And there is a Jobs4Bitcoins subreddit that can help. This is a great to obtain Bitcoin. Since Bitcoin can be sent across the world, you may be able to work for someone who lives on the other side of the planet. This opens up many exciting new opportunities for both employment and freelance work.

If you are a programmer, Spanish teacher, or writer, for example, you can offer your services in exchange for Bitcoin, all over the internet. You could open up your own online store at Coingig.com and start selling goods, such as clothes, for Bitcoin. Or you could follow the example of these kids, who have successfully started their own business selling honey online for Bitcoin to people all over the world.

You Control Your Bitcoin

Unlike paper money, which is controlled by government, or credit cards, which are controlled by corporations, only YOU control your Bitcoins. Bitcoins wallets cannot be “frozen” like bank accounts. When you get a Bitcoin wallet, it is yours and yours alone. Banks, governments, and parents cannot take it away.

With Bitcoin, transaction fees are extremely low. While there are sizeable fees associated with bank transfers, credit card payments, and PayPal payments, the fees associated with a Bitcoin transaction are miniscule. In other words, when you use Bitcoin, you get to keep MORE of your money.

Can Bitcoin Be Hacked?

The Bitcoin code is enforced with the latest and most secure cryptography (mathematical computer security). The code is open source (anyone can look at it and analyze it), and many experts have confirmed its security. Bitcoin is so secure that it would be far too costly for anyone to hack it. Credit cards, on the other hand, are prone to major hacks.

Bitcoin is also much more secure than paper money. Have you ever watched a movie in which someone was carrying a lot of cash in one of those metal briefcases with a combination lock? Well, with Bitcoin, instead of carrying a bulky briefcase, you could walk around with millions of dollars’ worth of Bitcoin on a flash drive in your pocket. To be extra safe, you could protect your wallet file with a password. The password is enforced with cryptography that is similar to, but more secure than, the password you use for Twitter. With Bitcoin, transporting money suddenly becomes much safer and much more convenient.

Bitcoin is Secret

With some extra research, Bitcoin can actually be used anonymously (no one knows who you are), unlike with credit cards and bank accounts. Your Bitcoin wallet does not store your name and address. It simply stores your Bitcoin. It does not care who you are. Whereas credit card companies want to know much of your personal information in order for the cards to be valid, Bitcoin respects your privacy. As mentioned above, you can use Bitcoin to purchase things you might not want the world to know about—including cigarettes, birth control, drugs, porn, or access to online gambling.

Bitcoin Doesn’t Care Where You Are

One of the neatest aspects of Bitcoin is that it is international. From China to Argentina to the United States, people all around the world are using Bitcoin. Anyone can easily send it over the internet and around the world, facilitating international business. Those who like to travel can also easily transport Bitcoin overseas. There’s no need to worry about exchange fees. You can even purchase your plane ticket with Bitcoin! Simply put, Bitcoin knows no borders.

Locations of businesses that accept Bitcoin around the world. This imagine is from Coinmap.org.

Learn More About Bitcoin

With Bitcoin, you control your money—not parents, banks or governments. It creates opportunities for young people that previously could not even be imagined. If you are interested in learning more, here are some links to help you get started:

This website provides useful information on the basics of Bitcoin:

http://www.weusecoins.com/en/getting-started

Trybtc.com is great side where you can experience and learn how Bitcoin works without having to buy any.

Download a Bitcoin Wallet for free and in minutes here:

https://blockchain.info/wallet

Here’s a short video explaining Bitcoin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um63OQz3bjo

In addition, please feel free to email me with any questions with Bitcoin:

jeff.to.the.maxim@gmail.com

Please send Bitcoin tips to:

17YR3EGdgAu6azKXLrK3JKrzAmzhN6Yk8F

Disclaimer: Bitcoin anonymity is not something that it is easy and requires a good amount of research. I do not suggest you do anything illegal. This article is just information that you can get many other places. How you use Bitcoin is your own responsibility and risk.

A Night At Venice Beach

Venice, California is known by many for its eccentrics during the day. The bubbling homeless people who you aren’t sure are insane or high out of their mind. Or the freaks and sidewalk attractions that seem to be ever-changing but always shocking. With piercings and tattoos that you didn’t even know were possible or performing with a huge snake that they treat as a loving pet. It is always quite the show.

When talking to people about Venice at night, however, it is a whole different story. Complete shock and disbelief overwhelm their faces as they rave about the violent gangs that inhabit the area and how you will get robbed, shot or stabbed if you go there at night. Venice did get some coverage recently after a video clip came out showing two homeless people getting beaten up by two “thuggish” looking people at night. Common sense would tell you that Venice is a dangerous place at night that shouldn’t be messed with.

I was skating at the local skatepark when my friend told me they were planning to go to Venice tonight. I was shocked and excited. I had never heard of anyone doing that. It sounded like a very cool and interesting experience. I excitedly said yes! There wasn’t anything ever going on in my town, so I was starving for an adventure. The added bonus of visiting at night made it even more interesting.

Venice’s nightlife is so stigmatized by crime and the unknown, but my experience of it turned out to be very different. Crime ended up being a very small part of it, almost unnoticeable. I’ve found that whenever something gets such a “forbidden” or “taboo” label, that usually means it is nothing like they say; rather it is actually a full of fun and excitement.

We left Lancaster, California around 10pm, and about the quarter of the way there, we stopped in Acton. We made the stop to get some grub and a pack of cigarettes at a McDonalds /gas station. While ordering our meal, we befriended two locals who were at the McDonalds (there wasn’t anyone else there other than us and them). They seemed destined for a night of boredom with not much to do— most people with things to do aren’t in McDonalds at midnight.

As we were talking, we told them what we were doing, and they thought it was great. They asked if they could come along, offering gas money and great conversations. We were willing to talk to them, but sadly the car was already packed with five people.

Living in the AV, on the outer limit of LA county, we were pretty far from Venice, but with little to no traffic it only took around 2 hours in total, and we got there at midnight.

Relieved that the car ride was over and anxious to stretch our legs, we parked in an alley off one of the last busy streets and starting heading out to the beach. It was a bit surreal to walk there at night. As we walked farther and farther from the busy street, the calmness and quietness of the night was fully realized. While navigating the streets to make it to the beach, we found there wasn’t anybody on the streets. We barely saw any lights on; it almost seemed like a ghost town. The only thing that told us that people lived there was a holler from the occasional rooftop kickback. Those yells felt like yells of encouragement — and evidence we were on the right track. Seeing the art inhabiting the many back alleys and walls of Venice was really cool.

As we hit the boardwalk, it truly hit home where we were, and yet the area had such a strange feeling of being deserted. The iconic images of Venice Beach that you expect to see when you visit for first time were missing. The strand and the shops that line it that add to the relentless energy and weirdness of Venice were all closed. There weren’t hordes of people walking up and down the strand. The only sign of other people were the groups that riddled the shoreline and parking lots.

After the weirdness of the situation rubbed off, a sense of excitement and almost childlike glee took over. A sense of freedom and peace of mind came over me. I become much more relaxed as we strolled down the strand, looking for a patch of shoreline past some tennis courts – or some other building– that blocked the beach. Finally, the journey was over, and we found our destination. All that was left was to relax and have fun.

As we made our way towards the beach, we passed a group in the parking lot. They were loud and probably drunk. At first I got scared, thinking, “Are they yelling at us?” “What do they want?”.  It didn’t help that they were standing by a streetlight but still silhouetted in darkness, creating a scene right out of a scary movie! It was nothing though, just a unsure mind thinking the worst.

Luckily, there was an open spot on the shore that we could claim. On both sides of us, there were numerous groups doing the same as us. We sat down and settled into our little spot on the beach.

My friend passed me a bottle of rum that had already passed between two of our group. I took out a cig and passed the pack along. The stiffness that taken over my body from the long car ride and the cold started to go away. My body started to loosen and warm up. To the left of me, a far distance away, was the Santa Monica Pier which looked really cool at night. To the right of us, also a far distance away, was some kind of parking lot or skatepark. I don’t know;  I wasn’t paying too much attention to it.

But on both sides of us were groups of fellow midnight beach partiers. The one to left of us was about 30 meters away, but the ones to our right were only 10 or 20 meters away. After relaxing and enjoying the peaceful crash of the waves, the cold air of the night and the soft moonlight, our soon-to-be-friends from the left came over to say hi. Well at least one guy did. He waved hello, and we returned the gesture. We offered him some of our rum as a welcoming gift and he gladly partook.

It turned out that today was his first day of freedom after being in prison for drug charges.  He decided the best way to celebrate his first night of freedom was to go Venice Beach at night and skinny dip! He had very politely put his clothes on before making his way over to us, but we could see the black silhouettes of his friends putting their clothes on in the background.

He was full of energy and excitement and very eager to talk to us as much as he could. Maybe he was high on cocaine, or maybe he was just excited to talk to free human beings after being locked up. Maybe it was a mixture of both. Whatever the reason, it was very enjoyable to talk to him. It turns out he was a pro skater for a minor skateboard brand. He showed me a video of him on his website (the name escapes me, sadly). Hearing that he got out of prison made it much more believable that he was a pro skater (haha!). Being skaters ourselves we really hit it off at this point, and the chatting went for a long time.

In the middle of the conversation, his girlfriend, now dressed, came over to try to get him to leave and go home. She seemed tired and ready to leave— and not too interested in us. He put up a heartfelt protest but ended up caving in. But he made sure we exchanged numbers before he left (I lost that phone and thus his number, unfortunately).

After the excitement and commotion had died down, I again fell into the groove of the night. My friends started talking about stripping down to our underwear and going swimming in the ocean. I was very apprehensive, as I imagined how cold the water to be. I was already feeling pretty chilly, and running into what I imagined was ice-cold water didn’t sound like good idea!

After some persuasion from my friends, I was ready. I took a second swig of the bottle, stripped to my boxers and jetted off towards the water in a mad attempt to try to push through the expected initial freezing cold. I was right; it was freezing! But, as I made my way out further, the coldness started to go away, and warmness replaced it. A combination of my body getting used it, the exercise of swimming and the effects of the rum made me feel really warm…in fact, so warm that any thought of the water being freezing was completely forgotten.

The water caressing my skin felt amazing! I took some time to float on my back and look up at the midnight sky. Unlike the desert, it wasn’t full of stars, but it still made for a beautiful sight.

Then, much bigger waves replaced the small and insignificant ones. The thought of body surfing became an exciting prospect. I started to body surf the waves, which was quite exhilarating. My friends didn’t know how to do it, but they quickly learned. We started racing each other and had a lot of fun. It was the best experience of the ocean I ever had.

Before I knew it I was only one left in the ocean. All my friends had taken a break because the coldness and tiredness had started to creep up on them. I joined them to take a break for a cigarette. Afterward, three of us went back into the water.

All told, we were in the water around 1-2 hours in all. While in the water, we noticed a helicopter in the sky and automatically knew that it was police helicopter. We were tense for a moment, trying to see what was going to happen —being on the beach at night is illegal, and the police will arrest you if they catch you.

We felt pretty safe, as there were people on both sides of us. We thought of them as a buffer for us. We sat crouched down as the spotlight zoomed around us. It didn’t land on us, but it did pause on other groups on the beach. We returned to enjoying the water, though now more aware of our surroundings.

About 30 minutes later, though, the same chopper appeared again. This time the spotlight, while surveying the beach, lit up our clothes and my two friends who were staying out of the water — we were spotted! The same thing was repeated further down the beach, uncovering each group of midnight beach partiers.

We got really freaked out but physically remained just tense, not moving yet. Our feet still in the shallowest part of the tide, we stopped to look at the other groups. They weren’t doing anything; they seemed totally unfazed by the helicopter’s spotlight.

We sat there for a moment in confusion, not knowing whether to relax or high-tail it out of there. But then, the police made up our minds for us.

At the very far end of the beach, right next to the pier, we saw bright headlights turn on. It seemed our fellow partiers at the end of the beach had been caught. We saw more cars coming our way, too. They didn’t turn on their headlights until they were close to the groups. We quickly realized what was happening and booked it, flying out of the water to grab our stuff before running away.

After swimming for so long we were very tired – and the sand wasn’t making it any easier – but the threat of the police made our feet move faster than ever!

Barefoot and wearing only our underwear, we ran into the small, idyll streets of apartments. We were split up, losing each other in the chaos, but we all seemed to have the same idea of using the alleys and small roads as our best bet to lose the police. We made sure to run a decent amount away from the beach, as there were cops driving down the strand, too.

I found a tiny niche in the side of a small apartment building. It was just big enough for me to squeeze inside and hide from the cops. It opened into what seemed like a pitiful excuse for a backyard, with just a tiny patch of grass.

But it was on the backside of the building, so I took this opportunity to put my clothes back on. I had to make sure to be very, very quiet because I was right next to a window — and probably someone’s bedroom. As I started putting on my clothes, one of my friends appeared and quickly slid into our hiding place, eager for a place where he could rest. Soon, another friend joined us in our small haven. He’d obviously had to do a bit more running to get away from the cops, as his deep breaths gave away.

Being so tried made him pretty careless when it came to keeping quiet. After making a couple of loud noises he got the idea and stopped. I was just getting my jeans on when a man (I wasn’t able to see him at all in dark) opened his window. He told us –in a surprisingly patient and polite manner – to get out. Maybe this happens a lot to him, or maybe he is just a cool guy. Either way, we were kicked back out into the ally. We were still soaking wet, but at least now we were semi-clothed. We took to the apartment staircase directly across from us to finish getting clothed.

After finishing putting on our clothes, we started heading toward our car. Again, we found ourselves navigating the streets trying to find our way out. At first we were on guard, afraid the police could be around any corner. We soon realized that the police weren’t going to make the effort to come out here and look for us; they had scared some hoodlums and arrested some stoners — more than enough to get their paychecks. That’s all they care about.

After we realized that, we were able to relax again. Then we started to wonder where the rest of the group was. Hoping they had not been arrested, we carried on to the car. We arrived at the car and had a smoke while waiting for our friends to arrive. They weren’t answering their phones, so hope was dwindling. But after around 15 minutes, they arrived. Relieved, we were ready to get out of there.

With sand invading every piece of clothing and being sopping wet and dreadfully tried, we were ready to go home. Luckily, the way home took even less time than it did to get here, which was nice. The adventure made for a very enjoyable and memorable night.

For me, it seemed like Venice Beach was a pretty cool and safe place at night. The only people who I felt threatened by were the cops — and even they weren’t too bad, as we were pretty easily able to escape them.

Hopefully one day I can experience Venice Beach during the day too!

Written by Jeff Maxim

Please send Bitcoin tips to:

1JWpKYwaB4y1Eb4s8QyJmGqzmRCfNP3VFq