Winklevoss plus Bitcoins equals Zero G

And the Twins
Credit: Virgin Galactic

It has been a wild week in world of digital currency known as bitcoins, beginning with a high profile theft, and culminating with NewsWeeks’s claim that it has identified its enigmatic creator.

Somewhere in the middle comes a new piece of evidence that bitcoins may have a future as interplanetary currency. Virgin Galactic has received another celebrity booking, (in this case a double), but this one comes with a well written blog post by Tyler Winklevoss, explaining why he and his brother Cameron, who together famously accused Mark Zuckerberg of stealing the concept behind Facebook,  used bitcoins to pay for their sub-orbital spaceflight.

From the post:

“For a moment, however, let’s consider a few of the possibilities that might be just around the corner. Hypothetically, a natural disaster strikes a remote part of the world during a long holiday weekend. Via the Virgin Galactic platform, emergency responders and volunteers are boots on the ground in less than two hours. Simultaneously, small payload satellites are launched into space overhead. These satellites bring not only Internet and data connectivity to the area, but also high definition video feeds and ground penetrating radar that can help facilitate search and rescue efforts. Financial aid and charitable donations that would normally incur transaction costs and take days to arrive can now be sent instantly and for free via the Bitcoin network. Potentially, the overall loss of life is reduced, injuries are mitigated and rebuilding efforts are accelerated because two technologies have allowed goodwill and compassion to go to work that much faster.”

Tyler’s full blog post is here.

Credit: Tyler Winklevoss