bitcoin upgrade needed: the current client is not synchronized

I have bitcoin client 0.6.0.6 (no longer supported!):

  1. I did not upgrade on May15.

  2. My current client will not synchronize past 85%.

    no luck with, DB_CONFIG set_lk_max_locks 537000

  3. I am in the process of trying to send coins, transaction remains unconfirmed

How should I best proceed?

I am concerned about upgrading to new client without the current being fully synchronized. What are the issues?

Also, I have an unconfirmed transaction looming. This transaction are coins being sent, not receiving coins.

I am somewhat frustrated; wish I had known about the May15/synch/upgrade issues before send transaction. Perhaps that is confounding the synch somehow? Anyhow, what is the best way to proceed?

Best and thanks in advance

Traditional VC investment vs. bitcoin IPO

There are few Bitcoin “stock exchanges” trading mainly BTC mining company pass-through shares, like

We are planning to get investment for our Bitcoin-related business. Instead of traditional Silicon Valley-style venture capital investment, we are investigating the opportunity of doing “Bitcoin IPO” and liquidate some of the company shares through pass-through exchanges.

We are looking for 0,7M – 1,5M USD investment. This money would be spent to expand and internationalize our business and enable Bitcoin interaction for more people in across the world. We really need to convert the investment to fiat currency in some point, as for marketing efforts (Google ads, etc.) are paid in fiat currency.

Now I am looking for advice on what would be pros and cons of both options: VC investment vs. Bitcoin crowdfunding. We are pretty sure that doing a Bitcoin IPO first would close the door for VC investment, as our stock and IPR would get tainted with nameless Bitcoin investors of whose shares could not be bought back easily (am I correct?). However, we are also keen on doing a Bitcoin IPO because that way we could have more control over the company (not giving away voting rights) and steer the company to the direction more beneficial to the Bitcoin ecosystem instead of a 4-5 years exit plan.

I am mainly looking advice on:

  • Valuation in both scenarios. We believe we could get higher valuation through a Bitcoin IPO.

  • How much goodwill Bitcoin fans and current Bitcoin millionaires have to build the ecosystem

  • Credibility: a VC investment would give us more real-world credibility

  • Bitcoin is hot in old-fashioned VC industry right now. We have been contacted by several world-class VCs by themselves to discuss with us.

  • The legal implications: what is the relationship between pass-through shares and real shares? Should we move to live underground after a Bitcoin IPO to avoid possible later legal mess?

  • Should we found the company in some tax haven where laws are more relaxed (e.g. Seychelles)

  • It seems that the Bitcoin stock exchange industry is little shady, and it’s hard to trust pseudonyms. Is it still too early to go there, as it might be that stock exchanges will be crashing within a year, like fiat money exchanges have, and we end up with a complete mess and lost information on shareholders, dividends and ownership?

Why there’s no bank or institution lending Bitcoins?

To the best of my knowledge, there’s no bank lending in bitcoins, yet, which surprises me. Now that Bitcoin has stabilized to circa USD $100, I think it could be reasonable for an institution to start lending in this currency. By using Bitcoins instead of a national currency, the number of potential lenders goes way up than the number of banks in most countries, and the interest rates could potentially be way lower.

I thought of a way to make it even less risky for a potential lender to someone they don’t know in a remote country: they could ask the potential client to ask for a loan in their national currency to a big, recognized bank. The bank would do the job of assessing the client’s capability of payment, do the background checking, etc. and lend (in national currency) the amount they believe the client is capable of paying off, in the selected time period.

This amount would be transferred (via the traditional banking system) to the Bitcoin bank, and the documents for the loan would be scanned and faxed/e-mailed as well (with validated-transaltion attached, of course). The Bitcoin bank could then take the risk-assessment of the local bank at face-value, return aprox. 95% of the amount transferred in the very same national currency to the client so it can pay the loan to the bank almost immediately (thus paying a very small amount in interest to the local bank) and then loan 90% of the original amount but in Bitcoins – at hopefully a lower interest rate. Of course, the difference in the amounts plus the interest would be the profit.

In effect, grabbing the money from a recognized, traditional institution would be a way of saying “hey, look, other guys think I’m worthy of a credit up to aprox. this amount for this time-period”. I for one would be happy to give it a try, taking a loan on Bitcoins!

Could this be feasible?