At WordPress.com, our mission is making publishing democratic — accessible and easy for anyone, anywhere. And while anyone can start a free blog here, not everyone can access upgrades (like going ad-free or enabling custom design) because of limits on traditional payment networks.
Today, that changes: you can now buy WordPress.com upgrades with bitcoins.
PayPal alone blocks access from over 60 countries, and many credit card companies have similar restrictions. Some are blocked for political reasons, some because of higher fraud rates, and some for other financial reasons. Whatever the reason, we don’t think an individual blogger from Haiti, Ethiopia, or Kenya should have diminished access to the blogosphere because of payment issues they can’t control. Our goal is to enable people, not block them.
Bitcoin is a digital currency that enables instant payments over the internet. Unlike credit cards and PayPal, Bitcoin has no central authority and no way to lock entire countries out of the network. Merchants who accept Bitcoin payments can do business with anyone.
Bitcoin 100 is happy to announce that Group B Strep International (GBSI) became the first recipient of at least 100 BTC simply by incorporating a Bitcoin donation option onto their website on March 19, 2012.
Zach started this journey with pain in his left hip after going for a run in August 2009. We took him to the doctor and then to the physical therapist thinking that it was a hip flexor problem.
On November 13 an MRI revealed a large tumor in the neck of the left femur. A biopsy confirmed that the tumor was osteosarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer most typically found in the long bones of growing teenagers…..Zach fits the bill.
We started with chemo therapy on December 1, 2009. Zach had surgery on February 22, 2010 to remove the tumor and replace his hip. The surgery was a huge success! The tumor was completely dead and contained. In May a spot on Zach’s right lung was detected by a ct scan. We hoped it was nothing and that it would go away.
Chemo was completed on July 22, 2010. Our celebrating was
short lived as a follow up ct revealed that the spot on Zach’s right lung had grown 4mm. It needed to be removed. On Friday, August 6 Zach had a thoracotomy to remove the nodule. We got the devastating news that it was cancer. A second thoracotomy was done on the left lung which was found to be clear of lesions.
He was cancer-free for 9 months.
At the end of April, 2011 scans revealed 6 new lesions on Zach’s lungs. He began a strong, very difficult chemotherapy that left him sick for days On July 5, 2011 he had 5 lesions removed from his right lung. Pathology found that the chemo was not working; the cancer had not died.
We began a different kind of chemo a few weeks later.
A ct scan on September 6 showed no new lesions.
Zach had a thoracotomy on the left lung in September. No cancer was found.
At the end of May, 2012 Zach started having some constant pain in his left hip again. A PET scan was done and revealed his pelvis was loaded with cancer. Radiation was done through June to kill the tumor and stop the pain. It worked – however, given the location of the tumor, the necessary surgery to remove the cancer could not be done. In addition, six new lesions were found in the lungs.
Yet another chemo regimen was started which proved ineffective. By early October, 2012 the lesions had grown and multiplied. Zach has approximately 10 visible lesions in each lung.
He is currently on a new drug the we are hoping will slow the growth of the tumors. He may elect to partake in a Phase 1 study that the U of M is recruiting patients for.
Zach has been told that he likely has only months to live. His response is to embrace every day with hope and joy. Some days are harder than others, but he remains the upbeat and positive soul he has always been.
Your story was mentioned on the Bitcoin forum of which I’m a member. Thanks to that posting, I’ve met you through your lovely video singing Clouds. I’m a member of CaringBridge because I had a close friend who was a Vietnam Veteran pass a couple years ago due to cancer and his wife set up an account here for him. Just coming here brings back fund memories of him. But enough about that.
The following is what’s written on that thread dedicated to you: This stuff is just terrible …I just wish bitcoin could play a bigger role with helping someone like this out ….
Before I precede any further, I want you, and anybody else reading this, to clearly understand that I’m not trying to hawk any product, for Bitcoin is not a company owned by anybody. To hopefully drive that point home, I offer up the following: http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2012/11/15/pay-another-way-bitcoin/
That said, I founded bitcoin100.org, a charitable-type organization with a vision that all non-profits worldwide will never have to pay a processing fee or worry about credit card chargebacks ever again when they accept Bitcoin as their donation option.
Because of you, I will now pursue childrenscancer.org, caringbridge.org, and also Amplatz Children’s Hospital to hopefully have them start accepting bitcoins on their respective websites. If they do, approximately $1,300 will be their first donation from Bitcoin 100.
I look forward to hearing more songs from you. Please consider, if you haven’t already, putting a CD (if they still make those) together. I would purchase at least 10 copies as soon as it comes available.
I’m 52, and my mom and dad both passed due to cancer. Their favorites songs were Loving You by Minnie Riperton and In the Arms of the Angel by Sarah McLachlan, respectively. I enjoy Lady of Dreams by Kitaro. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLmaHefFoDs
For a living, I reclaim century old barn wood in Sandwich, IL.
Feel free to contact me. I can easily be found via Google if you search for Bruno K and the word Bitcoin (or Phinnaeus Gage).
Peace, bud.
Bruno
PS: I will be posting the above on the Bitcoin forum as well as on the Bitcoin 100 website’s blog.
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