Anybody here understand "Bitcoin"?

[Dead Money]

Exactly what is it and how do you participate?


Saw an interesting "Bitcoin" offering....a bounty.


http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-...-bitcoin-based-bounty-bernankes-assassination

 

[Mr. Poon]

http://www.madjacksports.com/forum/showthread.php?518963-Bitcoing-mining&highlight=bitcoin

http://www.madjacksports.com/forum/...r-Internet-Drug-Blackmarket&highlight=bitcoin

 

[layinwood]

BCs have been on a great run. I think in my original thread someone said they can't see it getting back up to 200. It's around 575 as I type. We canned the mining because it wasn't the cheapest route to accumulate BCs.

 

[Dead Money]

BCs have been on a great run. I think in my original thread someone said they can't see it getting back up to 200. It's around 575 as I type. We canned the mining because it wasn't the cheapest route to accumulate BCs.

So? How do you accumulate "Bitcoins" ? Whom do you buy them from and with what form of payment?
Is there a "Craigslist" type organization? A "cyber-banker"? Who ultimately does the accounting? Who redeems them and do they convert to traditional currencies? or is it all faith in "Bitcoin" which exists in name?

 

[ImFeklhr]

Don't understand a currency that's supply revolves around the voluntary and meaningless action of "mining."

Well I don't understand that much about economics at all, but this sort of network existing in parallel with existing currency systems makes no sense.

 

[airportis]

bitcoins are a virtual currency that is anonymous when sending/receiving.

to mine them you have to be a special kind of person willing to dedicate a lot of money into some "super computers" that will mine the coins. youll probably end up even when you factor in how much electricity youll be using. I think layinwood wanted to mine them with his friend or something but sounds like they quickly found it to not be very practical. basically your computer or computers race against other computers to complete the "puzzle" that gets a coin. like a lottery of sorts. what most people do is join groups and mine together and share their "profits".

the 2 main uses for the currency are to buy illegal things on the internet, or to buy/sell the coins themselves. those are really the only 2 ways bitcoins are used. there are some people that think bitcions are going to be the world currency in the future. no im serious, there are people that really think that out there.

the whole thing stays afloat because of the illegal market its used for, and the people that think its the future in currency. dont really think its ever going to be a factor in the real world with options like paypal and stuff available amongst many other e-wallets, but the thing just wont fizzle out. its got some die hard people behind it. the prices can fluctuate tremendously.

 

[ImFeklhr]

Hey I like the idea of a extra-government anonymous currency, but when it comes to practical application I wonder how it will work. Hire the kid next door to mow your lawn and pay him with currency your computer creates online? Why wouldn't he just stay home, not mow your lawn, and have his computer make his own currency. :shrug:

I must be not understanding some part of this. :shrug:

 

[layinwood]

The biggest reason we decided not to mine is because there are only going to be 21 million BCs and then no more can be produced. Right now we're at 11.5. Too much capital to get it started and not enough time to make back the money. Actually electricity wasn't going to be an issue for us. I know a lot of people say you can't make money because the power needed by the computers raises your electricity bill so high you come out equal. We were going to set it up in my fathers workshop. His workshop, around 1000 sq ft full of things is 100% powered by solar panels. It would have been close but we didn't look too far into it. BCs are no different than the paper money you have in your pocket. They each have a unique idenfication. The main difference today is that you can mine then and you can't paper money.(actually I guess you can if you wanted to)

I don't know if it will ever amount to anything but I like new things and it's been fun messing with it. Here's the thing. If you think BCs are going to amount to something then start looking at how things work. Find people that are looking for items or services and are willing to buy using BCs. Sell an old TV for a BC or if you have a service to offer it then do that for a BC. My brother in law has traded some of his IT expertise for BCs. That was when they were very low and he did it because he believes in them and believes the price will go up. So far the price has gone up by a large margin for him so his BCs are worth more which made the services he sold more profitable.

 

[ImFeklhr]

The biggest reason we decided not to mine is because there are only going to be 21 million BCs and then no more can be produced. Right now we're at 11.5. Too much capital to get it started and not enough time to make back the money. Actually electricity wasn't going to be an issue for us. I know a lot of people say you can't make money because the power needed by the computers raises your electricity bill so high you come out equal. We were going to set it up in my fathers workshop. His workshop, around 1000 sq ft full of things is 100% powered by solar panels. It would have been close but we didn't look too far into it. BCs are no different than the paper money you have in your pocket. They each have a unique idenfication. The main difference today is that you can mine then and you can't paper money.(actually I guess you can if you wanted to)

I don't know if it will ever amount to anything but I like new things and it's been fun messing with it. Here's the thing. If you think BCs are going to amount to something then start looking at how things work. Find people that are looking for items or services and are willing to buy using BCs. Sell an old TV for a BC or if you have a service to offer it then do that for a BC. My brother in law has traded some of his IT expertise for BCs. That was when they were very low and he did it because he believes in them and believes the price will go up. So far the price has gone up by a large margin for him so his BCs are worth more which made the services he sold more profitable.

Serious question, if I sell my old TV for bitcoins, where are they stored? Are they secure? Is that a realistic way to get into bitcoins without getting involved in the mining BS?

 

[airportis]

Serious question, if I sell my old TV for bitcoins, where are they stored? Are they secure? Is that a realistic way to get into bitcoins without getting involved in the mining BS?

youd have to find someone willing to pay for a tv in bitcoins which is much easier said than done I would think.

also, you could sell your thousand dollar TV for 2 bitcoins and wake up next week and the bitcoins be worth 100 bucks a piece. i would say that is a major way bitcoins are much different than the money in your pocket. the 100 dollar bill in your pocket is gonna depreciate overnight.

 

[layinwood]

You need a BC Wallet. Yes it's secure but like anything else you have to help keep things secure.(IE just like your CC numbers)


I have a great article I'll post later when I get home. It tells a lot about BCs.

The biggest positive for them right now is Asia and mainly China. I can't remember the name of the site but it's the most visited website in the world and they've started allowing some of their sellers to accept BCs.


Airportis, you could also wake up and the BCs are worth 1000 each. It goes both ways. Nobody is saying this is a sure thing.

 

[layinwood]

youd have to find someone willing to pay for a tv in bitcoins which is much easier said than done I would think.

also, you could sell your thousand dollar TV for 2 bitcoins and wake up next week and the bitcoins be worth 100 bucks a piece. i would say that is a major way bitcoins are much different than the money in your pocket. the 100 dollar bill in your pocket is gonna depreciate overnight.

Remember in April when you said it the bubble burst the week before when it was around 260 and it would never see that price again. Now it's over double that at 575. Maybe next week it's back at 100 and then again maybe next year it's well over 1k. It's risky business but so is betting on 21 year old kids to win you a couple of grand you have on the line.

 

[airportis]

Remember in April when you said it the bubble burst the week before when it was around 260 and it would never see that price again. Now it's over double that at 575. Maybe next week it's back at 100 and then again maybe next year it's well over 1k. It's risky business but so is betting on 21 year old kids to win you a couple of grand you have on the line.

yeah, and when the illegal drug market website was shut down, the prices plummeted. i am sure the resurrection of that website did a bit to help push prices back up.

the prices are a rollercoaster. if you post your TV on craigslist, how many people that see your ad are going to know what a bitcoin is, let alone have any to buy your tv with?

i just dont understand why anyone would want to use a monetary unit that could literally be worthless 15 minutes from now. you arent guaranteed what you buy in for, and you could literally have a million dollars turn to pennies. it isnt like something that slowly goes up or slowly loses value giving you time to get out. the swings are drastic.


also, if theres only 21 million produced, how is it going to "catch on"? many of the early guys have thousands if not tens of thousands of them when you could get them for practically pennies. if you were one of those guys, hats off to you for jumping in, but how high can you actually expect them to go?

I would think that the majority of the people that have bitcoins are 1 of 2 things. they are people like you who are investing in them which isnt really doing anything as far as making them practical in every day life, and there are people who are using them to purchase illegal things without trace.

now what happens when governments have finally had enough and step in? certainly that day will come if the thing runs wild.

also, when all 21 million bitcoins are produced, why would their value go up? it isnt like something people collect where if they produce a limited number of a product people buy it up and can sell it on later for more than they paid because its scarce. it is meant to be used to pay for things....nobody is going to buy a bitcoin to pay for something that they could get cheaper if they paid in real dollars or whatever real currency they use.

 

[airportis]

have you cashed out with any of your bitcoins yet?

ive heard cashing out is near impossible and when it does finally happen you end up waiting months and months.

 

[T]

The entire BITCOIN BUBBLE is going to BURST and in a sad way. Unregulated movement of money is one thing GOVERNMENTS don't like. Do you see people trying to make their own currency in the world that is accepted ? The biggest issue like silk road besides the investors or day traders or say gamblers trying to make money of this and the recent spikes...GOVERNMENT AGENCIES WORLDWIDE are on to the use of bitcoins for CHILDREN trafficking and DRUGS.

Watch and see. Once the AGENCIES figure out THE way take it down they surely will...

If you don't believe so just ask BILLION DOLLAR COMPANIES like POKERSTARS...& ONLINE POKER.

 

[T]

https://coinbase.com/

ALLTIME HIGH $718.

 

[smurphy]

Don't understand a currency that's supply revolves around the voluntary and meaningless action of "mining."

Well I don't understand that much about economics at all, but this sort of network existing in parallel with existing currency systems makes no sense.

I tried to learn about "mining" and it sounds completely insane. I never did well with calculus and this seems even worse.

Bitcoin is getting a bad rap lately with all the illegal activities it's been used for as well. I don't know...it seems very risky.

 

[Trampled Underfoot]

I tried to learn about "mining" and it sounds completely insane. I never did well with calculus and this seems even worse.

Bitcoin is getting a bad rap lately with all the illegal activities it's been used for as well. I don't know...it seems very risky.

It's very popular in Russia.

:shrug:

 

[DuckDogs]

http://m.cnbc.com/us_news/101209588/1

 

[airportis]

http://m.cnbc.com/us_news/101209588/1

well yeah it isnt a surprise to see them allowing it as a payment method, but they will be cracking down on the illegal things its used for which is really the only use for bitcoins.

one of the bigger issues seems to be converting them to actual currency. apparently one of the biggest sites, mtgox, is incredibly slow in paying out when you "cash in" your bitcoins.

read about a guy trying to get rid of 2100 bitcoins and was having to resort to trying to selling them to people looking to invest in the coins because of the hassle of getting a payout from one of the exchanges. the ammount of people looking to buy them is so small that cashing out 2100 coins on mtgox would probably crash the entire market.

also, what happens if you DO get a cashout from one of the exchanges and cash out say 15 bitcoins? at 700 dollars a pop or whatever their ridiculous price is now, I am pretty sure the funds would get froze immediately as soon as it hits your bank account and reported to IRS, no?