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 If I were to ask you for something you own, and you agreed to sell it to me, you would probably attach a price. After some negotiations, I would then hand you a stack of notes worth the amount we have determined. I take your goods, you take my paper money. You could then go drop your paper money into the bank, or you could just spend it in cash form. It's pretty much the basics of commerce (something for something). But what if I got out my smartphone, asked you for an ID number, and then sent you virtual currency? A virtual currency, backed by math (not a deficit) that could be cashed out over the web for paper money? This is BitCoin. Wikipedia posted:Bitcoin is a digital currency created in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto. The name also refers to the open source software he designed that uses it, and the peer-to-peer network that it forms. Unlike most currencies, Bitcoin does not rely on trusting any central issuer. Bitcoin uses a distributed database spread across nodes of a peer-to-peer network to journal transactions, and uses cryptography to provide basic security functions, such as ensuring that bitcoins can only be spent by the person who owns them, and never more than once. What the gently caress? Why would you use this? Wikipedia posted:Bitcoin's design allows for anonymous ownership and transfers. Bitcoins can be saved on a personal computer in the form of a wallet file or kept with a third party wallet service, and in either case bitcoins can be sent over the Internet to anyone with a Bitcoin address. Bitcoin's peer-to-peer topology and lack of central administration make it infeasible for any authority, governmental or otherwise, to manipulate the value of bitcoins or induce inflation by producing more of them.[1] So basically, BitCoin is an anonymous currency system used over the internet for goods and services. Still confused? Here's some help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um63OQz3bjo Ok, seriously, now I'm kinda clear on it. People known as miners "dig" for BitCoins by setting up powerful home PC's that try to pull off from the algorithm that makes BitCoins. Then, those BitCoins are transferred around the web to BitCoin generators and users. It's math money. But what do people think about this? LAUNCH posted:Bitcoin is a P2P currency that could topple governments, destabilize economies and create uncontrollable global bazaars for contraband. (...) After month of research and discovery, we've learned the following: Ben Laurie posted:Also, for what its worth, if you are going to deploy electronic coins, why on earth make them expensive to create? That's just burning money - the idea is to make something unforgeable as cheaply as possible. This is why all modern currencies are fiat currencies instead of being made out of gold. Could this really be the beginning of a New World Order? Is it just a nerdy waste of money? Recently, one BitCoin was valued at over $6 USD per BitCoin. What do you think? Further Reading Boing Boing April 9, 2011: Bitcoin: an open-source cryptocurrency that's actually used! May 15, 2011: Bitcoin: a new "peer-to-peer currency" May 17, 2011: Bitcoin - the cryptographic currency that won't take off (but really, really should) May 21, 2011: BitCoin skeptics and boosters debate Wikipedia We Use Coins BitCoin (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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May 23, 2011 19:56
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IShallRiseAgain posted:So does BitCoin pay you in real money or their virtual currency to advertise for them? I receive payment in the form of a small basket of sandwiches. But the people who make these surprisingly well-made videos and websites are paid in BitCoins.
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May 23, 2011 20:03
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Benminnn posted:One thing I've always been interested in; given the total lack of regulatory oversight, what's to stop me from taking advantage of some of the more unscrupulous parts of capitalism via BitCoin? The truly horrifying part is the amount of BitCoin Market trackers, that report in real time how much the coins are worth. The fact that they're about to hit 2 years old is quite amazing. The fact that something like this is still around after 2 years means there is an audience for them. I really don't get it, but I think it's fun. I'm not a miner, I don't see how people are paying off these rigs. But a quick youtube search will show up people praising and demonizing this poo poo.
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May 23, 2011 20:19
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Paradox Personified posted:This is sadly hilarious.  The text at the bottom is what really gets me. Mt Gox charges a small fee (0.65%) for each trade. I have no idea whether thats .65% of the USD or the BTC And this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FThX1cDg-tg From this dude: Bitcoin Mining Guy posted:Bitcoin Mining Video. Got bitcoins? Got an ATI 5970? Buy a copy of this computer's hard drive from me for 150 BTC and have it tomorrow anywhere in the US, ready to boot just like you see here. USPS Express Mail shipping included. This is a demo of a hard drive I prepared with Ubuntu that mines Bitcoins using two ATI Radeon 5970 video cards. For more information about Bitcoin see Bitcoin.org.
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May 23, 2011 20:25
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infinity2005 posted:So how do you launder money with this? 1. Buy BitCoins with REALMONEY® 2. Transfer BitCoins to Someone Else 3. Someone Else sells out the BitCoins for REALMONEY® Of course, time is of the essence, because the value of those bitcoins may drop overnight. Then again, they could grow as well. It's like trading stocks, I guess. I dunno, I got a C in Economics.
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May 23, 2011 20:33
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Vincent Van Goatse posted:I got a C in Economics and I still know enough that this poo poo is bullshit. What are you expecting to happen with this? I really don't know what to make out of it, but I think it could be similar to the WoW Gold market (Paying cash for in-game gold to be goofy virtual poo poo). I think it's just a goofy virtual-poo poo market with goofy virtual-cash.
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May 23, 2011 20:39
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Videodrome posted:If there is actually a finite number of these coins, then there is a zero-sum game and the people with the most powerful computers literally create wealth and have an absurd level of control over the exchange rates. The value of a coin is literally different for someone with the infrastructure to create these coins than it is for a merchant or consumer attempting to engage in an equitable exchange of goods/services/labor. Only 21 Million coins are to be released through 2040. I don't know if more are to be made available after that (if it goes for that long), but it is definitely finite.
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May 23, 2011 20:43
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Vincent Van Goatse posted:So loving what? It's a response to a question, chill the gently caress out. There's plenty of non-related conversations you could probably enjoy in another thread.
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May 23, 2011 20:45
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bewbies posted:I have a mid-high end desktop system that wasn't too pricey (i7 processor, 4GB RAM, etc)...what would my bitcoin production rate be? What about on my super slow old netbook? I don't know if you would mine enough to cover your power bill. In fact, at the crazy economy it seems to have, the people who start mining now would never break even.
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May 23, 2011 20:47
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Videodrome posted:Right, so the handful of people with computers powerful enough to create the coins have an obvious incentive to horde them, making the few they allow into circulation more "valuable". They don't even have to invest to make their wealth more valuable. Lack of circulation alone makes them "richer". When hoarding pays off. If only cats were a currency.
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May 23, 2011 20:48
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Videodrome posted:It is still worth more than all the BitCoins in existence because actually labor was required to create it. Minus the the handful cyberpunk miners and tin-foil-hat wearing lunatics and Glenn Beck.
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May 23, 2011 21:00
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ymgve posted:Also, don't believe you are untraceable with this. A transaction starts when you send info about that transaction into the p2p network, so if someone monitors large parts of the network they can in theory find out you were the origin of that info. The programs (wallet/generator) are configurable for proxies, and the bulk of communication is done in IRC and browsers, so anonymity is easily made possible. But I don't see any kind of larger business accepting BitCoins without account signups and the like. They would eventually find you.
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May 23, 2011 21:33
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Cosmik Debris posted:Does it work anything like P2P music, where all you have is an IP Address? Because if you can just connect to a starbucks wifi network for your transactions they will trace it back to a starbucks and then what? I really don't know about the magic of networks. As long as you're not pissing off Intellectual Property Holders, I don't see this hitting the "spotlight" at all. Once people claim that BitCoin is used in pirating movies or music, I'm sure BitCoin users will suffer like modern BitTorrent users are now. Random lawsuits and subpoenas will be spread out to the masses, at the cost of our tax dollars, to try and "crack down" on this black-market internet money. Until today, I had never heard of Flooz, and InternetCash. I really thought this was something entirely new, but it's flaws seem very close to these older cash schemes. Schemes where people were tracked down. Even though BitTorrent isn't illegal, it is used for illegal gains. BitCoin will eventually be demonized the same way, and I don't know what the negative press would do to it's economy. I don't doubt we'll hear about this on Fox News or CNBC by the end of the year.
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May 23, 2011 21:45
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