Posted April 5, 2013 Have been reading about some things and tried looking into what they are exactly.My understanding is that it is basically a cyber currency, but how is it stable as a currency? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 5, 2013 Its basically a decentralized digital currency that is based on cryptographic ideas. Its value is not that stable but still useful as another currency. After the situation in Cyprus where the Government seized some Money from savers a precedent has been set and people may start trusting centralized banks a lot less. Thus things like bitcoin probably grow in popularity. That is my opinion anyway. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 5, 2013 Bitcoins are mined and the more are mined the harder it gets too mine them to put it simply. So it sort of favors people who started seriously mining early on when they were easy to get and not worth much. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 5, 2013 http://pandodaily.com/2013/04/05/what-is-bitcoin-super-mario-bros-explains-it-all-in-a-one-minute-video/An amusing but thorough explanation of bitcoins. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 8, 2013 (edited) Don't forget, by design, there is a maximum number of the coins available to be "minted"/mined. I've never gotten a good answer to "what happens when there are no more?" Eventually, given enough time/money, it would be possible to gather a majority of the coins and basically tank/remove the market.Also, what happens to the "coins" in the "wallet" of someone who dies but didn't list the wallet as part of their estate or has no heirs? Are those coins just lost since they would in theory, never return to circulation?I personally treat the idea like stamps, interesting to collect, but not much long term value outside of the collectors unless there is a way for coins to enter and exit circulation in a controlled means.As it is, they've already had a couple of large hacks, once causing them to restart the process early on.Recent News :Link Bitcoint Wallet service hacked, suspended with no ETA of restorationLink Value dropped 20% after Mt.Gox's Server's hacked (This server/service is reported to account for 70-80% of bitcoin transactions)History:Link Bitcoin Wiki, lists Mar 01 2012 as the largest, but not the first, recorded theft of Bitcoins (50K BTC).::Edit Insert::While it may seem I'm being hard on the idea/service, I'm actually supportive of their effort. They have a terrific concept, and a solid "first" attempt, but I just feel the nature of the "coin" ends up making it impossible to fully adopt as true form of long term exchange.Add to this, it is in theory, actually easier to track each coin and the validation against each transaction, than it is to do so for Amazon or Ebay using paypal. One good programer inserting themselves into the process, and every transaction becomes questionable.But this true for "real" banks as well... Edited April 8, 2013 by Hussars Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 8, 2013 Have been reading about some things and tried looking into what they are exactly.My understanding is that it is basically a cyber currency, but how is it stable as a currency?About 5-6 months ago I was looking into investing in bitcoins and they were going at a rate of 1 bitcoin = 7 pounds. I checked about a week ago and today, and apparently 1 bitcoin is 115 pounds!I didn't invest - I AM SO FREAKIN' ANNOYED RIGHT NOWHonestly, I'm not joking. But oh well, not like I could look into the future. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 9, 2013 Yeah i really enjoy the idea of a non-central banking currency, and a lot of the ideas of it appeal to me, but the lack of a 'backing' of the currency and the idea that at the end of it all, its only valuable if people deem it so.. makes it far too volatile for me to get into it now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
