Bitcoins

[Cupz]

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So the economy is going to hell and money is becoming less and less valuable...isn't it time we moved one?
What do you think, should I sell my music and services for bitcoins instead, now that they are in abundance?
Will the bitcoin be destroyed before it begins?
Want to join me and all those other people in starting a new economy?

[Betterthanyourkids]

Eh, from what I've heard, BitCoin isn't as good as people make it out to be, due to it's ever changing value. It's a fantastic idea, but the way it's going I don't see it working out.

[Negamuse]

Yeah, avoid. One day there'll be a valid digital currency but Bitcoin isn't it. For a multitude of economic and technical reasons.

[Cupz]

Then why are people mining that shit like crazy? Is it a game?

Where is the real working bitcoin @?

[A_Northern_Soul]

If you're worried about economies going tits up, I'd suggest steering well clear of a made up digital currency...

[Negamuse]

Then why are people mining that shit like crazy? Is it a game?

Where is the real working bitcoin @?

Optimism, with a dash of Sunk Cost Fallacy.

Back at the beginning, you could run a mining program on a PC and it would generate coins every so often. Thing with the mining is that over time the "difficulty" goes up, so they generate less and less often unless you have a more powerful computer. Over time that's gone from rigs with multiple graphics cards being used as parallel processors to custom built special purpose hardware that can only be used to mine coins. Now, in order to mine effectively you've got to blow a load of cash on kit and even then you probably won't break even when you count the electricity costs.

Oh and the companies involved aren't always the most honest or reliable - people ordered rigs that they still haven't recieved months later, and at the rate they generate coins probably will never break even. The exchanges to get your real money in and out (because still nobody important actually takes bitcoin as a currency) are down and up, getting shut down or busted...

A lot of people haven't done that maths yet and will realise when they get their electricity bill, some were ahead of the curve on easy mining but still lost money when the price crashed and are so far in the hole they can't bring themselves to write off the cost and time involved. Some are building crazy hookups bypassing their electricity meters to keep the power to the rigs going in hope they'll strike it rich.

Not even going to go into the more technical reasons why it's long term not a good system. But even the people that designed it admitted it's a proof of concept, and warned against actually using it as a currency.

Finally, the US government has started to realise that there are people running pyramid schemes, using Bitcoin to buy drugs and child porn on the dark net, and there's a whole legal issue of tax and whatnot that they're starting to poke their noses into the whole shithouse. They've only just started right now - expect their interference to get worse if they don't effectively shut the whole thing down entirely.

Don't get me wrong, ever since I read Cryptonomicon the idea of a virtual currency has tweaked my interest and it WILL happen, but it's not going to be Bitcoin.

[Mexicola]

Looks like things just got real for Bitcoin's alleged inventor...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-35048309

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35047596

[Techboy]

haha. I was awake last night as the story broke due to doing some overnight server maintenance and followed it pretty closely. Hard to say if he really is who he says he is, or if people are just grasping at straws because of the mystery of the thing - a practice that should be quite familiar to regular users of this forum

not sure it really matters either way. the guy sounds like a bit of a dick, but whatever.

[Amo Bishop Roden]

This post reminded me that I had some BTC sitting in my electrum wallet from ages ago, I went to check them and due to the recent rise in value I turned about $7 profit. That oughta buy me a beer. Thank you, Twoism.

[Aerial Boundaries]

This post reminded me that I had some BTC sitting in my electrum wallet from ages ago, I went to check them and due to the recent rise in value I turned about $7 profit. That oughta buy me a beer. Thank you, Twoism.

Should've waited 20 more years. It's value would have gone up so much you could buy a pot of honey when all the bees are dead. Or some wheat.

[metamorphosis]

Here's a pretty good explanation of Bitcoin (note: amusing):

[Cupz]

So bitcoin is now worth 50x the amount it was worth when I started the thread. If only I didn't listen to you guys xD

[Mexicola]

...for now...

Seriously though, like any other highly volatile commodity, there is money to be made IF you know when to get out. However, like a hooker in a darkened Saigon alleyway, it's not so much that I won't touch it with a bargepole and more that I wouldn't even touch it with yours.

Still, good luck

[Valotonin]

So bitcoin is now worth 50x the amount it was worth when I started the thread. If only I didn't listen to you guys xD

I've been saying since 2014 'Oh I should invest in some Bitcoin' but backing out thinking that the bubble would have to burst at some point. It hasn't burst and as it is built into the system that the coins become rarer and rarer, I think the value will continue to increase dramatically. I think I should go and put some money on it now.

[Valotonin]

Can anyone theorize a scenario in which the value actually decreases?
It isn't like regular printed money and the difficulty in mining each new bitcoin becomes harder so you have a demand that always seems to outweigh supply.

[Mexicola]

Sure. Tulips.

[Valotonin]

Sure. Tulips.

Whatever was meant by that went rather distantly over my head.

[Valotonin]

Should have added a disclaimer saying that I was economically retarded by the way

That said: I have always had faith in Bitcoin and I have yet to see evidence that my faith isn't well placed

[Techboy]

in Oct 2013 shortly after this thread was started, i bought £100 of bitcoin (1.1 BTC) which is now worth ~£5000.

I'll probably never sell it, though, so like Mexi says... I'll have it til its worth £100 again, and then maybe til its worth £0.0001

[Mexicola]

Sure. Tulips.

Whatever was meant by that went rather distantly over my head.

Apologies. It was a slightly flippant retort based largely on not having a lot of time to reply! lol
Tulip mania.

For the record, I'm no financial expert (despite working in finance....irony) and I'm not against Bitcoin per se.
All I'm saying is, be careful. I'd hate to see anyone sink money in only for the bubble to pop next week.
In the last two months alone, action by Russia and China saw sharp drops in Bitcoin's value, albeit it recovered since.

Whatever you think of Bitcoin and it's future, it does seem somewhat volatile. So, potential big gains......but potential big losses too, and rapidly in both directions. Again and sincerely, good luck!

Techboy - fucking sell!!! That's modular synth hardware waiting to happen my friend.