Bitcoins
Options
Comments
-
I find the subject very interesting and have some questions, however I didn't think it was worth another thread so I'll ask here...
1) Who is setting the complex equations that require "mining"?
2) Other than the miner or pool receiving Bitcoins as wages, what value does the person who set the equations get?
Otherwise it seems that basically you are paying a wage to somebody for their time however getting nothing in return, except the energy companies through increased electricity consumption
3) There are complex computers that are required for mining as it gets tougher and tougher, ASICs machines, these are single use and so what happens to them once either all the coins are mined or the requirement for mining gets harder still, they must just become obsolete and I would think very quickly.
4) The coins have a dollar value in exchange rates, surely that is what they are trying to avoid however say a dealer on Silk Road sells 10,000 bit coins of weed in a year, I am pretty convinced that they will want to cash that in to tangible cash (except a float obviously) so as to be able to use in freely in the real world, not tied to certain e-vendors however large the list is getting.
The main one I can't get my head round is the initial value, I buy an ASICs, start mining as part of a pool and start to receive Bitcoins, what value am I placing in the system to warrant me receiving monetary tokens?Sealed pot challange no: 3390 -
It interests me too, the battle to come against increasingly worthless government sanctioned monopoly money is going to be interesting.
The whole subject of currency is interesting, perceptions, faith and trust etc.
http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2011/04/andresen_on_bit.html'We don't need to be smarter than the rest; we need to be more disciplined than the rest.' - WB0 -
I find the subject very interesting and have some questions, however I didn't think it was worth another thread so I'll ask here...
1) Who is setting the complex equations that require "mining"?
The equations are set as part of the BitCoin protocol. It cannot be changed because no one else using BitCoin will agree that your calculations are correct otherwise, so don't think you can somehow simplify the formula to make it quicker for you to mine.2) Other than the miner or pool receiving Bitcoins as wages, what value does the person who set the equations get?
Otherwise it seems that basically you are paying a wage to somebody for their time however getting nothing in return, except the energy companies through increased electricity consumption3) There are complex computers that are required for mining as it gets tougher and tougher, ASICs machines, these are single use and so what happens to them once either all the coins are mined or the requirement for mining gets harder still, they must just become obsolete and I would think very quickly.4) The coins have a dollar value in exchange rates, surely that is what they are trying to avoid however say a dealer on Silk Road sells 10,000 bit coins of weed in a year, I am pretty convinced that they will want to cash that in to tangible cash (except a float obviously) so as to be able to use in freely in the real world, not tied to certain e-vendors however large the list is getting.The main one I can't get my head round is the initial value, I buy an ASICs, start mining as part of a pool and start to receive Bitcoins, what value am I placing in the system to warrant me receiving monetary tokens?0 -
Thank you Deed, very comprehensive.Sealed pot challange no: 3390
-
They are not trying to avoid that at all. Sure they would prefer that everyone just accepted BitCoin preventing the need to lose a conversion fee, but like ANY currency, they accept the need for currency conversion.
I thought, obviously incorrectly, that the idea was to have a currency unit that was not centralised or government controlled so that its intrinsic value was dictated by true market factors opposed to government interference or control.
If the bitcoin exchange is linked to the dollar, pound and euro then surely it's value can be influenced and therefore it can be artificially controlled?Sealed pot challange no: 3390 -
Anything with a value can be expressed in terms of anything else of value. That's what an exchange rate is. How does that give you the ability to control the value of anything?0
-
People struggle with the whole concept of what money is and what value we bestow on it.
The idea that nothing can have any intrinsic value is intriguing. It's all about belief and trust, fantasy even.'We don't need to be smarter than the rest; we need to be more disciplined than the rest.' - WB0 -
Just hit record high - £36.68000 per bitcoin (Thats
$54.86998). Whilst its not technically a guaranteed investment, the popularity of this coin and the price shift is certainly intreging.0 -
It's not a guaranteed investment full stop, it is a very, very high investment risk.
I'm fully behind the concept of decentralised digital currency but no way would I refer to it as an investment for any amount of wealth you're not prepared to lose completely. I do hope you're not trying to ramp it.'We don't need to be smarter than the rest; we need to be more disciplined than the rest.' - WB0 -
It simply like shares and the golden rule with shares is never invest what you can't afford to lose.
Ramp it? No i'm not trying to ramp anything, simply making people aware that there has been significant movement from the OP price.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 343.3K Banking & Borrowing
- 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 449.7K Spending & Discounts
- 235.3K Work, Benefits & Business
- 608.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 173.1K Life & Family
- 248K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards