Bitcoins

JohnRo

DominicJ wrote: »

How does that "add value"?
It adds cost, but printing sterling notes comes at a cost.
And the current market value of a bit coin far exceeds the processing costs does it not?

The processing costs are determined by how many people choose to get involved just like the btc "price" does. The btc algorithm adjusts the difficulty to ensure one transaction block is solved/processed every 10 minutes (on average)

So if the British Government sent a final total for Sterling, Sterling would be more valuable?

Of course it would. Now, would you believe them if they said as much?

BoracicLint

DominicJ wrote: »

How does that "add value"?
It adds cost, but printing sterling notes comes at a cost.
And the current market value of a bit coin far exceeds the processing costs does it not?



So if the British Government sent a final total for Sterling, Sterling would be more valuable?

You're missing the point, if you have £10 in your pocket and there are £100 of Sterling in circulation, you have 10%. If the government then prints another £100, you now only have 5%. Your £10 buys you less so its value is reduced. Bitcoin solves this problem as you will always know what percentage of the total you have.

There are many reasons people assign value to Bitcoin, depending on how you use it. China is currently the biggest adopter of Bitcoins, it allows them to bypass the governments restrictions on sending Yuan out of the country. It also allows people to send wealth to relatives without an expensive intemediary such as Western Union.

The value in Bitcoin is in people's faith that it can be exchanged or that somebody else will want it, much the same as the value of your Sterling rests on the assurance that you can exchange it for a couple of pints and a loaf of bread. Of course the cost of mining is far less than the price of Bitcoin, but so is the cost of printing a £10 note far less than its value on the highstreet.

csm888

round and round in circles we go
The value in bitcoin is pretty clear, it can do something that normal currency can't do, it can very cheaply and quickly transfer any amount of money large/small across the internet (so anywhere in the world) without a trusted 3rd party.

This is its core value, this is something that no other payment system or regular currency can do.

JeffEllis

BoracicLint wrote: »

The mining element adds value due to the energy expended by miners to validate the blockchain and generate coins. Without this, there would be no blockchain, and no Bitcoin.

So to answer your question, no it wouldn't have the same value.

Bitcoin are not issued from thin air, there will only ever be 21 Million in existence. The government on the other hand conjours Sterling from thin air thus increasing the total money supply and depreciating the value of Sterling.

So what happens after the last bitcoin is mined?

csm888

JeffEllis wrote: »

So what happens after the last bitcoin is mined?

The miners carry on mining for fees

BoracicLint

csm888 wrote: »

round and round in circles we go
The value in bitcoin is pretty clear, it can do something that normal currency can't do, it can very cheaply and quickly transfer any amount of money large/small across the internet (so anywhere in the world) without a trusted 3rd party.

This is its core value, this is something that no other payment system or regular currency can do.

It's worth clarifying that you've explained the value in 'Cryptocurrency', not 'Bitcoin'. There is no reason Bitcoin should be worth so much more than Litecoin, Peercoin, Worldcoin etc.. other than it having the lead in terms of infrastructure and publicity.

JeffEllis

BoracicLint wrote: »

It's worth clarifying that you've explained the value in 'Cryptocurrency', not 'Bitcoin'. There is no reason Bitcoin should be worth so much more than Litecoin, Peercoin, Worldcoin etc.. other than it having the lead in terms of infrastructure and publicity.

Where can I buy litecoin please?

JohnRo

BoracicLint wrote: »

It's worth clarifying that you've explained the value in 'Cryptocurrency', not 'Bitcoin'. There is no reason Bitcoin should be worth so much more than Litecoin, Peercoin, Worldcoin etc.. other than it having the lead in terms of infrastructure and publicity.

..and trust. I suspect the other cryptocurrencies are viewed, even by those who get the whole btc thing, as inferior copy cat imitations. I certainly do at this stage but haven't really looked at them properly either.

csm888

BoracicLint wrote: »

It's worth clarifying that you've explained the value in 'Cryptocurrency', not 'Bitcoin'. There is no reason Bitcoin should be worth so much more than Litecoin, Peercoin, Worldcoin etc.. other than it having the lead in terms of infrastructure and publicity.

You are right this is the value of Digital Currencies,
Personally I don't have much confidence in the other alt coins even Litecoin, so I only really talk about Bitcoin. But everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I admit I may well be wrong.

csm888

JeffEllis wrote: »

Where can I buy litecoin please?

Buy from (there may be other places, I don't do much with Litecoin)

btc-e.com
bitbargain.co.uk