!!Why it is all absurd and we should wake up!!

dryhat

N1AK wrote: »

There is nothing inherently revolutionary about bitcoins.

The idea of using it for elections is frankly an irrelevant aside. If you could link individuals with a right to vote to a specific bitcoin wallet then you could link them to a specific email account, social network account or simple username/password.

You only made 2 relevant comments in that post (above in bold), so I'll just answer those ...

Bitcoin is indeed revolutionary. It is the first time that individuals anywhere in the world have been able to carry out anonymous, fast, secure and virtually free transactions in a currency outside of the control of a third party.

This was never possible before Bitcoin

If you think voting via text or e-mail is even in the same ballpark as using Bitcoin regarding security and prevention of double-voting then you are very mis-informed.

CLAPTON

dryhat wrote: »

You only made 2 relevant comments in that post (above in bold), so I'll just answer those ...

Bitcoin is indeed revolutionary. It is the first time that individuals anywhere in the world have been able to carry out anonymous, fast, secure and virtually free transactions in a currency outside of the control of a third party.

This was never possible before Bitcoin

If you think voting via text or e-mail is even in the same ballpark as using Bitcoin regarding security and prevention of double-voting then you are very mis-informed.

I'm sure that US intelligence monitors your bitcoin transactions.

dryhat

chucky wrote: »

Do you mean like this?

No. You need a third party to administer those "game" currencies, whereas Bitcoin is decentralised.

Airmiles are another good example of virtual currency and people have no problem using those.

dryhat

CLAPTON wrote: »

I'm sure that US intelligence monitors your bitcoin transactions.

They probably do. I don't care.

ruggedtoast

I wonder what they think about bitcoins over on the forum hpc.co.uk... Can they be used to stockpile beans?

chucky

dryhat wrote: »

Airmiles are another good example of virtual currency and people have no problem using those.

They're called Avios now. It sounds like you're in a time warp living in 1972.

dryhat

chucky wrote: »

They're called Avios now. It sounds like you're in a time warp living in 1972.

Whatever.
You got the point and are now just being silly.

And by the way, in 1972 there was another virtual currency in common use ...........

luncheon vouchers

wotsthat

dryhat wrote: »

Bitcoin is indeed revolutionary. It is the first time that individuals anywhere in the world have been able to carry out anonymous, fast, secure and virtually free transactions in a currency outside of the control of a third party.

As with any other currency it only works because people believe it has a value. They stop believing - it fails. There's nothing different about bitcoin in this respect.

I'm not convinced at all it's anonymous either. Apart from conspiracy theorists this adds very little value unless there's something to hide - I doubt law enforcement agencies or the taxman is far behind for this very reason.

Loughton_Monkey

My wife cooks, washes, cleans, and irons.....

I decorate the spare bedroom, wash the cars.....

Is this a 'virtual currency'? We could, if we wished, formally pay each other for this work [thus increasing GDB to boot!] but we choose not to.

[Mind you, if I had to pay Mrs LM for this work, I'd rather pay a man and have it done properly.]

dryhat

wotsthat wrote: »

As with any other currency it only works because people believe it has a value. They stop believing - it fails. There's nothing different about bitcoin in this respect.

I'm not convinced at all it's anonymous either. Apart from conspiracy theorists this adds very little value unless there's something to hide - I doubt law enforcement agencies or the taxman is far behind for this very reason.

You are right about the currency thing but Bitcoin as an invention is unique in that allows secure and instant transactions to anywhere in the world without the need for a third party. It has never been possible before.

bitcoins as a currency may or may not last, but Bitcoin as a new technology is here to stay.

Regulation of Bitcoin will only happen at an exchange or other interface between bitcoins and local currency and has been welcomed by the majority of the Bitcoin community and seen as evidence of its potential impact on global institutions.