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I Bought a Bitcoin

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Re: I Bought a Bitcoin

#81

Post by Nursie »

etherael wrote: post #80
Nursie wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you consider government to be formed of the people, rather than an external entity, then your view of these things changes. We, the people, reserve the use of violence to those we collectively appoint to help run our society. This is necessary in order to protect the rights we grant ourselves. How would you propose to protect what you see as your property rights without violence? Oh that's right, it's only violenc…

"Sure he's a tyrant, but he's our tyrant" This is exactly why I look forward to the rise of cryptocurrencies; protection from people like you.

democracy != tyranny in my book.

Sorry. It's far from perfect, but it's better than any other system I can think of and it's sure as hell better than a libertarian free-for-all which (IMHO) would devolve into feudalism and indentured servitude in no time.

Difference of opinion again you see.

--edit-- and I hope you enjoy your crypto-currencies. I also like them, I love crypto and am often amazed at what can be done with it. I just don't think that some of the features of BTC (particularly the fixed supply) are as awesome as some others seem to, nor do I find it important for currency to be free of central control, because I consider it a social utility rather than an absolute possession.

Re: I Bought a Bitcoin

#82

Post by EwanToo »

davidjohnstone wrote: post #37
icebraining wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually a bit more, since more coins will be mined until then.

There are about 11 million Bitcoins in existence now[1], so if they were worth one million dollars each, the Bitcoin economy would be worth 11 trillion dollars now. We're already halfway through mining all the Bitcoins that will ever be mined, so that doesn't affect the numbers massively (it'll be a 21 trillion dollar economy). Apparently[2] there are about ten trillion US dollars in existence, and I'm not enough of…

I hadn't really considered the limits of bitcoin prices in this way, it's a great way to explain the "Why not?" about future price rises!

Re: I Bought a Bitcoin

#83

Post by etherael »

Nursie wrote: post #81
etherael wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Sure he's a tyrant, but he's our tyrant" This is exactly why I look forward to the rise of cryptocurrencies; protection from people like you.

democracy != tyranny in my book. Sorry. It's far from perfect, but it's better than any other system I can think of and it's sure as hell better than a libertarian free-for-all which (IMHO) would devolve into feudalism and indentured servitude in no time. Difference of opinion again you see. --edit-- and I hope you enjoy your crypto-currencies. I also like them, I love crypto and am often amazed at what can be done w…

Tyranny vs democracy wasn't my point, my point was that instead of accepting the negatives in the system, you rationalise them away by saying it's okay when it's your team behaving this way. History has a way of making this habit look foolish in the long run.

If crypto currencies prevail, we will see if your fears or my hopes end up justified. I am just happy it's finally possible.

Re: I Bought a Bitcoin

#84

Post by Nursie »

etherael wrote: post #83
Nursie wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

democracy != tyranny in my book. Sorry. It's far from perfect, but it's better than any other system I can think of and it's sure as hell better than a libertarian free-for-all which (IMHO) would devolve into feudalism and indentured servitude in no time. Difference of opinion again you see. --edit-- and I hope you enjoy your crypto-currencies. I also like them, I love crypto and am often amazed at what can be done w…

Tyranny vs democracy wasn't my point, my point was that instead of accepting the negatives in the system, you rationalise them away by saying it's okay when it's your team behaving this way. History has a way of making this habit look foolish in the long run. If crypto currencies prevail, we will see if your fears or my hopes end up justified. I am just happy it's finally possible.

Again, I don't think these characteristics you list are unquestionably present or that they are unquestionably absolute negatives. From my perspective you use emotionally loaded language to try and paint a picture that fits in with your worldview.

It's not 'my team vs your team'. It's that I genuinely don't see cooperative government or managed currencies as evil (quite the opposite), and you do.

Re: I Bought a Bitcoin

#85

Post by AlexDanger »

cperciva wrote: post #52
hp50g wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NSA use FPGAs. Even they can't afford ASICs unless its a supercomputer CPU I.e IBM power and they aren't all that quick compared to an FPGA.

Are you sure about that? There have definitely been times in the past when the NSA rented fab capacity from Intel.

Wikipedia says they have their own fab at Ft Meade. Or is this just a super secure division of an Intel fab?

Re: I Bought a Bitcoin

#86

Post by free652 »

Colliwinks wrote: post #69
Jabbles wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the UK this is called Chip and PIN. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_and_PIN

And I'm amazed that this hasn't caught on in the US yet. Last time I vistited, I was horrified when they swiped the magnetic strip and asked me to sign for it - felt like I'd jumped back in time.

By 2014-2015 all of the cards should be Chip & Pin in USA.

Re: I Bought a Bitcoin

#87

Post by mrmekon »

hp50g wrote: post #50
AlexDanger wrote: post #43

Is there any evidence of nation states or three letter agencies dipping their toes into Bitcoin? Its seems like a perfect solution for the CIA when they need to move money quickly and discretely to 'difficult' regions or individuals. I know that Gavin Andresen (unofficial leader of Bitcoin movement) did a talk for the CIA in 2011. But I dont know if their interest was about catching bad guys, using it for themselves…

NSA use FPGAs. Even they can't afford ASICs unless its a supercomputer CPU I.e IBM power and they aren't all that quick compared to an FPGA.

If Motorola and Cisco and other big tech firms have no trouble producing ASICs, why would the NSA? You don't need to fab them yourself, you just need designers and a fab partner.

Re: I Bought a Bitcoin

#88

Post by jimktrains2 »

StavrosK wrote: post #76
paulhodge wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First question, yes, I think you'd be talking about a timespan of months before seeing a reward as a lone miner. Joining a pool is pretty painless though. You just create an account, and probably give them an email address, and then start running GUIMiner or something. You also give them a Bitcoin address to send the rewards. That's it, no other personal information needed.

I just read about that and joined one yesterday, though. I ran it for an hour or so and made a ten-thousandth of a bitcoin or so, at which point I calculated that it's probably not worth the electricity and shut it down.

฿0.10 is currently USD$13.47, that's almost double minimum-wage. I'm having a _really_ hard time believing your computer uses USD$13.47 of electricity an hour.

Re: I Bought a Bitcoin

#89

Post by nadinengland »

Colliwinks wrote: post #69
Jabbles wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the UK this is called Chip and PIN. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_and_PIN

And I'm amazed that this hasn't caught on in the US yet. Last time I vistited, I was horrified when they swiped the magnetic strip and asked me to sign for it - felt like I'd jumped back in time.

After I got back from my last visit to the states I kept handing my card to the staff when I was paying. They usually looked funny at me and put it in the machine rather awkwardly.

Re: I Bought a Bitcoin

#90

Post by StavrosK »

jimktrains2 wrote: post #88
StavrosK wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just read about that and joined one yesterday, though. I ran it for an hour or so and made a ten-thousandth of a bitcoin or so, at which point I calculated that it's probably not worth the electricity and shut it down.

฿0.10 is currently USD$13.47, that's almost double minimum-wage. I'm having a _really_ hard time believing your computer uses USD$13.47 of electricity an hour.

It doesn't, which is why I didn't claim it. I said 0.0001 BTC. Maybe it was 0.00001, though.

Actual math: 0.00000336030223163 BTC per share, I generated 21 shares, so my balance is 0.00007057 BTC. Roughly the amount I quoted, yeah.

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