Screenshot of Bitcoin Botnet

How many more questions are you going to ask before answering the two I asked above?

1. If someone asked you to buy "coin" that existed only in cyberspace and was backed by nothing but a mathematical equation, would you think they were sane? (BTW,the regression theorem fully explains why unbacked paper money today can have value, just in case LukeP is reading.)

I look at my US bank account filled with US dollars that only exist in cyberspace. I get paid for work and goods in US dollars that only exist in cyberspace. Am I sane?

The answer is yes, I would think they are sane.

2. If the anonymity feature of bitcoins disappeared, do you think that would devastate them?

Bitcoins aren't anonymous. All transactions are publicly visible. The anonymity is up to the user.

The answer is no.


I used to mine ore and iron in Runescape many years ago. At one point I purchased an auto-miner to do it for me. They detected it and banned me, which led to me quitting the game. What are we mining here and can I get banned again?

Ignore this charlesmantel forum troll. We're mining gold, bro, and you can't get banned. I bought in at around $5 and now it's worth $47.
 


Once the anonymity feature of bitcoins gets clamped down on by the gov't, bitcoins will be doomed.
You just don't get the tech then if you can state this.

First of all, all nodes see all transactions. Check this out: Bitcoin Monitor

So for people who allow others to see their addresses, it is certainly not anonymous. It's absolutely transparent if you connect yourself to the address in question.

But if you're trying to hide something, you can be absolutely positive that it's untraceable by only using that address one time for one thing only... Never posting it where it can be seen anywhere... Wallets let you generate new addresses per every single transaction if you'd like... The whole concept of instawallet is based upon this fact.

At that point, someone would have to have direct access to your computer &/or ISP activity (Keylogger?) to connect you to an address. Surely you can be smart and use a clean computer through a VPN though, right?

No government or spy or god for that matter could "remove" the anonymity from your wallet if you knew how to use it properly. Bitcoin can be exactly as safe and anonymous as you need it to be... And like facebook, it can expose to much if your IQ is close to your hat size.


1. If someone asked you to buy "coin" that existed only in cyberspace and was backed by nothing but a mathematical equation, would you think they were sane?
Just like the first time this happened to me, I'd seek to learn more before trusting anyone.


(BTW,the regression theorem fully explains why unbacked paper money today can have value, just in case LukeP is reading.)
But ultimately that value is undesirable, because it's force against you, not commodity that you own.

Honestly, I don't see how bitcoin violates the theorem. You're just trying to make me yawn again.


2. If the anonymity feature of bitcoins disappeared, do you think that would devastate them?
Since it's anonymity exists in a range of states now, I'd expect a range of responses from whatever the government tries to do.

I could see them tapping the ISPs to try to tie ppl to their addresses, eventually. What this is going to do, and yes I'm very sure of this, is quadruple the VPN business sector the day the news breaks, and then create a whole new, profitable market of ISPs that won't cooperate with the man... Likely in North Korea. ;)

If the fed/potus/treasury gets serious about btc because it's eaten away a whole percent or more of the world economy, then I'd think they wouldn't fuck around with anonymity, and instead pass a law against merchants accepting it, then go directly for the 51% attack.

That's the only thing I fear, honestly. Because I'm informed.


Even if the gov't can't completely shut down bitcoin, it will primarily be used for illegal transactions... Most or all of their value is derived from money laundering.
Why do you think this?

Do you think the majority of the $500 Million in bitcoin right now was illegal transactions?

In a poll of over 500 bitcoin users, the majority are libertarians who buy to hoard or spend at bitcoin vendors, who believe much like you but with more optimism. They usually state that they use bitcoin b/c they want this new economy to exist.



I used to mine ore and iron in Runescape many years ago. At one point I purchased an auto-miner to do it for me. They detected it and banned me, which led to me quitting the game. What are we mining here and can I get banned again?
1. You are mining a digital unit of currency that is NOT controlled by a central authority like runescape's was.

2. There is no one to "ban" you but the FED. When they try they will find it exceedingly difficult, because the designer was a genius and this system really only has one weakness: They'd need more computing power than god.
 
The US Dollar isn't backed by anything, not even math

I'm no fan of the USD, but to say it isn't backed by anything is naive. It has essentially transitioned from a fiat currency backed by gold, to a fiat currency backed by oil. More importantly though, it's backed by the largest, most ruthless military the world has ever known.

Bitcoins (or something similar) will always have some niche role to play in online transactions, particularly when anonymity is needed, but to think it's ever going to displace the major government backed currencies is fantasy land bullshit.
 
I'm no fan of the USD, but to say it isn't backed by anything is naive. It has essentially transitioned from a fiat currency backed by gold, to a fiat currency backed by oil. More importantly though, it's backed by the largest, most ruthless military the world has ever known.

QFT. And, at least in theory if not practice, the market value of the country's productive capacity, resources, etc.

I don't have a dog in this fight but @lcver if you haven't watched these before they're worth considering. Hat tip to guerilla who posted them well over a year ago.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoK8HXMSsNg]Don't Buy Bitcoins - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nWY-llqmlg]Don't Buy Bitcoins, Part 2 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3tJzbUaUQ4]Don't Buy Bitcoins, Part 3 - Why Goods Attain Prices - YouTube[/ame]
 
I feel so jealous of bitcoin right now. I wish I had bought some 2 years ago when I was contemplating it, but it seemed like a hastle because at the time there was no easy way to buy a lot of them at once. Seems like a huge bubble right now
 
QFT. And, at least in theory if not practice, the market value of the country's productive capacity, resources, etc.

I don't have a dog in this fight but @lcver if you haven't watched these before they're worth considering. Hat tip to guerilla who posted them well over a year ago.

Don't Buy Bitcoins - YouTube

Don't Buy Bitcoins, Part 2 - YouTube

Don't Buy Bitcoins, Part 3 - Why Goods Attain Prices - YouTube

These videos are complete BS/anti bitcoin propaganda

also 2+ years old. Bitcoins have advanced a ton since then.

troll bait to get users to visit his http://nielsio.tumblr.com/ and click ads or buy books from his website...
 
These videos are complete BS/anti bitcoin propaganda

also 2+ years old. Bitcoins have advanced a ton since then.

troll bait to get users to visit his Nielsio and click ads or buy books from his website...

That's good to know. I don't know much about bitcoin's progress but at the time I thought his points were well presented.

How is bitcoin different now than it was two years ago? I was under the impression that it was more or less a static system.

srs question, I'm genuinely interested now that some large internet companies are accepting them.
 
I don't have a dog in this fight but @lcver if you haven't watched these before they're worth considering. Hat tip to guerilla who posted them well over a year ago.

Don't Buy Bitcoins - YouTube

Don't Buy Bitcoins, Part 2 - YouTube

Don't Buy Bitcoins, Part 3 - Why Goods Attain Prices - YouTube

I debunked this old fallacy here: Why Austrians are Wrong about Bitcoin | Bitcoinfinger



Seems like a huge bubble right now
Not a bubble. We're still very early in the game right now.

I'm not saying this guy is dead-on accurate, but his math looks good enough to give you an idea which direction BTC is going in: http://falkvinge.net/2013/03/06/the-target-value-for-bitcoin-is-not-some-50-or-100-it-is-100000-to-1000000


How is bitcoin different now than it was two years ago? I was under the impression that it was more or less a static system.

srs question, I'm genuinely interested now that some large internet companies are accepting them.

Here you go, straight from a reputable worldwide news agency:

Bitcoin rises - Opinion - Al Jazeera English
 
Bitcoin will be worth $1M a coin when the entire world economy switches to it.
False. It will be worth $1M per coin when it captures 1% of the world economy. It has the potential, say some, to grow to $10 Million per coin.

...But even then it will not compete directly with the USD, since uncle sam would never accept bitcoin for your taxes.


One Currency. One Government. One People.
That's reaching quite a bit bro... Will it make us all speak one language too? :ticking:


Just curious. How many of you bitcoin proponents would put $50k to 100k or more in bitcoins and let it sit for at least a few years?
Oh please. Even if I had millions in bitcoin I wouldn't answer that question. Plz...
 
reputable worldwide news agency:

worldwide yes, reputable meh :)

That aside it's a good article, I read it when you posted it earlier, but it doesn't mention structural changes to the bitcoin system itself other than halving, which (correct me if I'm wrong) was expected and baked into the cake from bitcoin's inception.

So the bitcoin system has not changed in the last few years and still operates as it had since it began, yes? All I really get from the article is that bitcoin is becoming more accepted and its proponents are helping it grow, which is what it is, but not that it's changed significantly.
 
Will you be one of the few still using Paypal when Bitcoin is fully integrated into every merchant on the internet?
 
I read it when you posted it earlier, but it doesn't mention structural changes to the bitcoin system itself other than halving, which (correct me if I'm wrong) was expected and baked into the cake from bitcoin's inception.
Yeah, internal changes are too techie for me to fully understand, to tell you the truth. I'd rather not discuss them, for fear of sounding like an ass.

Here's the changelog: SourceForge.net: Bitcoin - Develop
And here's the official technical discussion thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=6.0
Also, here's the new foundation: https://bitcoinfoundation.org - These guys are serious about making sure bitcoin's security is best-on-planet.

Overall however, they haven't drastically changed the underlying code by any means, and right now all focus appears to be on making sure that the fork a few days ago can't happen again.



Gold has been used as money for more than 2000 years. I doubt bitcoins will make it to 20 or 10. Time will tell.
Yes it certainly will.

The question you must ask yourself is: Do you want to be holding some btc when it does? :338:
 
Just curious. How many of you bitcoin proponents would put $50k to 100k or more in bitcoins and let it sit for at least a few years?

well..if 50k ~ 100k was my entire savings, then no :p. But if it's just a small fraction that I use as a "float", as an alternate funds for a rainy day, or as one investment option, then ya. I mean, if i was bitcoin mining right now and raking in the bitcoins, I'd be exchanging/converting/withdrawing at least half of my earnings into USD on a regular basis. Bottomline it's still a long-term speculation, this whole bitcoin thingy. Noone has a crystal ball. I probably sound like I'm against bitcoins, but I'm not. Just being careful and spreading the risk. Like investing in stocks, bonds, large cap, small cap, etc, etc. Wanna spread it around. Don't wanna put all my eggs into one basket just in case....
 

Those are pretty interesting but from a business point of view, the bottom line comes out as, Bitcoin is a risk so don't use it. But businesses make decisions about risk all the time and balance again potential benefits.

I'd be concerned with how the IRS sees it now and in the future.

Ok, maybe I answered my own question
Barter Accounting Bookkeeping | IRS Barter Taxation Guidelines | Small Business QuickBooks Bookkeeping Orange County San Diego County
 
the biggest threat to your money is getting sued, it's not the dollar becoming worthless or bank failures. Between 2007 and the present the doalr has been stable and every FDIC deposit redeemable. For that reason bitcoins aren't good enough because they leave a digital trace, illiquid, and are to volatile. The safest way to store money is in physical precious metals, precious stones etc.