http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um63OQz3bjo&

 

Basically bitcoins are a P2P form of currency that's used solely through the web. The main differences between bitcoins and regular currency is that bitcoins are attached to your computer, they cannot be counterfeited as far as we know, they negate the need for banks and other middlemen, transactions are non-traceable which is perfect for those purchases you'd rather not let your wife see (such as her birthday present, don't want to spoil the surprise now.)

 

Bitcoins are secured through hash values, and are generated using processing power at a predetermined rate as not not allow an excess of coins in the market or manipulation of the values. The amount of real cash that bitcoins are worth has been steadily rising, further supporting this point. People claim to have already been hired to do things using bitcoins, and as time goes on it'll become more commonplace.

 

What are your thoughts on bitcoins?

I kinda just automatically downloaded this to see what it was like. It's an interesting idea; I'm not really sure how well it will work but I want to see how it turns out :thumbup:

Never heard of it. Probably a long, long time before something like this becomes mainstream...

 

It'd kinda be cool if all our money was a single currency that we could download from our computers to credit cards or something...

I'm just wondering how governments are going to react to it in the nearish future.

The main differences between bitcoins and regular currency is that bitcoins are attached to your computer, they cannot be counterfeited as far as we know, they negate the need for banks and other middlemen,

Eh, if it's digital it can be copied. Unless, like multiplayer video game keys, controlled by the company...which the USA will not approve.

 

transactions are non-traceable which is perfect for those purchases you'd rather not let your wife see (such as her birthday present, don't want to spoil the surprise now.)

Pay in cash. <_<

 

 

 

 

I think it's useless; I don't see it as an advantage over dollars.

The main differences between bitcoins and regular currency is that bitcoins are attached to your computer, they cannot be counterfeited as far as we know, they negate the need for banks and other middlemen,

Eh, if it's digital it can be copied. Unless, like multiplayer video game keys, controlled by the company...which the USA will not approve.

 

transactions are non-traceable which is perfect for those purchases you'd rather not let your wife see (such as her birthday present, don't want to spoil the surprise now.)

Pay in cash. <_<

 

 

 

 

I think it's useless; I don't see it as an advantage over dollars.

Can't pay in cash over the net, and the way the system was built is so that every coin has a unique hash connected to it, I can't remember how exactly it worked, but it was deemed unhackable due to a way the P2P system works.

The system is not unhackable, but you would need to control the majority of computers in the network. Basically the more users there are, the harder it is to hack.

 

I have 103.15 BTC by the way; I wonder how much they're worth currently (in USD/EUR)?

Well, I was looking this morning, and it said there are 6 million bitcoins in existence, and valued at $52 million. So roughly $893.9.

Well, I was looking this morning, and it said there are 6 million bitcoins in existence, and valued at $52 million. So roughly $893.9.

 

:blink:

 

Back when I generated them they were like a cent each...

The system is not unhackable, but you would need to control the majority of computers in the network. Basically the more users there are, the harder it is to hack.

 

I have 103.15 BTC by the way; I wonder how much they're worth currently (in USD/EUR)?

Congratulations, you currently have $618.90US, if you were to sell them now at market.

The main differences between bitcoins and regular currency is that bitcoins are attached to your computer, they cannot be counterfeited as far as we know, they negate the need for banks and other middlemen,

Eh, if it's digital it can be copied. Unless, like multiplayer video game keys, controlled by the company...which the USA will not approve.

I'm not going to go into cryptographic details, but it can definitely not be copied.

 

I have had 0.05BC for a while now, I've tried to generate more but to no avail. :(

I have had 0.05BC for a while now, I've tried to generate more but to no avail. :(

 

It's almost impossible to generate them anymore. Luckily I found Bitcoin almost a year ago; back then even an average computer (like mine) could generate 1-2 blocks every week. :razz:

Okay, so again, how is this advantageous over the usual dollar/euro? Besides 'secret interweb buying' (I still say pay cash in real life) and if your currency isn't supported by PayPal, I can't see this as advantageous for the majority of internet consumers.

I dunno, every program labeled as "unhackable" gets broken into and exploited fairly quickly.

Taking something like this into using as a universal currency.....idk. Internet currency is

a nice thing to think about but coming from the internet, it's probably not a good idea.

 

This is the first time I heard about "bitcoins". I don't think they're that popular yet,

or will they ever be. It doesn't look like governments are looking into this project.

I dunno, every program labeled as "unhackable" gets broken into and exploited fairly quickly.

This time "unhackable" has more to do with mathematical proof than a web service like facebook, where it's a question of plugging individual holes.

 

I don't claim to fully understand advanced cryptography like this, but simply put, encryption algorithms are made to be easy to do in one direction but hard to do in reverse, think of it this way (Obviously a very dumbed down example):

To get 30, you might multiply 5 by 6:

5 * 6 = 30

But what if you want to get the original two numbers that made 30 (the encrypted data), i.e. the unencrypted data?

x * y = 30

You would end up with several possibilities, 5 and 6, 2 and 15, 3 and 10, and those in the reverse order. If you have the key, (Again, my understanding of this is fuzzy) you can tell which data was used to create the cyphertext.

 

Bittorrent works on very much the same principal as this program, and so far there have been no true "hacks" that I am aware of, as the integrity of the data is checked at every transaction.

 

This is the first time I heard about "bitcoins". I don't think they're that popular yet,

or will they ever be. It doesn't look like governments are looking into this project.

Well maybe you just don't read the right news sites then. Slashdot has had numerous stories on in the past few months.

Yeah, that's basically right @dsavi. I do want to take a look at their source though, i'll hunt around....

 

Because since it's open source (depending on how they're generating the keys), you may be able to see the encryption algorithm they're using.

 

EDIT: Half of it looks like it's in assembly, F that

It's going collapse soon. Once it hits the currency volume cap, which is approaching rapidly due to the large number of people mining with 3 Xfired 5870s, it will fall apart. It may have been a good investment if you got in it last year or earlier, but mining is impossible for the standard person now, and buying in would be stupid at this point.

 

I knew about it about 6 months ago, but I never could get my computer to connect to a Mining Pool.

Because since it's open source (depending on how they're generating the keys), you may be able to see the encryption algorithm they're using.

That's the beauty of it. The source is wide open, so which encryption algorithm is used is known by anyone with the skills who wants to know, but because of the way the algorithm works, it doesn't matter. Like in my example, you were lucky enough to know not just the algorithm, but also the fact that I used two numbers. I could have done it with three and gotten the same result, which makes the number of possibilities even higher. But even given that, you still couldn't "crack" it.

Bitcoins are just a way for the early adopters to make a load of money off of them, since they increase exponentially.

You're not a fan of Bitcoins then, Tim? :P

As this was long dead and only necro'ed for advertising, I'm locking it.