Bitcoin: Are there any Gulchers using it?
I have been skimming bitcoin articles for a while now.
As I work in Open Source programming and am familiar with the encryption techniques that Bitcoin uses, I have been intrigued by the theory of it.
Are there any Gulchers who use it enough to answer some newbie questions on practical use?
As I work in Open Source programming and am familiar with the encryption techniques that Bitcoin uses, I have been intrigued by the theory of it.
Are there any Gulchers who use it enough to answer some newbie questions on practical use?
Join us! :D
Do you still have any open questions? I've been using it for a few months now, maybe I could help you.
tl;dr > You get a wallet, it comes with a public address, you give this address to other people if you want them to transfer funds to you, transfers are fast and fees are voluntary!
Well, if you want some bitcoins, first you must create your own 'wallet'. That's where they are stored. (you can create one by downloading and installing a bitcoin client).
After installing one, you'll be given a public address (they look like this: 1JJXz3uVGcFQg9xy4v1PEoertYErPBGzqM), and they're basically like e-mail. If you want someone to transfer some bitcoins to you, just give them this address and after a few minutes you'll have them displayed in your balance.
No matter the distance, country, whatever! Instant transfer with zero or extremely low fees. (The fees' purpose is to reward the ones who mined the 'block' on which your transaction took place. You may disable fees, as they are voluntary, but your transaction may take a few minutes more to be processed. Large transactions have no fees at all, and these fees cost the same no matter the amount of bitcoins transferred).
I guess that's what I've learned so far. xD
Oh, and don't forget to encrypt your wallet (if you're using the original Bitcoin QT client) and to backup your wallet.dat file (make a few copies of it, as it stores your private key. Anyone with this key will be able to spend your coins! Keep it damn safe! :D)
I've been liking it a lot so far. It's amazing to be able to have this level of control over my own money. I mean, no need for banks and expensive fees... Even kids may create their own wallets to store their allowances haha. Transfers are near instant, and I don't have to wait if it's a weekend or holiday for them to take place!
(Sorry if this was way too long! I guess I couldn't deliver a more brief explanation.)
There will be only 21,000,000 BTC available, ever. So, it's price will keep going higher as they become more scarce. That's not going to be a problem though, as bitcoins have up to 8 decimal digits. Today it's getting harder to purchase a full bitcoin, but you can always get fractions like 0.05 BTC or even 0.00000005 BTC. As the price of a single bitcoin rises, it's fractions will be more and more used as needed for smaller transactions.
Still, there's no reason for me to sell them as I believe their real value is still far from here. Many people expect the price of a single bitcoin to hit 15,000 USD or more in the next few years. (Some even go as far as expecting large numbers like 700,000 in case Bitcoin becomes a popular commodity like gold. That... Would be amazing. But I'm not counting on it yet.)
However, it should be noted that you should only invest money you can afford to lose. Who knows? The price could go down to zero if something GRAVE happened. Like, all the governments making it illegal or something ridiculous like that. Just be careful! = )
2. An emp or solar flare would have to wipe out every computer on the network. If even one computer was left running, when the other computers came back online they would sync up with the computer that had the oldest time stamp.
The Peace Dollar was originally backed by Congressman William A. Ashbrook (D-Ohio) who was chair of the House Coinage Committee and an avid numismatist. The bank where he stored his collection was robbed; and his box was emptied. He quit collecting and gave up on the Peace Dollar.
You have to measure your risks and know your media.
As electronic media, Bitcoins are pretty secure, actually, all things considered, certainly more secure than most government agencies, apparently.
As for the EMP Event, that would affect everything, so you want to always have some cash on hand, of course.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/11/2...
Bummer!