# Bitcoins



## Kouen Hasuki (Nov 19, 2013)

Bit coins is something I didn't much time seriously at all till recently when humble bundle started accepting them but I'm curious as to the temps thoughts on a pure digital de-centeralized currency tat cuts government out of the loop.

I for one see it as an interesting thing that seems to be growing fast although it takes time to work out fully and in that until that side of things are resolved I don't think its for everyone.

Thoughts?


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## Tom Bombadildo (Nov 19, 2013)

http://gbatemp.net/threads/bitcoins.352291/ 
http://gbatemp.net/threads/explain-bitcoins-mining-to-a-dummy-bortz.357239/

Already have a couple threads on Bitcoins and such

But IMO Bitcoin mining isn't worth it unless you have a ton of money to waste. You need to spend quite a bit of money at first, and it'll be a long long time until you actually profit off from it.


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## Kouen Hasuki (Nov 19, 2013)

Didn't wanna macro and since this is more about the principle rather than mining it didn't quite fit the other


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## Joe88 (Nov 19, 2013)

you need to buy specialized hardware now which is currently being hoarded by other miners and resellers, not worth it now, it will take a very long time to even make your investment back

you could treat it like a stock market though
but bitcoins at low value (like when they crashed they were around $75 now they are around $650) and sell high

imo though, I wouldnt get involved personally
its too unstable


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## PityOnU (Nov 20, 2013)

Kouen Hasuki said:


> Bit coins is something I didn't much time seriously at all till recently when humble bundle started accepting them but I'm curious as to the temps thoughts on a pure digital de-centeralized currency tat cuts government out of the loop.
> 
> I for one see it as an interesting thing that seems to be growing fast although it takes time to work out fully and in that until that side of things are resolved I don't think its for everyone.
> 
> Thoughts?


 
It's digital cash.

Paying by cash IRL is usually OK because you are physically interacting with another person and their products/services, usually in a public place, so there is some level of trust.

Paying by bitcoin is paying by cash without ever meeting the other person or seeing what they are selling. There is nothing to verify trust.

Too risky for me.


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## Kouen Hasuki (Nov 20, 2013)

PityOnU said:


> It's digital cash.
> 
> Paying by cash IRL is usually OK because you are physically interacting with another person and their products/services, usually in a public place, so there is some level of trust.
> 
> ...


 

There is a kinda lack of protection if a scam goes down aye, some have tried to say its like paypal but with paypal you have some sorta backup


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## DanTheManMS (Nov 21, 2013)

I fully believe in Bitcoin.  I think it's a revolutionary way to think of money.  It's basically the online equivalent of cash.

The US Government actually had two Senate committee hearings earlier this week regarding Bitcoin, one on Monday and one on Tuesday.  In those hearings, they pretty much recognized Bitcoin as a legitimate currency that needs to be looked at.

The way I look at it, Bitcoin is going to go to one extreme or the other.  Either Bitcoin is going to become the biggest revolution of the century and become the world's currency, or it's going to crash down to nothing and become just a footnote in the history books.  The latter is more likely of course, but hey, anything is possible.


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## DanTheManMS (Nov 28, 2013)

Today marks the day Bitcoin hit $1,000/BTC on the MtGox exchange, and I couldn't be happier to see it. 

Hang on folks, we're in for a wild ride!


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## mrtofu (Nov 28, 2013)

deleted


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## DanTheManMS (Nov 28, 2013)

WatchGintama said:


> I heard someone ordered a pizza for 10k bitcoins.


Hey now, it was *2* pizzas thankyouverymuch.

But yes, that actually happened way back in Bitcoin's infancy.  And the best part is, it NEEDED to happen.  That iconic 10k pizza purchase was one of the very first real-life instances of someone legitimately paying for fresh physical goods with Bitcoin. 

As for whether it was worth it even with today's 20/20 hindsight, well, we're still talking about that pizza today aren't we?


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## Guild McCommunist (Nov 28, 2013)

lol the buttcoin

If you enjoy investing in a system of currency that fluctuates on a whim and is easily brought into massive inflation by the boredom of some lazy neckbeards then yes, please "bitcoin mine".

But sticking your head in a blender and pressing the "On" button will basically have the same effect.


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## DanTheManMS (Nov 28, 2013)

Guild McCommunist said:


> lol the buttcoin
> 
> If you enjoy investing in a system of currency that fluctuates on a whim and is easily brought into massive inflation by the boredom of some lazy neckbeards then yes, please "bitcoin mine".
> 
> But sticking your head in a blender and pressing the "On" button will basically have the same effect.


 
Meh, if you don't believe that Bitcoin is a good thing then I'm not gonna try to force you. 

That said, you do sound kinda like the guy from http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mentioning-he-doesnt-own-a-tel,429/


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## WhiteMaze (Nov 28, 2013)

DanTheManMS said:


> Meh, if you don't believe that Bitcoin is a good thing then I'm not gonna try to force you.
> 
> That said, you do sound kinda like the guy from http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mentioning-he-doesnt-own-a-tel,429/


 
I speak for myself, but did anyone else feel an uncontrollable urge to slap his face, after reading the article?

Dear GOD.


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## DanTheManMS (Nov 28, 2013)

WhiteMaze said:


> I speak for myself, but did anyone else feel an uncontrollable urge to slap his face, after reading the article?
> Dear GOD.


 
(That is the point and that was the joke, as The Onion is pure satire)


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## Ericthegreat (Nov 28, 2013)

Kouen Hasuki said:


> Bit coins is something I didn't much time seriously at all till recently when humble bundle started accepting them but I'm curious as to the temps thoughts on a pure digital de-centeralized currency tat cuts government out of the loop.
> 
> I for one see it as an interesting thing that seems to be growing fast although it takes time to work out fully and in that until that side of things are resolved I don't think its for everyone.
> 
> Thoughts?


When I first looked up bit coins, they so so cheap for a couple grand I would have made millions


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## tbgtbg (Nov 28, 2013)

Did you see the episode of Raising Hope a few weeks ago where Burt and Virginia make up their own currency, and then at the end of the episode *SPOILERS* the whole thing falls apart *END SPOILERS THAT WERE OBVIOUS ANYWAY DUH*?

Yeah, bitcoin in a nutshell.


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## Costello (Nov 28, 2013)

before I used bitcoins: yeah bitcoin is doomed it's fucked up it's wrong it will never live on
after I got my first bitcoin: damn it why didn't I get more when it was worth pennies

this happens to a lot of people lately


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## DanTheManMS (Nov 28, 2013)

Costello said:


> before I used bitcoins: yeah bitcoin is doomed it's fucked up it's wrong it will never live on
> after I got my first bitcoin: damn it why didn't I get more when it was worth pennies
> 
> this happens to a lot of people lately


Thank you Costello, this is pretty much what I was trying to say, albeit in a slightly more roundabout way. It really is one of those "you can't really understand it 'till you try it" types of things.

In annnny case, do you accept Bitcoin for GBATemp funding donations?


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## Guild McCommunist (Nov 28, 2013)

The thing with buttcoins is that while other currency does go up and down, like a dollar or a Euro, the bitcoin does that at a highly accelerated rate. You could be at a high one hour and the next it crashes to be worth nearly anything.

Also if your currency can be crashed by literally fat neckbeards getting bored and hacking it and having dormant elements in their hack that come back AGAIN after a certain amount of time to crash the system then it is absolutely the wrong currency.

They're only good for buying fedoras. Unfortunately not nooses.


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## Costello (Nov 28, 2013)

DanTheManMS said:


> Thank you Costello, this is pretty much what I was trying to say, albeit in a slightly more roundabout way. It really is one of those "you can't really understand it 'till you try it" types of things.
> 
> In annnny case, do you accept Bitcoin for GBATemp funding donations?


 
sure, if you'd like to make a donation to support the site and help pay for servers and competitions, it's always welcome. Bitcoins accepted.
we're getting ready for tempmas and we'll try to offer neat prizes this year, so every little bit helps.
PM me if you wish to make a donation.


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## Costello (Nov 28, 2013)

Guild McCommunist said:


> The thing with buttcoins is that while other currency does go up and down, like a dollar or a Euro, the bitcoin does that at a highly accelerated rate. You could be at a high one hour and the next it crashes to be worth nearly anything.
> 
> Also if your currency can be crashed by literally fat neckbeards getting bored and hacking it and having dormant elements in their hack that come back AGAIN after a certain amount of time to crash the system then it is absolutely the wrong currency.
> 
> They're only good for buying fedoras. Unfortunately not nooses.


 

My friend bought and mined about 200 bitcoins in the early days (not that long ago).
If he sold them now, he would get about $200 000, that's real money.
But he's waiting to see if the rate gets higher in the future. 
That's literally free money, he didn't do much and he's going to be rich as fuck. 
Seriously, tell me you wouldn't want that?


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## marksteele (Nov 28, 2013)

I actually mined bitcoins a while back before they released dedicated mining hardware.

Via a combination of mining and then gambling with said mined part-coins I actually managed to make a bitcoin or 2, sadly this was back when they were trading for $250ish a coin 

While I still mine now, generally I only get 0.05 or so and go play poker


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## Deleted_171835 (Nov 28, 2013)

Really regret not buying bitcoins back when I first heard of them, now mining is pretty much impossible and they're valued at like $1000 a coin.

1Cyeh6ye8HSYMVVBfcxF7Hv4r3E1oMQzuh
 (in case anyone feels kind enough to donate something!)


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## FireGrey (Nov 28, 2013)

I feel as though bitcoins is less of a currency than it is a stock market


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## Celice (Nov 28, 2013)

I find the entire concept of money to be absolutely absurd--but even so, what exact is the value that a bitcoin represents? What is it being "mined"? Is this brute labor being used towards some larger purpose?


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## MelodieOctavia (Nov 28, 2013)

With the new $4600 ASIC cards coming out, you can potentially make your money back in 10-15 days. I expect another crash in the near future.


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## marksteele (Nov 28, 2013)

TwinRetro said:


> With the new $4600 ASIC cards coming out, you can potentially make your money back in 10-15 days. I expect another crash in the near future.


 

nah, they will raise the difficulty level for mining


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## Devin (Dec 4, 2013)

I'd just like to mention my little success story.

When Bitcoin was cheap I was mining it using a USB Block Erupter. I managed to get a little over two dollars worth of Bitcoin which wasn't much of course. I decided to invest mainly in a new currency called Quark. Bought 923 using that $2~ and sat on them for months. I logged on today to Cryptsy to see they rocketed from the price I bought them for. So much that the 923 I bought amounted to $179 worth of Bitcoin. I've now got that money getting transferred to my bank account and I'm amazed at how something so little was able to amount to so much.

I said I mainly invested in Quark. I also invested in a few other cheaper coins that have yet to spring up too much in value. Once AlphaCoins go up in price I've got 700 to sell.


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## PityOnU (Dec 4, 2013)

Celice said:


> I find the entire concept of money to be absolutely absurd--but even so, what exact is the value that a bitcoin represents? What is it being "mined"? Is this brute labor being used towards some larger purpose?


 
As with any currency, the Bitcoin itself is meaningless. The value it holds is however much the general populous decides to believe its worth. Like how a Charizard card used to be worth $400, but last I checked you can get one for $20.

The "mining" is attempting to brute force into encrypted blocks of data (like little treasure chests). Not all of the treasure chests must contain coins, and the encryption can be varied in difficulty. This is done so that once there were enough Bitcoins in circulation (like printing money), the difficulty of mining could be varied so that massive inflation could be avoided.

There is no useful work done while mining.


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## Celice (Dec 4, 2013)

PityOnU said:


> As with any currency, the Bitcoin itself is meaningless. The value it holds is however much the general populous decides to believe its worth. Like how a Charizard card used to be worth $400, but last I checked you can get one for $20.
> 
> The "mining" is attempting to brute force into encrypted blocks of data (like little treasure chests). Not all of the treasure chests must contain coins, and the encryption can be varied in difficulty. This is done so that once there were enough Bitcoins in circulation (like printing money), the difficulty of mining could be varied so that massive inflation could be avoided.
> 
> There is no useful work done while mining.


So is the encryption worth anything? Like, doesn't Prime95 have a goal for its use? Users may use the program for their own means (perhaps just as users may put [false] meaning into the bitcoin as currency), but there is a practical application by which Prime95 is noteworthy, a goal it pursues by offering the service. 

So is bitcoin mining arbitrary business, or does it serve some practical value, direct or indirect? It sounds like right now the bitcoin represents nothing, and so in fact has no value whatsoever besides, perhaps, time.


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## PityOnU (Dec 4, 2013)

Celice said:


> So is bitcoin mining arbitrary business, or does it serve some practical value, direct or indirect? It sounds like right now the bitcoin represents nothing, and so in fact has no value whatsoever besides, perhaps, time.


 
Correct. It's basically computational masturbation.


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## Satangel (Dec 5, 2013)

Costello said:


> My friend bought and mined about 200 bitcoins in the early days (not that long ago).
> If he sold them now, he would get about $200 000, that's real money.
> But he's waiting to see if the rate gets higher in the future.
> That's literally free money, he didn't do much and he's going to be rich as fuck.
> Seriously, tell me you wouldn't want that?


WTF why didn't I do this back in the day -_- 
I've known about it for years, just didn't look further into it. Now it's too late to do this of course, pretty sad.


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## Celice (Dec 5, 2013)

Satangel said:


> WTF why didn't I do this back in the day -_-
> I've known about it for years, just didn't look further into it. Now it's too late to do this of course, pretty sad.


Too late for BitCoins maybe, but there are always other things you can invest in :/


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## Satangel (Dec 26, 2013)

Celice said:


> Too late for BitCoins maybe, but there are always other things you can invest in :/


And that's exactly what I'm doing!
Looking into LiteCoins atm, they are basically the silver while BitCoin is the gold.Already got 1 via via. It's amazing how many you can get, not even counting mining in the equation. 
One site in particular I'd like to mention is LTC4You , which gives you a chance to win LTC every hour. You can just play again and again, every hour, no fees whatsoever. Free money


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## Joe88 (Dec 26, 2013)

the future is dogecoin


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## Originality (Dec 26, 2013)

Joe88 said:


> the future is dogecoin


http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/130842-Dogecoins-Dogewallet-Hacked-on-Christmas


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## Arras (Dec 26, 2013)

Originality said:


> http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/130842-Dogecoins-Dogewallet-Hacked-on-Christmas


It's not like the same thing can't happen for Bitcoins or anything else if you decide to store your money on some random server.


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## DanTheManMS (Dec 27, 2013)

The only "alt-coins" I'd even consider looking at are Litecoin and Namecoin.  Litecoin I'm not entirely sure about, but I guess it serves as a backup blockchain in case the cryptographic algorithms behind Bitcoin ever get hacked.  Namecoin is a unique way to assign domain names peer-to-peer rather than relying on central Domain Name Services and such. 

All the others are just minor forks trying to cash in on the bitcoin craze.  Feathercoin?  Dogecoin?  Wuuuuuut?


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## Sop (Dec 27, 2013)

DanTheManMS said:


> The only "alt-coins" I'd even consider looking at are Litecoin and Namecoin. Litecoin I'm not entirely sure about, but I guess it serves as a backup blockchain in case the cryptographic algorithms behind Bitcoin ever get hacked. Namecoin is a unique way to assign domain names peer-to-peer rather than relying on central Domain Name Services and such.
> 
> All the others are just minor forks trying to cash in on the bitcoin craze. Feathercoin? Dogecoin? Wuuuuuut?


meme coins


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## ipwndeveloper (Dec 27, 2013)

I have about 1.5 btc, just to experiment with, However until their are bitcoin ATM on the Street, or Star bucks or another retailer accepts them, the USD is my go-to.   Mining bitcoins seems abit of a waste of cycles, as the reward may never come. I would rather sell the extra cycles to host HTTP servers, or [email protected] or searching for the cure to cancer, stuff like that, a more charitable front rather than profitable.  but it is still an interesting concept.


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## Satangel (Dec 27, 2013)

ipwndeveloper said:


> I have about 1.5 btc, just to experiment with, However until their are bitcoin ATM on the Street, or Star bucks or another retailer accepts them, the USD is my go-to. Mining bitcoins seems abit of a waste of cycles, as the reward may never come. I would rather sell the extra cycles to host HTTP servers, or [email protected] or searching for the cure to cancer, stuff like that, a more charitable front rather than profitable. but it is still an interesting concept.


True that, that's an honorable cause you have there man.
I'm just wasting time with these coins I think, but you never know. It's not that I'm really losing anything, except time and electricity, I can live with that.


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## Originality (Dec 27, 2013)

Just in case, you never know, you might just get lucky. Then it'll pay off.
Good luck.


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## FAST6191 (Dec 27, 2013)

ipwndeveloper said:


> I have about 1.5 btc, just to experiment with, However until their are bitcoin ATM on the Street, or Star bucks or another retailer accepts them, the USD is my go-to.   Mining bitcoins seems abit of a waste of cycles, as the reward may never come. I would rather sell the extra cycles to host HTTP servers, or [email protected] or searching for the cure to cancer, stuff like that, a more charitable front rather than profitable.  but it is still an interesting concept.


They are accepted in a few pubs
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/25/bitcoins_now_accepted_in_hitech_hipster_hostelry/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/09/16/australian_pub_to_serve_beers_for_bitcoin/

On the reward never coming thing yeah but some of the pools seem to reward work rather than winning if you were so inclined.

That said I had considered investing my throwaway money into them and would have made a packet had I done so but I certainly have not done anything other than follow it thanks to my finding the concept to be curious.


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## zuron7 (Jan 3, 2014)

Bitcoins are now banned in China and a few days later they were banned in India. Any more countries and Bitcoins as good as dead.


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## FAST6191 (Jan 3, 2014)

zuron7 said:


> Bitcoins are now banned in China and a few days later they were banned in India. Any more countries and Bitcoins as good as dead.


Is that like the time online gambling was banned in the US and various countries which completely stopped it?


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## Celice (Jan 3, 2014)

zuron7 said:


> Bitcoins are now banned in China and a few days later they were banned in India. Any more countries and Bitcoins as good as dead.


At least dogecoin is still viable in the great land of firewalls

much fengshui

many rice

wow


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## Joe88 (Jan 3, 2014)

seems its not over yet
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/kanye-west...ernative-coinye-west-launch-next-week-1430845


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## Celice (Jan 5, 2014)

Satangel said:


> True that, that's an honorable cause you have there man.
> I'm just wasting time with these coins I think, but you never know. It's not that I'm really losing anything, except time and electricity, I can live with that.


If you're still interested in dicking around with coin mining, dogecoins actually seems potentially profitable at this point. Perhaps not in a direct sense, but a few people have made profitable trades by turning their dogecoins into other crypto services during price fluctuations.


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