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Are we allowed to talk about Bitcoin?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Dick Whitman, Dec 18, 2013.

Page 14 of 47
  1. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    Blockchain is the tech, and Bitcoin is one of the 'companies' in that market.

    In late '70s-early '80s term, their all home computers, and Commodore 64 and the Apple IIe are different types of home computer.
     
    Buck, Jun 14, 2018
    #157
  2. justgladtobehere

    justgladtobehere Well-Known Member

    That's slightly inaccurate. The technology of blockchain isn't limited to cryptocurrencies. The latter is using the former, which is a core technology, to create a new product, and Bitcoin is brand name in that product market. In your analogy, blockchain is like computing in general, cryptocurrencies are home computers, and Bitcoin is Apple IIe.
     
    justgladtobehere, Jun 14, 2018
    #158
  3. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    TheSportsPredictor, Jun 14, 2018
    #159
  4. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Bitcoin isn't a company. Think of it as an asset or a commodity. Except that it is a digital commodity (one of many based on blockchain technology), which is why it is confusing to people. The blockchain technology is key to how bitcoins are created and how they get stored and exchanged. They get "mined" via the use of computer processing power. I can sort of explain the process, but it will be confusing. But the bitcoin protocol itself specifies that the reward for adding a block (you create blocks, which then get added to the previous block, thus. ... a blockCHAIN) gets halved every time 210,000 blocks are created, meaning that it requires more and more processing power to get the reward, and eventually the reward for creating a block will decrease to zero -- it is limited to 21 million bitcoins, which will be reached around 2140.

    In any case, the bitcoins already mined can be traded -- for example, you can trade dollars for them, if you do it via an exchange. The value, like anything else, would be based on supply and demand, at least theoretically. Bitcoins themselves can be exchanged peer to peer, so they don't require intermediaries. The transactions themselves are verified through cryptography (making the transactions untraceable) and then get recored in the blockchain (which is a ledger).

    As a speculative vehicle, the reason it is open to manipulation (although I hate the term, because this is what buyers and sellers of assets do; prices are fungible) is that it is a relatively small asset class, so even though a frenzy developed around it, it really is kind of a thinly traded vehicle. Which creates opportunity for people looking to push the price around.
     
    The Big Ragu, Jun 14, 2018
    #160
  5. Stoney

    Stoney Well-Known Member

    I love how, nearly a half-decade after this thread began, we're still debating the basic question of WTF bitcoin "is".

    Years of discussing this shit and people still don't know what the thing is that they're buying. That alone tells me to stay out of this stuff.
     
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2018
    Stoney, Jun 14, 2018
    #161
  6. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    Wonder how Dick Whitman"s investment is going.
     
    Songbird, Jun 14, 2018
    #162
  7. Stoney

    Stoney Well-Known Member

    I wonder how much daily mental energy is expended by smart people trying to turn a cheap buck on nonsense like this. Not to mention how much societal good is wasted by that energy instead not going toward pursuits in science, medicine or other areas that might actually help others.
     
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2018
    Stoney, Jun 14, 2018
    #163
  8. justgladtobehere

    justgladtobehere Well-Known Member

    Why is it nonsense?
     
    justgladtobehere, Jun 14, 2018
    #164
  9. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    Good distinction
     
    Buck, Jun 15, 2018
    #165
  10. Stoney

    Stoney Well-Known Member

    Because, as far as I can tell, it represents an immeasurable amount of energy and thought invested toward nothing. At least nothing that is real, nothing that serves a genuine societal purpose, nothing that helps anyone other than bitcoin holders during the times when its price happens to be rising--just another abstract device created so that gamblers disguised as investors can wager bets on it.

    Greater picture wise, it just strikes me as a colossal waste of energy and thought that could instead go toward something meaningful.
     
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2018
    Stoney, Jun 15, 2018
    #166
  11. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    I know. I was trying use a very simple analogy.
    JustGladToBeHere clarified and improved the analogy, and kept it simple.
     
    Buck, Jun 15, 2018
    #167
  12. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    That is because it has become a virtual commodity, which is kind of goofy.
    But the original germ of the idea is currency.
     
    Buck, Jun 15, 2018
    #168
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