Do you hold Bitcoin?

[Leon55]

I know there's a lot of confusion and also misinformation around Bitcoin.

But basically Bitcoin (or other cryptocurrencies) are our safety net for when the fiat fractional reserve economic system collapses. When it collapses, Bitcoin will not be affected.

Since the people on this forum are here because they care about the world and want to empower people over governments and corporations, I would urge everyone to learn about Bitcoin and at least purchase a small quantity as a hedge against a possible collapse of the world economy and its magic fiat money system.

That's why I was wondering how many of you know about Bitcoin and actually hold Bitcoin?

If you want to learn more about Bitcoin, the best person to learn from is Andreas Antonopoulos. He is a great speaker and really understands money, economics, technology and Bitcoin. There's many lectures of him to be found on youtube.

This talk during a dinner meeting, is one of my favourites. There's a bit of background noise in the beginning, but that will quickly stop:

JP9-lAYngi4

[TargeT]

I know there's a lot of confusion and also misinformation around Bitcoin.

But basically Bitcoin (or other cryptocurrencies) are a possible safety net for when the fiat fractional reserve economic system collapses.


I agree with this statement (my addition in red).

Bitcoin will be effected when/if currencies fail, at least so much in what is measured against for value.

I wouldn't put all my eegs int his basket.. though I do have a few in it ;)

[Leon55]

I know there's a lot of confusion and also misinformation around Bitcoin.

But basically Bitcoin (or other cryptocurrencies) are a possible safety net for when the fiat fractional reserve economic system collapses.


I agree with this statement (my addition in red).

Bitcoin will be effected when/if currencies fail, at least so much in what is measured against for value.

I wouldn't put all my eegs int his basket.. though I do have a few in it ;)

Looking at what happened with the Cyprus bail-in, China's current economic issues and the Brexit, Bitcoin will indeed be affected but in a positive way :) When there's economic turmoil, Bitcoin always becomes more popular.

But good to hear you're into Bitcoin as well.

[Yetti]

Thanks TargeT. There is a website of a professor in Canary islads who explan how bitcion is another money-control created by the same banksters knowing this system will collapse soon, the place is: valdeandemagico.com ( sorry is in spanish )

[TargeT]

good to hear you're into Bitcoin as well.

one of my many projects is to put a link up on the website for my business so I can start accepting bit coin in payment, I definitely support alternate currencies.

[Sean]

I'm all for bitcoin, hold a little, and have used it for transactions..but for saving your wealth..gold. physical gold. Preferably in small bars/coins(portability) and kept where you can get it if/when the **** hits the fan.

[Leon55]

Thanks TargeT. There is a website of a professor in Canary islads who explan how bitcion is another money-control created by the same banksters knowing this system will collapse soon, the place is: valdeandemagico.com ( sorry is in spanish )

How is it another control system when the bitcoin-protocol is open-source, decentralized and the issue rate of new Bitcoins is hard-coded into the protocol and capped?

Bitcoin can be compared to p2p torrent networks and we know how much the music and film industry hate p2p downloading because they have no control over it.

[joeecho]

Well, until payday, that is all I hold, a bit of coin. :ohwell:

[wnlight]

Think of this scenario:

When/if the USA dollar collapses, other currencies will follow. The western (if not all) economies will fail. The Internet will end. No one will be able to access their bitcoins because they are accessed only online.

Show me how I am wrong. Then I might buy one. Also since one bitcoin is valued at many hundreds of current US dollars, how could I use a single bitcoin to buy groceries?

When I looked on the Internet to see how I would buy/hold/sell bitcoins or use them in trade, I was burdened with screeds of troubling high-tech babble that I am not yet prepared to digest at this time.

I prefer small coins made of real silver or gold for trade. Coins that I can hold in my hand.

[thalox]

I do not understand the fad of bitcoin. if it is digital then it can be hacked. they claim it can't but that is hard to say when this is not mainstream yet. Also I do like the alternative source but I think people are jumping the gun here if they think it cannot be manipulated.

what if they cut your power in your home? How will you access your money when SHTF? I agree with wnlight. Diversify how you see fit. I focus on silver, but invest in other things as well. stock, cold hard cash, and living supplies.

[Rollo]

I trade cryptocurrencies on the market and I will allow to pay in my online store with bitcoin.
The bitcoins are limited in number and are mined by the "miners" using electrical current(current-cy) to power the machines and use their CPU - central processing unit - to actually mine the coins.
For this reason I think they have real value behind the coins contrary to fiat currencies in use that are created from debt.

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Is it not that we live in electrical universe anyway:).

[NeedleThreader]

The only currency you will have if SHTF are tangible goods you can trade with.

Who would want gold when they are hungry, thirsty and tired?

I do not drink but when the warning signs are there, I plan to stock up on lots of alcohol. People will trade for this in a big way if they need to calm down because their very life is at stake now.

[Watching from Cyprus]

What if Bitcoin is created by the same guys who created the Fiat money system. They brought it out there to grab the interest of their enemies or opposition who believed the story about its creation... come on people.. When or if the Fiat money system collapses, the opposition will be in Bitcoin. The creators unleash the ready virus into the program and ups, gone it is.

Once i also thought that the Elites are not that clever and we are winning... They are the masters as they created the whole system under which we live and live by. We need to think in another way to find the way out of the matrix.. i just didn't fint the way yet.. Once we are done here, i am sure we can get out, especially if we just try to walk away from the light in the tunnel, as we can always go back in case we find nothing better in the opposite direction. For sure this sounds like mumbo jumbo to many, but i know there are some of you who know exactly what i mean.

Love you all Avalonians, and stay strong.
Peter

[TargeT]

Think of this scenario:

When/if the USA dollar collapses, other currencies will follow. The western (if not all) economies will fail. The Internet will end. No one will be able to access their bitcoins because they are accessed only online.

Show me how I am wrong. Then I might buy one

well we've seen a lot of countries go through currency failures, and this isn't the case... you see money is just a representation of time and energy... when the representation fails the time and energy is still there & doesn't just disappear.
DB_uHq1_8FA
The internet will end? I'd say that will never happen; even if your conspiratorially minded it makes sense that the greatest surveillance tool won't be put away.



I do not understand the fad of bitcoin. if it is digital then it can be hacked. they claim it can't but that is hard to say when this is not mainstream yet. Also I do like the alternative source but I think people are jumping the gun here if they think it cannot be manipulated.

what if they cut your power in your home? How will you access your money when SHTF? I agree with wnlight. Diversify how you see fit. I focus on silver, but invest in other things as well. stock, cold hard cash, and living supplies.

Based on the algorithms used and my understanding of them: it CANNOT be "hacked" because it uses the block chain.. the block chain is the REAL gem from bitcoin.... read more on it if you don't understand that.

Power cut? That won't happen forever if it does happen & I make my own power so they'd have a hard time cutting mine off ;)

From historical examples.... this whole "end of the world" thing isn't realistic.. at least not long term :)

[Ernie Nemeth]

Isn't the developer of bitcoin unknown to this very day? How safe is it if people are "mining bitcoins" like it was real or something? How can a computer program be considered secure in any fashion?

Of course, I don't believe in money like most do, so I am at a disadvantage. I know it is a scam. Every representation made to denote the value of services or goods is manipulated by those with the leverage. Money has no value yet it is the most valuable thing in the world. To me this is crazy, from an early age. Money cannot be saved because it is representative of the debt we owe - it has negative value.

When will we learn that there is no free market, never was one.

Without that, money will forever remain a scam.

How about, instead of investing in bitcoins, we invest in each other? Oh yeah, saving for the impending disaster is exactly because we don't trust each other.

We'll reap what we sow, I guess.

[TargeT]

Isn't the developer of bitcoin unknown to this very day? How safe is it if people are "mining bitcoins" like it was real or something? How can a computer program be considered secure in any fashion?

It's the block chain and algorithm that is considered secure.. mostly the block chain... in order to compromise the system you would have to instantly change entries in ALL blockchain participants... that is not going to happen with out notice (there are thousands and thousands of blockchain participants.. every miner is also a blockchain participant).

All bitcoin "mining" is just running a very complex algorithm over and over trying to get the right "solution" (this is a very simplified explanation) and there are a limited number of "solutions" available.


Money cannot be saved because it is representative of the debt we owe - it has negative value.

That's the cool thing about bitcoins.. it's not "lent into existence as debt" it's quite literally "purchased" into existence (the opposite of our current system in many ways).. Bitcoin is not debt based, so it will always be worth something intrinsically, unlike FRN's which are intrinsically worth a negative amount. The point behind a Fiat currency is to encourage economic activity.. you see it disincentives savings and incentivizes expenditure.

Bit coin does the opposite,, just holding bitcoin increases it's value because you are effectively DEFLATING the currency by with holding parts of it.... it's a very interesting concept when compared to our current system.

[indigopete]

I have my entire life's savings in bitcoin.

Only have small amounts in bank accounts for paying bills etc.

[Leon55]

Think of this scenario:

When/if the USA dollar collapses, other currencies will follow. The western (if not all) economies will fail. The Internet will end. No one will be able to access their bitcoins because they are accessed only online.

Show me how I am wrong. Then I might buy one. Also since one bitcoin is valued at many hundreds of current US dollars, how could I use a single bitcoin to buy groceries?

When I looked on the Internet to see how I would buy/hold/sell bitcoins or use them in trade, I was burdened with screeds of troubling high-tech babble that I am not yet prepared to digest at this time.

I prefer small coins made of real silver or gold for trade. Coins that I can hold in my hand.

If the dollar would collapse this year, Bitcoin will not be ready to pick up the pieces. But in the next couple of years, more and more companies will see the benefit of Bitcoin (not the currency, but the payment platform) and Bitcoin will become more and more entrenched in society. If something happens then, I believe we can avoid a total collapse because we can move to Bitcoin quite easily instead of using Fiat.

The rise of Bitcoin can be compared to the internet. If in the beginning of the 90s the postal service would go on strike, not many people would have had email to replace the postal service. But in the 2000s email was ready to replace the postal service.

We just need some more time for Bitcoin adoption to grow.

And Bitcoin can be divided into 8 decimal places. If you want ten dollars of Bitcoin, you can purchase 0,012 Bitcoin.

And yes at the moment Bitcoin is not ready for the mainstream, but the user friendliness is being improved continuously. It was the same thing with the internet in the 90s, not many people were tech savvy enough to use it, but that has obviously changed mainly due to improvements in user experience.

[Leon55]

I do not understand the fad of bitcoin. if it is digital then it can be hacked. they claim it can't but that is hard to say when this is not mainstream yet. Also I do like the alternative source but I think people are jumping the gun here if they think it cannot be manipulated.

what if they cut your power in your home? How will you access your money when SHTF? I agree with wnlight. Diversify how you see fit. I focus on silver, but invest in other things as well. stock, cold hard cash, and living supplies.

Bitcoin is not a fad, it's a true innovation since it's the most immutable database in the world that doesn't have a centralized point of failure.

And Bitcoin might seem a fad for Americans and Europeans since our currencies have been quite stable for decades, but there are many countries in the world where people are not that lucky. Just look at Venezuela and Argentina where inflation is sky high.

And the Bitcoin protocol is very very safe. I'm not an expert on cryptography, but it's virtually impossible to hack the bitcoin database. You need tremendous amounts of energy and computing power to break Bitcoin. At the moment, the bitcoin network is stronger than the 500 fastest supercomputers in the world.

Also, the greatest hackers in the world have been trying to break bitcoin and have not succeeded. If someone hacks bitcoin, the bounty is huge so there is a real incentive for hackers to try and break Bitcoin.

And of course I agree, that it's best to diversify.

[Leon55]

What if Bitcoin is created by the same guys who created the Fiat money system. They brought it out there to grab the interest of their enemies or opposition who believed the story about its creation... come on people.. When or if the Fiat money system collapses, the opposition will be in Bitcoin. The creators unleash the ready virus into the program and ups, gone it is.

Once i also thought that the Elites are not that clever and we are winning... They are the masters as they created the whole system under which we live and live by. We need to think in another way to find the way out of the matrix.. i just didn't fint the way yet.. Once we are done here, i am sure we can get out, especially if we just try to walk away from the light in the tunnel, as we can always go back in case we find nothing better in the opposite direction. For sure this sounds like mumbo jumbo to many, but i know there are some of you who know exactly what i mean.

Love you all Avalonians, and stay strong.
Peter

The Bitcoin protocol is open-source so anyone can read the code and see if there's backdoors that can be misused. So far nothing has been found and the best hackers in the world have been trying to break Bitcoin for 8 years now, without any success.

[TargeT]

If the dollar would collapse this year, Bitcoin will not be ready to pick up the pieces. But in the next couple of years, more and more companies will see the benefit of Bitcoin (not the currency, but the payment platform) and Bitcoin will become more and more entrenched in society. If something happens then, I believe we can avoid a total collapse because we can move to Bitcoin quite easily instead of using Fiat.

I would call it "crypto-currencies" not bitcoin.. since "bitcoin" is a particular brand of crypto-currency (there's a lot of them out there).


Major nations are looking at replacing their money with crypto-currency (http://bravenewcoin.com/news/amidst-bitcoin-boom-russia-plans-its-own-cryptocurrency-banning-all-others/), this is definitely moved beyond "fad" at this point.



I'd say it's a hell of a lot more u$er-friendly than ANY equitable banking service, it costs me $30 and a WAIT to transfer money from my account at one bank to my account at another bank.

With bitcoin it's free and faster.... examples like that are why crypto-currencies will take the world by storm once they realize they can eliminate all the charges included with banks.... imagine a world with out banks... they would become irrelevant with cryptocurrency.

[Leon55]

Isn't the developer of bitcoin unknown to this very day? How safe is it if people are "mining bitcoins" like it was real or something? How can a computer program be considered secure in any fashion?

Of course, I don't believe in money like most do, so I am at a disadvantage. I know it is a scam. Every representation made to denote the value of services or goods is manipulated by those with the leverage. Money has no value yet it is the most valuable thing in the world. To me this is crazy, from an early age. Money cannot be saved because it is representative of the debt we owe - it has negative value.

When will we learn that there is no free market, never was one.

Without that, money will forever remain a scam.

How about, instead of investing in bitcoins, we invest in each other? Oh yeah, saving for the impending disaster is exactly because we don't trust each other.

We'll reap what we sow, I guess.

The Bitcoin protocol can be considered safe, since it's running on thousands of computers around the world at the same time. If you want to attack the network you will have to take control of 51% of the network. Since the bitcoin network is already stronger than the 500 best supercomputers in the world, you will need to make a huge investment and build a huge computer infrastructure with its own powerplant and if you have done that you can maybe manipulate the network for 10 to 60 minutes.

[TargeT]

The Bitcoin protocol can be considered safe, since it's running on thousands of computers around the world at the same time. If you want to attack the network you will have to take control of 51% of the network. Since the bitcoin network is already stronger than the 500 best supercomputers in the world, you will need to make a huge investment and build a huge computer infrastructure with its own powerplant and if you have done that you can maybe manipulate the network for 10 to 60 minutes.

it's not currently physically possible with just one computer or one site (that much traffic from one place won't work, they'd DOS themselves (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial-of-service_attack)), this would have to leverage a bot net and perform multiple attacks from multiple locations at the same time & it would definitely be noticed.

I personally don't think that's a possibility right now(an unnoticed hack of 51% of the block-chain).

[Leon55]

The Bitcoin protocol can be considered safe, since it's running on thousands of computers around the world at the same time. If you want to attack the network you will have to take control of 51% of the network. Since the bitcoin network is already stronger than the 500 best supercomputers in the world, you will need to make a huge investment and build a huge computer infrastructure with its own powerplant and if you have done that you can maybe manipulate the network for 10 to 60 minutes.

it's not currently physically possible with just one computer or one site (that much traffic from one place won't work, they'd DOS themselves (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial-of-service_attack)), this would have to leverage a bot net and perform multiple attacks from multiple locations at the same time & it would definitely be noticed.

I personally don't think that's a possibility right now(an unnoticed hack of 51% of the block-chain).

Yes you are right. The Bitcoin network has grown so much over the past years, that just one location would not be enough.

Right now one would need multiple terrawatts of electricity to attack the Bitcoin network.

[Leon55]

Another great use of the Bitcoin network is to prevent fraudulent activity by governments. In some countries, like Honduras, government officials have stolen land by going into the land registry database and change it.

With Bitcoin this won't be possible anymore. Once someone's property has been recorded on the Bitcoin blockchain, no one can go back in time and change that entry. Again, you would need tremendous amounts of energy and computing power to change blocks recorded in the blockchain. And the further back you need to go in the blockchain, the more energy you would need to change the entry. The energy you would need to change blocks far down in the blockchain, would cost someone trillions of dollars.

[TargeT]

BLockchain (not bitcoin) is doing all that and more, it's being used for sales contracts, patents, and even books have been published on the block chain. (https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/wall-street-journal-authors-book-bitcoin-etched-block-chain/).. The block-chain is the real gem here, it provides irrefutably & integrity paired with a timeline.



9 benefits of blockchain technology

Disintermediation & trustless exchange
Two parties are able to make an exchange without the oversight or intermediation of a third party, strongly reducing or even eliminating counterparty risk.

Empowered users
Users are in control of all their information and transactions.
High quality data
Blockchain data is complete, consistent, timely, accurate, and widely available.

Durability, reliability, and longevity
Due to the decentralized networks, blockchain does not have a central point of failure and is better able to withstand malicious attacks.

Process integrity
Users can trust that transactions will be executed exactly as the protocol commands removing the need for a trusted third party.

Transparency and immutability
Changes to public blockchains are publicly viewable by all parties creating transparency, and all transactions are immutable, meaning they cannot be altered or deleted.

Ecosystem simplification
With all transactions being added to a single public ledger, it reduces the clutter and complications of multiple ledgers.

Faster transactions
Interbank transactions can potentially take days for clearing and final settlement, especially outside of working hours. Blockchain transactions can reduce transaction times to minutes and are processed 24/7.

Lower transaction costs
By eliminating third party intermediaries and overhead costs for exchanging assets, blockchains have the potential to greatly reduce transaction fees.



The block-chain will change the world & it's all because of the internet.

[Leon55]

If the dollar would collapse this year, Bitcoin will not be ready to pick up the pieces. But in the next couple of years, more and more companies will see the benefit of Bitcoin (not the currency, but the payment platform) and Bitcoin will become more and more entrenched in society. If something happens then, I believe we can avoid a total collapse because we can move to Bitcoin quite easily instead of using Fiat.

I would call it "crypto-currencies" not bitcoin.. since "bitcoin" is a particular brand of crypto-currency (there's a lot of them out there).


Major nations are looking at replacing their money with crypto-currency (http://bravenewcoin.com/news/amidst-bitcoin-boom-russia-plans-its-own-cryptocurrency-banning-all-others/), this is definitely moved beyond "fad" at this point.



I'd say it's a hell of a lot more u$er-friendly than ANY equitable banking service, it costs me $30 and a WAIT to transfer money from my account at one bank to my account at another bank.

With bitcoin it's free and faster.... examples like that are why crypto-currencies will take the world by storm once they realize they can eliminate all the charges included with banks.... imagine a world with out banks... they would become irrelevant with cryptocurrency.

Yes, it would be better to say crypto-currencies.

Some people worry that Bitcoin can be misused by the CIA and that they can follow our every move on the Bitcoin network, but there are other options than Bitcoin. Darkcoin is a crypto-currency that offers way more anonimity.

The technological genie is out of the bottle and can't be put back. Maybe Bitcoin is not perfect, but if necessary there are other cryptocurrencies that offer features that Bitcoin does not offer.

[Raymondo]

At frist i thought bitcoin was fantasy untill i read Satoshi's white paper than i realised this will become huge, (started buying spending since '12) i mean getting free from this corrupt system is a big deal if you understand the immens potential Blockchain has. Bitcoin is the money app it's just the tip of the iceberg.

Bitcoin's blockchain is the first made. It's the most secure Blockchain with the highest network effect, not forget the already builded infrastructure and the staggering amounth of invested money flowing in start-ups. There are more than 650 alt-coins out there not even 1 of them that can compete with Bitcoin. They have some value but the most interesting things alt-coins can do Bitcoin will do it better.

Just wait untill Segwitt update is ready and later the release of the Lightning network attached as a layer ontop of the Bitcoin network, it will increase the transaction per sec (tps) goes ballnoona from (current) 7 tps to 100.000+ min per sec. VISA handles on average around 2,000 tps, so call it a daily peak rate of 4,000 tps. It has a peak capacity of around 56,000 transactions per second.

There are a lot of people in the Bitcoin pool working day/night payed and unpaid building the road to mainstream, do not underestimate the power of open-source, decentralised soft-ware.

[Ernie Nemeth]

The best hackers in the world are trying to break into bitcoin for eight years now...well...give them time.

How do they calculate exchange rates? How about interest? Where do you get it? Where do you keep it? Do you actually get a bit coin or is it a blip on a screen? How many bitcoins to a Canadian dollar?
How do I purchase a coffee with it, or pay my rent?

Sounds good but I have never heard it mentioned anywhere but here. Maybe one or two stories in mainstream news - all damning.

[straightthought]

I've played with cryptocurrency over the last couple years. I've purchased BTC through Coinbase.com. The Coinable exchange requires more identification than opening an account with my credit union. This is where you find the current financial system hooked up to the bitcoin network. I also have a Shift debit card tied to my Coinbase account. Each debit is instantly converted from BTC to US$ at the current exchange rate. If value of Bitcoin went up from the time I purchased it the value of my purchase has decreased. Over time this is exactly what has happened.

Once I have the bitcoin I can send it to anyone anywhere for next to nothing. Every transaction can be viewed at https://blockchain.info. You can loose bitcoin just as easily as losing your wallet on the street. Bitcoin is just an online account on a blockchain secured with a public and private key using cryptography. Keep your private key as secure as your safe combination or PIN number of your bank account. The blockchain is located on millions of systems across the world. There is no central server.

There is a limited amount of Bitcoin. More people use and hold it so the value has increase by the law of supply and demand. Because you can exchange currency for BTC in a matter of minutes the price fluctuates with volume. There is currently a 10-13 billion us dollar market cap each day. https://blockchain.info/charts/market-cap

If the US dollar was too collapse, the money transfer from my bi-monthly payroll to Bitcoin would rise with the demand. People would be panicking to find a place to put there currency as it depreciates. Because of the limited amount of bitcoin, the spike in demand would send the exchange rate through the roof. Bitcoin exchanges only handle the small amounts of transactions. The elite negotiate and then buy and sell huge quantities directly. They have also intentionally caused bitcoin to fall on news that would send it up by manipulating the market with large sell orders so that people fail to trust it.

It's a big world and we can't keep going in the current fractional money system. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are just another option to opt out of the current system while still being linked too it on when you need too. Even the elite central bankers are experimenting with a "private" blockchain similar to the bitcoin blockchain. The biggest difference is they would hold all the server settings and could manage the value of the "centralbankercoin"

I look at Bitcoin in the same way I look at my small quantity of silver and gold coins. I'll barter for what I need when the ATM's stop working. I don't believe the internet will go down because that's how they keep track of me.

You can watch a bitcoin transaction by sending me a donation. Send your donation to the following Bitcoin address 1MoNQDFxNcBWnANBXbNAwTWB57rUZz9Miw. Then watch the account on https://blockchain.info/address/1MoNQDFxNcBWnANBXbNAwTWB57rUZz9Miwhttps://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/727861301356060672/8LP9q7yL_400x400.jpg

Peace,

Straightthought

[indigopete]

The best hackers in the world are trying to break into bitcoin for eight years now...well...give them time.

How do they calculate exchange rates?....I have never heard it mentioned anywhere but here.

Monitor bitcoin news here - gathered from all over the globe and all media organs:

http://www.thebitcoinchannel.com
https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com

Monitor the Bitcoin/$USD exchange rate here for 3 of the biggest volume exchanges (Bitstamp (US), Bitfinxex (US), BTCe (Gawdknowswhere - some Eastern European country) and Huobi (China):
https://bitcoinwisdom.com/markets/btce/btcusd

Monitor the top 200 cryptocurrencies, their exchange rates and marketcaps here:
http://coinmarketcap.com

Monitor an instant graphical comparison of the biggest trading currencies in realtime here:
http://www.cryptocoincharts.info/coins/graphicalComparison

Monitor the most profitable coins to mine in realtime here:
http://www.coinwarz.com/cryptocurrency

Monitor one of the world's biggest, maddest and simultaneously informative & troll infested forums here:
Top threads only: http://blockchained.com
All threads: https://bitcointalk.org

Monitor all action across all exchanges here:
http://bitcoincharts.com/markets/

Monitor the growth of the Bitcoin network hashrate (the total amount of computing power directed at generating the incremental coin supply every 20 minutes) here:
http://blockchain.info/charts/hash-rate

[Leon55]

The best hackers in the world are trying to break into bitcoin for eight years now...well...give them time.

How do they calculate exchange rates? How about interest? Where do you get it? Where do you keep it? Do you actually get a bit coin or is it a blip on a screen? How many bitcoins to a Canadian dollar?
How do I purchase a coffee with it, or pay my rent?

Sounds good but I have never heard it mentioned anywhere but here. Maybe one or two stories in mainstream news - all damning.

Hackers can try and try but there is cryptography involved. There are certain things in mathematics that are unbreakable at the moment like one-way functions. In the future these can be cracked with sufficient computing power (very advanced quantum computers) and then the bitcoin protocol can just be updated to an even better cryptographic function.

Exchange rates are set as usual by a marketplace that facilitates supply and demand. And there are no interest rates in Bitcoin coming from a central bank. There is no central bank. The issuance of new Bitcoins is set in stone by the protocol. Right now 12,5 bitcoins are created every ten minutes and every four years this amount is halved. So we already know how many bitcoins are created at a certain point in time and there will never be more than 21 million bitcoins (with a possible 8 decimal places). The last bitcoin will be created in 2140.

How you can buy them depends on where you live, but when you google you will find services that can help you get Bitcoin.

And you don't hold an actual bitcoin on your computer, you hold a private key (long strain of letters and numbers) that gives you access to the bitcoin network where your bitcoins are stored. This private key can be kept any way you want. You can print it on a piece of paper and hide it, or you can store it on your phone with a digital wallet.

And purchasing coffee can be done at some places, but bitcoin is definitely not mainstream yet. And some people do pay their rent in Bitcoin, but then you have to find a landlord that wants to accept it.

And if the mainstream media said something damming about Bitcoin, why should you listen to them? I think the mainstream media have shown their incompetence often enough with other subjects. If they say bitcoin sucks, then the opposite must be true!

[Sungazerer]

Honestly the more I read threads like this, the more I think we're in trouble. Bitcoin is backed by the likes of Gates, Gore etc, for Christ sake. It is an electronic currency which sure as hell can be switched off. Encrypted! Mysterious inventor! Sorry to be so blunt but the best thing you can do is prepare your mind, Bitcoin is not your saviour.

[Morbid]

from my point of view bitcoin & its technological branch of blockchain is the future and a good example of possibilities outside of the current system. i like to read the sceptic arguments about something they have perhaps limited knowledge of. fair enough - maybe they are right about the control, the global power/internet cut etc. though i highly doubt that internet would ever disappear as too much infrastructure is already been allocated into it and its not that easy to just turn off the global network. there is no kill switch as such - it takes alot of effort to convince all involved to just go and switch it off. being a technical person im aware of the mechanics of the process and i highly doubt that the global power network and internet will ever be turned off permanently or temporarily globally. blockchain networks are designed in such way that even if one part of the world is still runs it, then the chain will continue to exist, therefore once the rest of the globe connects back it will just update itself. aslo, absolutely same arguments can easily be applied to our current financial fiat/debt/babylonian system. im not sure about bitcoin itself, but there are literally hundreds of currencies now that are created by solid teams of young computing experts - are they also agents of the cabal? at least with bitcoin we are provided with an alternative that actually works as of now, 6 years ago it was only precious metals but now we can send wealth to each other outside of systems of control.

[Leon55]

Honestly the more I read threads like this, the more I think we're in trouble. Bitcoin is backed by the likes of Gates, Gore etc, for Christ sake. It is an electronic currency which sure as hell can be switched off. Encrypted! Mysterious inventor! Sorry to be so blunt but the best thing you can do is prepare your mind, Bitcoin is not your saviour.

So what? The internet is also backed by many people, among them quite a few assholes.

It's okay that you don't understand Bitcoin. When I first learned about it, I was dismissive as well. But then I actually took the time to read up on it and now I realize what an awesome innovation it actually is.

And the anonymous inventor doesn't matter either. The bitcoin protocol is open soure so anyone can read the code. And wouldn't you like to stay anonymous when inventing a currency outside of government regulation? You do realize that others have tried to come up with alternative currency options and that these people were shut down by the government?

And as previously mentioned, the Bitcoin database is the most immutable database in the world. This can help regular people in corrupt countries. I gave the example of the land registry earlier. In some countries officials steal land by going into the countries land registry and change the owner. Normal people are being stolen from and Bitcoin can prevent this! If you register your land on the bitcoin blockchain, there's no way anyone can go into the blockchain database and steal your land. So yes, Bitocin is actually a worthwhile technology.

Then we have the money transfer industry where companies like Western Union charge exorbitant fees so that the poorest people can send money to their families. With bitcoin, these kind of practices will disappear and billions of dollars will actually reach the poorest people in the world instead of ending up in the pockets of Western Union.

And then speak to people from Argentina and Venezuela and ask them how awesome their government currencies are with their sky high inflation. Something Bitcoin does not suffer from.

Bitcoin has the potential to solve a lot of problems for a lot of people in this world, no matter what your subjective thoughts are.