What's your views on Bitcoin and why?

What's your views on Bitcoin and why?

Author
Discussion

shigs

Original Poster:

117 posts

177 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
quotequote all
Afternoon all,

I'm quite involved in the Bitcoin space and have been for years now. It's been a rocky road but an incredibly exciting one!

The last time bitcoin was properly discussed on these forums it was when there was a huge uptick in price. Now that the Bitcoin community and market has matured considerably over the last 18 months I'm curious to find out if peoples perceptions on PH have changed much over this period?

So, price aside, what's your views on Bitcoin and why?

Michael.


walm

10,609 posts

201 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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After MtGox went tits-up I swore that I would avoid Bitcoin like the plague.

Ozzie Osmond

21,189 posts

245 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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Before MtGox went tits-up I swore that I would avoid Bitcoin like the plague.

Why use fictional money when you can use real money?

Fittster

20,120 posts

212 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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Where can you spend them?

walm

10,609 posts

201 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
quotequote all
Ozzie Osmond said:
Before MtGox went tits-up I swore that I would avoid Bitcoin like the plague.

Why use fictional money when you can use real money?
Ah... because "real" money gets printed without limit. BTC has an absolute limit.

i.e. inflation hedge.

HTP99

22,443 posts

139 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
quotequote all
Funny as I was chatting to a geeky collegue about this very subject yesterday, he had already tried to explain it me a few months ago, he tried again yesterday but still I don't get it.

shigs

Original Poster:

117 posts

177 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
quotequote all
Ozzie Osmond said:
Before MtGox went tits-up I swore that I would avoid Bitcoin like the plague.

Why use fictional money when you can use real money?
Haha, I can understand that view. But at the root, what makes money real? Gov backing? Fed backing? Bank of england ltd backing? debt backing? Or simply because someone will exchange it for goods / services?


shigs

Original Poster:

117 posts

177 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
quotequote all
Fittster said:
Where can you spend them?
Hey Fittster,

Various stores globally now accept bitcoin, over 90,000 in fact, including Microsoft & Dell.

For merchants it makes perfect sense, zero risk of charge backs as it's digital cash and you can tap into an audience you may / may not of had exposure to.

Also, with companies such as bitpay you don't even need to hold bitcoin, they will instantly exchange it into your local currency. So, zero volatility risk and you can serve a wider audience of customers.




shigs

Original Poster:

117 posts

177 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
quotequote all
HTP99 said:
Funny as I was chatting to a geeky collegue about this very subject yesterday, he had already tried to explain it me a few months ago, he tried again yesterday but still I don't get it.
To be fair to your friend, it's not the easiest subject to explain all at once. I'm very technically minded and I had to lock myself away for months to fully grasp what it is :P

0000

13,812 posts

190 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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It's an interesting idea, but it'll take some time before the general public have much confidence in it, if ever.

Ari

19,328 posts

214 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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shigs said:
Or simply because someone will exchange it for goods / services?
That.

It is, after all, a fairly useful function of currency. smile

rog007

5,748 posts

223 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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What's a bitcoin?

shigs

Original Poster:

117 posts

177 months

Tuesday 4th August 2015
quotequote all
rog007 said:
What's a bitcoin?
Afternoon Rog007,

Bitcoin is digital money, it's money just like sterling and dollars only its not owned by a government and you can send it from any point in the world, to any point in the world and it can be transmitted instantly and securely (without needing permission) for minimal or no fees at all.

What makes bitcoin unique and special is that money is merely an application of the Bitcoin technology.

Here's what I mean, Bitcoin is a technology, it's a currency and its an international network of payments and exchange.

Bitcoin is not a company, it is not an organisation. Bitcoin is a protocol just like TCP/IP is for the internet. it's completely decentralised, meaning that there is no single point of control / failure.

It doesn't rely on / require banks
it doesn't rely on / require governments

The invention truly is revolutionary and a historic moment in the evolution of computer science, in fact i'd argue Bitcoin is the most significant advancement since the internet itself. And the catalyst of a social, financial & political revolution.

in short, Bitcoin is the internet of money.

Michael.

HTP99

22,443 posts

139 months

Tuesday 4th August 2015
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How did Bitcoin originally have a value and what makes that value go up and down?

dudleybloke

19,717 posts

185 months

Tuesday 4th August 2015
quotequote all
I lost pennies during the big dogecoin crash.

boyse7en

6,671 posts

164 months

Tuesday 4th August 2015
quotequote all
shigs said:
Afternoon Rog007,

Bitcoin is digital money, it's money just like sterling and dollars only its not owned by a government and you can send it from any point in the world, to any point in the world and it can be transmitted instantly and securely (without needing permission) for minimal or no fees at all.

What makes bitcoin unique and special is that money is merely an application of the Bitcoin technology.

Here's what I mean, Bitcoin is a technology, it's a currency and its an international network of payments and exchange.

Bitcoin is not a company, it is not an organisation. Bitcoin is a protocol just like TCP/IP is for the internet. it's completely decentralised, meaning that there is no single point of control / failure.

It doesn't rely on / require banks
it doesn't rely on / require governments

The invention truly is revolutionary and a historic moment in the evolution of computer science, in fact i'd argue Bitcoin is the most significant advancement since the internet itself. And the catalyst of a social, financial & political revolution.

in short, Bitcoin is the internet of money.

Michael.
Well, that's made it much clearer! confused

But thanks for having a go


shigs

Original Poster:

117 posts

177 months

Tuesday 4th August 2015
quotequote all
dudleybloke said:
I lost pennies during the big dogecoin crash.
Are they on the moon ? :P

technodup

7,576 posts

129 months

Tuesday 4th August 2015
quotequote all
It's considerably more difficult to use than cash, or cards. It's value is (or at least has been) mega volatile so your tenner today could be a pound next week.

I've watched various programmes on it, read up on it and had someone explain it and I'm still none the wiser as to how it really works, how they are mined, what happens when they are all mined, do we work on fractions of a BTC etc?

As a means of payment unless I'm buying supplies on Agora I can't see any advantage, and from a speculation/investment POV I've always been taught not to invest in things I don't understand. And Bitcoin remains one of them.

IMO it'll be a long time before the public trusts purely digital money.

rog007

5,748 posts

223 months

Tuesday 4th August 2015
quotequote all
shigs said:
rog007 said:
What's a bitcoin?
Afternoon Rog007,

Bitcoin is digital money, it's money just like sterling and dollars only its not owned by a government and you can send it from any point in the world, to any point in the world and it can be transmitted instantly and securely (without needing permission) for minimal or no fees at all.

What makes bitcoin unique and special is that money is merely an application of the Bitcoin technology.

Here's what I mean, Bitcoin is a technology, it's a currency and its an international network of payments and exchange.

Bitcoin is not a company, it is not an organisation. Bitcoin is a protocol just like TCP/IP is for the internet. it's completely decentralised, meaning that there is no single point of control / failure.

It doesn't rely on / require banks
it doesn't rely on / require governments

The invention truly is revolutionary and a historic moment in the evolution of computer science, in fact i'd argue Bitcoin is the most significant advancement since the internet itself. And the catalyst of a social, financial & political revolution.

in short, Bitcoin is the internet of money.

Michael.
Thank you; I think! Trouble is, I'm only just getting to grips with pounds, shillings and pence! headache

All that jazz

7,632 posts

145 months

Tuesday 4th August 2015
quotequote all
shigs said:
rog007 said:
What's a bitcoin?
Afternoon Rog007,

Bitcoin is digital money, it's money just like sterling and dollars only its not owned by a government and you can send it from any point in the world, to any point in the world and it can be transmitted instantly and securely (without needing permission) for minimal or no fees at all.

What makes bitcoin unique and special is that money is merely an application of the Bitcoin technology.

Here's what I mean, Bitcoin is a technology, it's a currency and its an international network of payments and exchange.

Bitcoin is not a company, it is not an organisation. Bitcoin is a protocol just like TCP/IP is for the internet. it's completely decentralised, meaning that there is no single point of control / failure.

It doesn't rely on / require banks
it doesn't rely on / require governments

The invention truly is revolutionary and a historic moment in the evolution of computer science, in fact i'd argue Bitcoin is the most significant advancement since the internet itself. And the catalyst of a social, financial & political revolution.

in short, Bitcoin is the internet of money.

Michael.
confused

That makes no sense to me either. Surely in order to use these "bit coins" you need to buy them from somewhere as clearly they must have some monetary value if you can buy st from Microsoft and Dell with them, thus whoever you're buying them from is making money from you and means that they are not decentralised as you claim.