What is Bitcoins and Blockchains and Cryptocurrencies? Read on and Get the Headlines Here!

[DanishSaint]

A Brief Preface:

chart above showing the development in bitcoin prices from

October 1th 2017 and untilJanuary 9th 2018.

Words like cryptocurrency, e-wallets, blockchain and especially Bitcoin(1) are becoming more and more widely known and used. Some have heard the terms, but don´t really know anything about it -some know a little, but very few knows enough- or at least sufficient to even be able to explain the terms and concepts and pass it on. '

Wether we like it or not, it is not in the grand picture, going anywhere, so I have made an attempt to shorten, simplify and share a little about this bitcoin, what it is and how it largely works. The technology that is the foundation for #bitcoins, the blockchain #technology is briefly described as well. Other cryptocurrencies and more on the topic is in writing and – if anyone is interested- I shall gladly publish on GAG(2)

Bitcoin- The System Explained in Short:

Possessing a certain amount of a currency means possessing the promise that one can collect favors from others in the future whose value is equal to those oneself had to give to others to acquire the amount. Thus, scarcity is a necessary property of anything that is used as a currency. If it could be produced at low cost, devaluation would destroy the trust in this promise. Building upon this property, it is also necessary that the currency can be transferred from one person to another, ideally in any quantity. The transaction mechanism must make sure the currency is correctly transferred in the sense that the overall amount of currency is preserved and that the transaction cannot be reversed later on. We will call this integrity.

For ordinary physical cash, both scarcity and integrity are enforced by the laws of nature, i.e., usage of physical tokens (also, legislation imposes constraints on counterfeit money, theft etc. With electronic currencies however, the amount of currency one possesses is nothing but an account balance. Thus, it requires a financial institution to manage these accounts and enforce scarcity and integrity. Bitcoin has been proposed as a distributed peer-to-peer accounting system accomplishing this without relying on trust in a central authority.

A Bitcoin is represented by a chain of publicly announced transactions every participant of the network is aware of. Each transaction contains a public key signifying the owner of the Bitcoin. It further contains a hash of both the previous transaction and this public key, thereby entangling the previous transaction with the next one. The previous owner signs this hash using his private key. Any user can now validate if the signature of transaction matches the public key of the previous owner. He will only accept the transaction if it does. Thus, knowledge of the private key enables a user to spend a Bitcoin. As long as users keep their private keys secret, this mechanism prevents potential attackers from spending Bitcoins they do not own. Nothing however stops them from spending those they once received twice. What is required to prevent double spending is a consensus on a temporal ordering of transactions among all users. This way, the current owner of a Bitcoin can always be determined. Attempts of previous owners to spend it again can be detected.

The temporal order is established by what is called a block chain. Blocks collect transactions combined with a hash of the previous block, thereby creating a chain. A block is valid only if it exhibits a special property which proves that a certain amount of work has been put into its creation. In particular, blocks contain a nonce value. It must be chosen by the creator in such a way that, when hashing the block, the hash starts with a certain number of zeros. As for an ideal hash function, this can only be achieved by randomly trying many different nonce values. The probability of finding a block depends on the number of trials. It can be adjusted globally by changing the number of leading zeros the hash must have.

Regular adjustments ensure that new blocks are found on average each ten minutes. Via the block chain users collectively agree on the temporal order of transactions as defined by the order of the blocks containing them. Users always believe in the longest valid block chain they are aware of. As long as the majority of users are honest, no single attacker will be in the position to deliver the PoW necessary to change the temporal order to his advantage. Removing a transaction one did an hour ago (i.e., about 5-6 blocks in the past) from the block containing it would not only require recreating this block but also all subsequent ones, since the hash of the altered block is part of the next, and so forth. Thus, it quickly becomes computationally intractable to alter blocks deep within the chain.

To motivate users to participate in creating blocks, optional transaction fees can be paid by users creating transactions to users ironing these into a new block. Furthermore, a special transaction rewards the creator with a certain amount of newly created Bitcoins (in form of a special initial transaction preceding every valid Bitcoin). This rewarding mechanism—called Bitcoin mining—constantly issues new currency. The amount is reduced at regular intervals and will eventually stop by convention. Once stopped, all Bitcoins are in circulation and the system will solely be in the transaction phase (as opposed to the mining phase in which new Bitcoins are created). Consequently, scarcity of Bitcoins is ensured by eventually stopping Bitcoin supply, and integrity is ensured by digitally signed transactions timestamped in a publicly visible block chain receiving credibility by the work invested into its creation.

There is much more to this part, but I have chosen to divide the chapter into 2, simply because I feared the rest of the security related stuff would get too confusing. I will however, gladly supply the rest of my original chapter to anyone that is interested.

The Author:

I thought it might make sense to briefly explain my part in this and why I might be crazy enough to write about this stuff.

I hold a MSc in computer science from DIBU in Copenhagen, though I originally started reading a bachelors degree in psychologi, but made the switch 1½ in. Since 2008 I have furthermore acquired various certifications within cybersecurity, infrastructure and networks. They are CCNA(3) – CCNP(4) – CISA(5) - ECSA((6). I was one of the founders of my present company in 2008. We develop, implement and maintain infrastructure solutions, mainly cloud storage/network and security. I function as CTO and security solutions architect.

In 2011, I got fascinated when learning about bitcoins for the first time, back then NOBODY had a clue -and the more I got into the stuff, the more it fascinated me! So teaming up with a good friend who is a financial controller and expert in start-ups, we began forming a small cryto-company. The first couple of years was mainly minor investmenst and analytic work, consulting for some of the more foresighted businesses around, but in the last couple of years the paste has shifted quite a bit ! We invest in cryptocurrencies and offer safe platforms, wallets etc. for handling them, along with key consulting for start-ups within the crypto area and companies wanting to implement or migrate cryptobased solutions. Lastly I hold seminars and lectures and holds a chair in a tech-company board of directors.

NOTE: The only sources I have used writing this is the original “bitcoin manifest” and my own knowledge of the topic. The manifest I have provided a link for, marked reference 1.

Pictures are with thanks to: www.blockchain.info

1. Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, by Satoshi Nakamoto, only published online -2008

https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf
2. GAG . Www.girlsaskguys.com -online forum for asking questions and debating
3. Cisco certified network associate (security and network)
4. Cisco certified network professional (security and network)
5. Certified information systems auditor (ISACA- information systems audit and control association)
6. EC-council certified security analyst

[JudgmentDay]

After learning about Bitcoin, I really wished I had known about it beforehand and had invested in it when it was first available back in 2011. But who would have been able to foresee the future? I would have had a huge or decent fortune by now, and then I wouldn't have to worry much or at all about any financial problems that I could potentially encounter in the future. Such as another layoff and losing my job or inadequate amount of work hours, etc. But it's also about right timing, because once you have accumulated a huge fortune from something like this, it's time to exchange it back to real assets such as real money use it to purchase things like precious metals, real estate, having a good property to rent out, etc., making a really decent and good amount of passive income consistently would greatly reduce financial worries in the future. In other words, diversifying assets. Having a enough for a comfy and early retirement, with very little to no worries and stress about being fucking broke and homeless one day just because you're out of work, I mean who the fuck would not want that?

By now, I'm too late in the game. Unless somehow BitCoin re-crashes back to being worth a few hundred or much less first of course, then I'd still have a second chance at buying complete Bitcoins, the last time I had a chance to purchase a complete Bitcoin was last year when it was around $700 to $800, which is when I first learned about it.

But right now I can't afford to buy a complete one as it costs way more being between $15,000 to $16,0000. Although I can buy smaller units of a single Bitcoin, but do you think it's really even worth it? I'm also considering other alternatives such as Litecoin, any advice you can give me on investing in Cryptocurrencies would be much appreciated.

[meowcow]

You just voiced the greedy sentiment of the 99% who are poor.

"Oh, I wish I bought in early", and "I wish it would crash, so I could buy in lower".
That's exactly what people say, just moments before losing all their money because they are buying into a "get rich quick" scheme.

Becoming successful does not happen with a single gamble. It is a slow, meandering process that requires a lot of thought and focus.

If you're only buying in because "everyone else is", you don't really understand what you're getting. I wrote a reply here 5 days ago about some of the crypto risks. Those 5 things are only the tip of the iceberg. Gov't crackdown and banning are the real risks of crypto. Basicallly, governments will not allow their citizens an option to launder money. After China banned cryptos (the place where 95% of cryptos come from), you'd think people would be smarter. When I wrote my response, BTC was 18000 USD, now it is 9000 USD.

There's your drop. Now buy in if you're still a fool.

[JudgmentDay]

@meowcow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giU-c47mHfM

then it depends upon where you are located, some places have specific Bitcoin and Crypto ATMs where you can cash them out at conveniently, although there are still limits on how much you can cash out within a day, so if somebody don't live anywhere near one or there isn't one in their country they have very limited access to buying them and cashing them back out.

The most important thing is how quickly and safely one can cash them back out.

as for shit like laundering money and evading taxes, there are always gonna people that will abuse it and use crypto for the illegal reasons. I have no problem paying taxes for the gains I had with them, regardless. If I had made about a million or even half a million and cashed them out from those specialized ATM or exchange services then I'd feel a big relief already, which was what I meant. I wouldn't hold onto all of them forever.

[JudgmentDay]

At this point I'm too late in the game, and the risks had increased substantially as now for a complete Bitcoin it's way more than $10,000. So as I said it, would have to re-crash low enough first, if ever. Otherwise I'm better off risking money on the cheaper coins in the pennies worth or a few dollars range, and it always depends upon how quickly, safely and conveniently I can cash them back out.

[JudgmentDay]

so if somebody don't live anywhere near one or there isn't one in their country they have very limited access to buying them and cashing them back out, then there's not a whole of of options they have. I understand the risks involved, you don't have to remind me. If Bitcoin and Cryptos were very difficult and not convenient enough to cash out, then I would complete jsut forget about it.

[jacquesvol]

With hindsight I'd be billionaire now.
I only got hindsight when it was too late, like everyone.

[JudgmentDay]

@jacquesvol as I said what really matters MOST is how quickly, safely and conveniently you can cash back out the earnings and profits that you had made with them. If there isn't anyway to do so locally at your location, then you would have to really reconsider the risks involved. I only learned about the specialized ATM machines they have for buying and selling Bitcoin and Cryptos years later it was out, and that to cash out, you just sell it back to those ATMs. Now obviously, holding all of the cryptos forever is the riskiest thing to do, so once it hits a certain point and you've made about a million or maybe a few millions, it's time to get moving quickly to convert those cryptos back into real money to purchase REAL assets instead. Well, from my perspective, that's what I would do. And after additional research, I've learned that Hardware devices to store Cyrptos, called Hardware Wallets have the best protection against hackers that like to steal other people's Cryptos.

[meowcow]

@JudgementDay

You've roped yourself into a losing battle. Your "research" is just garbage on the internet that is common knowledge. You have no real insight into the crypto market, nor any real advantage.

The people in Silicon Valley who eat, breathe and shit technology are the ones that have potential to gain here. They made it, they knew about it long before media got wind of it, and being computer experts, they can create trading programs that buy/sell bitcoin in millions of transactions per millisecond, taking advantage of tiny fluctuations in valuation.

In comparison, the average joe is plunking away with one transaction a day, waiting for it to get processed. There's no skill, just pure luck of the gamble. That's not how people become successful. Might as well go put your life savings in a game of roulette and pick black or red. Your chances are better there.

That being said, cryptos have no real value and no method to valuate it. It can be worth $10k today and 0 tomorrow

[JudgmentDay]

@meowcow I already said I was late in the game and it's judgment without an e. Although I don't know exactly when those ATMs were made available, but if I were those people that invested in it early that's how I would cash back my earnings ASAP, and it would be a low cost benefit then, had I invested in it then. I already told you, I'm late in the game, I wouldn't bother with the risks unless somehow it re-crash to really low again like when it was first around. Better to risk a hundred or two hundred than thousands of dollars or tens of thousands, it would be about the same as betting on a sport game where a few hundred dollars are risked instead and I'm ok with that as I can afford to risk a few hundred, but not a few thousand or more.

But whatever, each to their own. If there weren't those ATMs for cashing them out, I wouldn't have second thoughts on them.

[jacquesvol]

My idea on cryptocurrencies isn't that complicated: the person who launches one and the first persons putting some money in it are likely to win IF it's a success. IF not, they lose time , work and investment in software and hardware.

Those who wait until it's a success are likely to lose money.

It's thus ALWAYS a bet.
Horse races would be simpler.

[meowcow]

@jacquesvol

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. In finance, people refer to the practice as "chasing gains". It refers to the hordes of people who don't know what they're doing, who buy into something because it made money over the last ## period. The real gains are over. Those who fall into the practice of chasing gains end up buying at the peak, and then endure the downward correction.

In order to win big, a person needs to have an informed vision of the environment to accurately predict the future. If you understood the significance of the following, you would be wealthy today:
1. Napster = the beginning of the end for VHS, and movie rental giants like Blockbuster.
2. Early digital cameras = the end of traditional film.
3. Ebay and paypal = start of online shopping and payments, and the start of the decline of department stores
4. Smartphones = the end of mps and other audio players, big computers, physical maps and mapbooks (due to GPS), end of cash currency (due to tap payments)

[meowcow]

@jacquesvol

When people recognize the significance, the jump in early and get rich.

There would have been no reason for people to buy crypto when it was $100 if they don't recognize its potential (and its risks). Because back in the day when it was $100, people would have looked at BTC and said "what? It was worth 0.001 cents a few years ago? $100 a coin is hella expensive, and nobody even accepts it... no way"

[jacquesvol]

@meowcow the bitcoin isn't backed by the economic worth of the emitting authority , as regular currencies are. It's just fiction, just worth the demand from buyers. If the demand from buyers exceeds the offer from sellers, it goes down. Ponzi would have loved to sell it to others. It could be named the Ponzicoin.

[JudgmentDay]

@meowcow "Because back in the day when it was $100, people would have looked at BTC and said "what? It was worth 0.001 cents a few years ago?"

That's why I said the window of opportunity is completely gone, only those that took the risk then and held it would earned a good return on investment, now it's too late and much too risky. And it's a big "if" should it ever re-crash low enough back into just a few dollars and cents, and just because it does, it won't guarantee any big gains later. Although that would be the only time for newcomers to risk it if they want to.

Did you even bother to look at the stuff I mentioned on Bitcoin ATM machines? If it wasn't for that, there wouldn't really be any point of trying to cash them back out.

The other part I hate about it is "mining", that was totally unbalanced in the favor of those that have serious money to invest in really pricey and expensive mining equipment, if it wasn't for that, then things could have been different for the better.

[DanishSaint]

Thanks for participating and for getting into the debate - I very much enjoyed reading your posts and hearing about your different opinions and thoughts! Much appreciated! I am following up on the subject soon !
Cheers ;-)

[jacquesvol]

Another problem with crypto currencies:
$400 Million Missing In Hack Of Japanese Digital Currency Exchange www.npr.org/.../-400-million-missing-in-hack-of-japanese-digital-currency-exchange

[JudgmentDay]

@jacquesvol

If they are cashed out frequently or traded frequently online then that means they had entered in their private keys to their cryptocurrency's wallet (public key) on that exchange's website, because once the private key is used it will be logged and recorded on the currency exchange's server, regardless of how well the server is protected or encrypted once it's compromised you can be most certain that cryptocurrency wallets or accounts will become compromised as well.

The private key is most important because it's what allows someone to sell or trade or send their cryptocurrencies to others or in order to cash out and withdraw and since it's unique to each wallet, and by losing the private key or having it compromised means you lose absolutely everything.

The only workaround is using hardware type wallets where the private key is stored securely offline. Cold storage essentially. Any kind of online based storage or app based storage is absolutely vulnerable to hacking.

[jacquesvol]

Another problem:
"A giant botnet is forcing Windows servers to mine cryptocurrency

The Smominru miner has infected at least half a million machines - mostly consisting of Windows servers - and spreads via the EternalBlue exploit":
www.zdnet.com/.../

Some are getting rich, that way but who pays it? Btc owners

[JudgmentDay]

@jacquesvol Don't forget about that time with the Ransomware computer virus too, Because those viruses demanded payments in Bitcoin in exchange for returning users' access to their precious and important computer files. Specifically the WannaCry Ransomware.

[jacquesvol]

I remember THAT ransomware, indeed.
I had to format my HDD for another kind of ransomware, 2 years ago.

[meowcow]

There are some major underlying problems with bitcoin. The obvious one being hacks. The second being that it is vulnerable to being banned by a country (China has banned it), or made illegal as a criminal offense due to its original use of being used to launder money and purchase illegal items on the dark web/silk road.

Most bitcoin fanatics are young, and too young to recognize an obvious bubble forming. Bitcoin has no inherent value. It does not create jobs or new wealth. Bitcoin buyers and sellers are simply moving the same money back and forth.

The REAL problem with bitcoin right now is that 95% of the currency is mined in China, and by a handful of mass-miners. There is a real problem when a single entity holds most of a commodity. They have the leverage to influence/manipulate the market value.

People ignorantly think that "bitcoin's value is going to skyrocket". What is ACTUALLY happening is that the Chinese bitcoin miners simply aren't selling their bitcoin. They have held onto them, letting the hype grow. When you see huge drops in BTC value like around Christmas time, it was the result of those Chinese miners offloading huge quantities of their coins. This essentially funnelled massive amounts of USD into China. Then they wait for the price to rebound, and unload more and more coins. Americans are basically giving billions of dollars to the Chinese for nothing.

There is another problem with crypto and that is the trading platforms. Many trading applications allow instant buying at any quantity. But in many countries and for many apps, you cannot sell instantly. It can take hours or even days to confirm a sale. Given the volatile price, not confirming a sale for an hour or day can make a huge difference.

The other problem with trading apps is that many have a "sell limit". You can buy $1 million in BTC in an instant. But some apps have a selling limit of $1000. Meaning it will take you 3 years to sell $1 million in BTC.

This obviously allows money to flow IN to cryptos, inflating the value - but it does not allow money to flor OUT of cryptos. And that's why the price is going up like the way you see it.

There's no such thing as a get rich quick scheme that works. No doubt some early adopters have made money. But people buying in now are fools following the sheep.

[jacquesvol]

Russia too banned the Bitcoin and France thinks about banning it.

[jacquesvol]

Even crooks don't want it anymore...
hhttp://www. zdnet. com/article/ransomware-why-the-crooks-are-ditching-bitcoin-and-where-they-are-going-next/

[jacquesvol]

www.zdnet.com/.../

[JudgmentDay]

@jacquesvol they all switching over to Monero apparently. bad people are going to abuse stuff like this. I already told you that the biggest problem with Bitcoin is the way how new Bitcoins are generated with the whole "mining" process is entirely rigged in the favor of the rich and those that have large sums of money to risk to finance a massive "mining" operation, and thus they already have shit tons of Bitcoins mined out and added to their own Bitcoin wallet accounts by now. So yea, if somebody said it's a Ponzi Scheme or Pyramid Scheme, then that was what the problem with it was. It wasn't fair game to everyone where everyone regardless of their financial limits or situation would have an equal and fair chance at earning Bitcoins, and completely turned into a competition of whom can afford the most amounts of expensive electronic equipment for a massive mining operation would receive the most Bitcoins in their Bitcoin wallets and accounts. Too bad the community didn't bother to

[JudgmentDay]

change and fix this much earlier in the very early stages when Bitcoin was first out back in 2009. Otherwise it would not be so unbalanced and rigged in the favor of the rich folks, and that those average folks that didn't have large amounts of money to risk would have to recognize the window of opportunity and "gamble" as early as possible, just like with investing in the stock market, because once it's gone, and it indeed is gone now, it just really not worth the trouble anymore. It is possible to look into investing in newer alternative cryptos that are pennies and a few dollars worth, just like lower risk pennies stocks. As it makes very little sense to risk big for small gains or if any gains at all, because that's what it is now with Bitcoin. Should only risk small for big gains, if any gains at all, since the less you have to risk, the less you'll end up losing, and it would be a low cost benefit.

[meowcow]

@JudgmentDay

Your responses always seem so shallow. Sorry, but it's not an insult to you, but rather you don't really understand what's going on.

The BTC mining process isn't "rigged". The way to mine BTC has always been the same. EVERY business sector will favor those who have the money to leverage and impose their will. Of course a company with a lot of $$ can buy a lot of computational machines to mine BTC compared to you. That is the same process for everything. If you want to start a grocery business, a company like Walmart can squish you simply by leveraging their purchasing power to lower the cost of their goods. Being overpowered by another entity doesn't make it a ponzi scheme.

BTC and crypto will fall apart. But it is no ponzi scheme. It will fall apart because it has no tangible value, and more importantly, it CREATES no tangible value. The only people who don't realize this yet are millenials that have not witness this scenario before. I have seen this repeated twice

[jacquesvol]

@meowcow
From the moment the gains of initial investors are paid by attracting new investors and NOT by gains on existing or produced material GOODS it *becomes* a Ponzi system.

[DanishSaint]

@jacquesvol and one of the largest financial companies in the Scandinavian just made it illegal for their roughly 30000 employees to own, trade or be a part of anything concerning not just bitcoins but all cryptocurrencies...
And much more like that will follow, but it won't matter in the grand scheme of things!

[jacquesvol]

@DanishSaint financial companies don't like employees with debt problems because they could become a risk for the company. Playing the BTC is gambling and can lead to financial disaster.

[JudgmentDay]

@meowcow

"It will fall apart because it has no tangible value, and more importantly, it CREATES no tangible value. The only people who don't realize this yet are millenials that have not witness this scenario before."

More like it HAD tangible value if somebody knew beforehand and invested in it when "complete" Bitcoins was worth just a penny or less and then quickly cashed out from Bitcoin ATM machines or from a cryptocurrency exchange like CoinBase, but it just isn't possible anymore since complete coins would be too expensive to buy large quantites of.

Although Bitcoin ATM machines comes with fees, it is possible to cash out from them, but they have limits, but it would still be a low cost benefit had someone invested a few dollars in them while then. If it wasn't for the possibilities of cashing out, I doubt anyone would have gave them a second look, but who would have known they would come out with Bitcoin ATM machines back then when it first came out?

[DanishSaint]

@jacquesvol I resent it from a personal point of view; I don´t think its for any employer to decide what people invest in as long as it doesn't fall back on- or is done involving the companys name! In my world, its no different than dictating what stocks people may invest their own money in or stuff like that ! It doesn't sit well with my firm believe in personal freedom to speak, act and vote - combined with every persons right to anonymity and privacy!

[JudgmentDay]

@meowcow My point again is that the window of opportunity had long closed as is gone and the ONLY people that would benefit from Bitcoin's value are those that had for example had bought anywhere from 100 to 1000 "complete" Bitcoins back when it was a penny worth each and kept them securely and then cash them out from either Bitcoin ATM machines or cryptocurrency exchanges when each of them rose to a value of $1000 or beyond. As they would have easily made a few 6 figures from the small amounts they had risked and invested into them, as the risk would be small since risking and losing a few dollars or even 10 or 20 dollars is nothing compared to risking and investing a few hundreds or a few thousand dollars. But then there's that whole tax thing, they still have to get all that sorted out, those that made money off of them will have to get an accountant to get that sorted out, but tax laws have not been fully updated on how the profits gained from cryptocurrencies will be taxed, etc.

[jacquesvol]

@DanishSaint That's the way it goes in financial companies. You can be sure that the labor contracts contain some stipulations prohibiting risky trade (like high leverage options or swaps) They just added the BTC to the list.

[DanishSaint]

@JudgmentDay
I very much agree with you.
Much of the fuzz is quite simply because many people don´t understand the basis cryptocurrencies - and people always fear what they dont understand, especially when the word falls on money !!! In the bigger picture, you need to stop looking at bitcoins as an isolated entity but as a part of a new technology and way to fx handle finances.
ATM´s and online payout methods are on the way -fast - to be implemented many places, bitcoin creditcards are being offered rapidly and so on.
I remember a story I was told by my grandmother about my grandfathers perception on checks back when they were a thing and new to people! No way in hell if he would ever allow that in his house!! But he did, eventually - as well of the rest of the world!
Change and radical ones in particular takes time !

[DanishSaint]

@jacquesvol I know; I am on a personal level just very much against the conduct!
But nevertheless, there is a lot of hysteria on the markets regarding this and many stipulations are rushed and not properly considered first!
Starting this year already, we will be seing the first signs of companies rolling back on initial decisions !

[JudgmentDay]

@DanishSaint everything will take time, right now banks and financial institutions don't like cryptos, and neither does the government or law enforcement.

Sometimes I wondered if they'll have a new cryptocurrency that is more balanced in terms of generating new coins from mining or any other process, because the Bitcoin's system of generating new Bitcoins are clearly in favor of those that have serious money to spend and can afford the ASIC devices and the best ones are easily over a thousand each. There's just no equal chance for ALL users to generate new coins of their own and since there's a limited amount, those that have those massive mining operations are easily in the lead with hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands or more "complete" Bitcoins in their own Bitcoin Wallets. I mean wouldn't this somehow manipulate the price of Bitcoin altogether?

[jacquesvol]

@DanishSaint "a story I was told by my grandmother about my grandfathers perception on checks back when they were a thing and new to people! " NEW?

en.wikipedia.org/.../...s_(signature_on_check).jpg (1809 CE)
The ancient Romans are believed to have used an early form of cheque known as praescriptiones in the 1st century BCE.[7]

Muslim traders are known to have used the cheque or ṣakk system since the time of Harun al-Rashid (9th century)

[DanishSaint]

@JudgmentDay The lack of flexibility and is a major problem with Bitcoin, but rewritings of code, new features and a more versatile and agile way of handling is being developed all over the world.
That don´t change the fact, that as a cryptocurrency bitcoin will eventually be superseded by more durable and flexible alternatives.
The hashing difficulty level of mining bitcoins has reached a level where it is close to impossible to gain anything, unless you own an older Sovjet nuclear powerplant, and that too, will eventually make people seek alternatives.

Current level: {"difficulty":2227847638503.628} @01.24.2017 - 05:14pm (gmc+1)

The formula itself it quite straightforward:
difficulty = difficulty_1_target / current_target
(target is a 256 bit number)

[DanishSaint]

@jacquesvol I should perhaps have been more specific :-)

Or just argue, that "when they were new to people" has nothing to do with any given time in the history of the world, but is pretty much granted to fulfull itself, since "new" was not defined in a timeframe,
But I´ll go with the first :-)

[JudgmentDay]

@DanishSaint Any idea how many Bitcoins have already been mined or generated by now out of the 21 Millions supposed limit? regardless of difficulty it's still in the favor of those that have the resources to finance and fund an operation like this:

mybtcpool.com/.../ASICminers-antminer.jpg

And if those devices are all the Antminer S9, that's going to be one expensive electric bill PLUS the costs of all of those devices. No average folks can do something like this, and with a massive operation like that they easily would receive hundred, or thousands if not hundreds of thousands of complete Bitcoins by now.

Check the other messages I sent you earlier and get back to me when you get the chance.

[jacquesvol]

Another problem:
"A giant botnet is forcing Windows servers to mine cryptocurrency

The Smominru miner has infected at least half a million machines - mostly consisting of Windows servers - and spreads via the EternalBlue exploit":
www.zdnet.com/.../
Some are getting rich, that way but who pays it? Btc owners

[jacquesvol]

I won't put my money on someone else's uncontrolled computer.

[Being_a_good_Indian]

The Biggest Risk of Investing in BitCoin is it’s instability. You do not know, whether you are going to get huge profit or huge loss.

Only invest in BitCoin what you can afford to lose. Definitely people are making really good profits out of BTC trading / mining. But still you never know when this BitCoin bubble will burst and your all investment goes to ZERO.

It is always adviseable to diversify your risk, and invest in multiple crypto currencies instead of putting your all eggs in one basket.

hddfhm.com/images/danger-signs-clipart-20.png

Risk is always associated with it.

It's only recommend for Risk Takers.

Alibaba founder Jack Ma said that he doesn't have much interest in bitcoin. In a new series, the CEOs of Chinese e-commerce giants because they are knowing what is future of Bitcoins.

In today morning I was reading this news.

[DanishSaint]

One thing first and foremost that applies regardles if its commodities, stocks, squirrels or government low-risk bonds; Never invest money that you ultimately can't afford to walk away from! Always keep in mind, that no matter what kind of investment you go into, that is the first rule and most important rule! Investing money is ALWAYS combined with risks, no matter how likely.
Second; you mention some of it yourself; never put everything on one board! Spread out a little, if the figure you are investing are sizeable, consider using two-way diversion- but always go by a rule of thumb; The bigger the risk, the lower percentage of the total ! Stocks and bonds-wise you normally go with something like 60-40 or 70-30, putting a larger sum into the safer bonds and the other into stocks. Then you can graduately start to reverse the percentages over a couple of transactions if you have build a fairly good baseline for your stocks !

[DanishSaint]

but in the end, stocks, crypto, cotton or camels; bottomline is; It is essentially like playing the lottery ! NO ONE can predict tomorrow...
I won't go as far as saying, that bitcoin is for risk-takers only. Of course, it IS a greater risk- at the moment probably one of THE greatest risks you can take when investing- but that is the short run!! Over time- as well as with stocks -even if they lose a huge chunk in value -they will come back and ajust to the marked! Markets now are NOT adjusted to crypto, that causes the major ups and downs to some extend - but it will. Cryptocurrencies are here- and they will at SOME point be a part of our global economy and that is because of one thing. BLOCKCHAINS -not bitcoins, not currencies, not anything definitive- but a highly versatile, flexible technology that so happens to have made bitcoins able to achieve any succes at all! Blockchain -tech will over the next decade become THE biggest new technology in our modern world and be integrated <all

[Being_a_good_Indian]

Agree. The level of success you will experience in life is directly proportional to the level of risk you are willing to take. It is for these very same reasons that CEOs and bosses of companies are paid an average of 5-10 times more than their employees. The OPINION of TOP MANAGEMENT MATTER.

How do you figure out the risk-reward in Bitcoins?

Who knows who is Satoshi Nakamoto?

Why should I invest? Just because market is in uptrend? NO THANKS !!!

If Satoshi were to move his/her bitcoins to an exchange today, this might attract attention, but it seems unlikely that a well-funded and successful exchange would betray a customer's privacy.

[meowcow]

Yeah, people are buying into BTC based only on the past uptrend. Those who are doing that have no clue what they're actually investing in. It's called jumping on the bandwagon, and if the past has shown us... the bandwagon usually goes off a cliff. This is why the 99% are poor, because they follow what they think everyone else is doing.

How do I know they have no clue? Like you said..."how do you figure the risk-reward of BTC?"

You can't. It has no underlying value except for speculation value. When an analyst examines a company stock, he looks at their revenue, costs, loans... their balance sheets, and future market predictions. You cannot do that with BTC because there's no such thing. All you can really do... is trade based on technical trading (just like stock trading based on technicals).

Unfortunately, technical trading only favors computer programmers who can program software that trades millions of times a second. A human cannot perform as quickly... ultimately losing.

[Being_a_good_Indian]

@meowcow

*"When an analyst examines a company stock"*

There is no definition of technical analysis. Anyone can make up anything and call it technical analysis. The field now seem to encompass everything from drawing trend lines to astrology.

India became world No.1 in mobile broadband after Reliance Jio. Reliance Jio planning own cryptocurrency called JioCoin.

www.livemint.com/.../...rrency-called-JioCoin.html

Now every company will start investing in it because they know how to speculate market. Fundamental analysis is must for me to invest in any asset.

@DanishSaint

It's Great Take. Rarely seen on GirlsAskGuys. Part 2 will be really interesting. 😊

[meowcow]

@Being_a_good_Indian

Technical analysis is subjective, and yes, it's nothing more than statistics and drawing lines.

Technical trading = trading based on past stock performance indicators. Technical trading is very risky and it can be used on all stocks/funds/ETFs/cryptos because it's based on PAST performance only. Technical traders are usually those who buy and sell in the same day, or only hold for a short time.

When people trade based on a company's performance, it is not the same as technical trading. Healthy balance sheets, good market positions are all the things you want to consider when trading for the long-term. This is not possible with cryptos because there's no basis for such an analysis.

This means people are trading blindly with cryptos, and there is no rational basis for its valuation.

[JudgmentDay]

@Being_a_good_Indian it all comes down to how quickly, conveniently and safely you can cash out your Bitcoins. Ever heard of Bitcoin ATM Map? https://coinatmradar.com/

Volatility is indeed unavoidable, but those that bought large amounts of BitCoin back when it was first released to the public and when they were only worth merely pennies or few dollars for complete Bitcoins then those risks would be really low and a massive gain. By now, we're all too late in the game and the gains would be too risky at this point, since the price went way up for complete Bitcoins, most can only afford to risk and buy segments or smaller units or fractions of an entire Bitcoin which is not really worth it the way I see it as it's not longer the low cost benefit that it once was.

[Being_a_good_Indian]

@JudgmentDay

On 18th August 2008, i. e. around a decade ago, the domain bitcoin. org was registered. Nobody knew what was in store until November that year – the month when a person who called himself/herself released a paper: “Bitcoin: A peer to peer Electronic Cash System” in a cryptography mailing list.

If you might have noticed in my opinion *"It's only recommend for Risk Takers. "*

A hedge is an investment to reduce the risk of adverse price movements in an asset. Normally, a hedge consists of taking an offsetting position in a related security, such as a futures contract. Bitcoins are having such risk like F&O and Currency Derivatives.

As you mentioned about Bitcoin ATM. We can find Disclosure quoted as below.

[Being_a_good_Indian]

*"Administration of the CoinATMRadar site doesn't own or operate any Bitcoin ATM. All examples provided on this page are collected from publicly avaialble sources or theoretical calculations. Information on this page can be used as a starting point if you plan to purchase and operate a Bitcoin ATM. Administration of the site is not responsible for any financial result you can potentially receive."*

Surfing from 5 years. Have Premium Memberships.

Here is the result of that website owner.

*"This site is using an anonymous service - which prevents us from identifying the site owner. This can sometimes be just so that the owner does not receive spam, but be aware that many scam sites use this as a method to hide their identify. If this is an ecommerce site - we would suggest you confirm the business address with the website owners."*

Generally I can access the details of site owner through SEO Tools.

In this case I can't. Probably a Scam Website.

[JudgmentDay]

@Being_a_good_Indian Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency ATMs do exist:

here's the proof that there are a couple of legit manufacturers of them, check them out and see for yourself:

https://bitcoinatm.com/ (Genesis Coin)

https://lamassu.is/ (Lamassu)

But each ATM is managed by different companies that are ATM operators:

https://www.bitcoindepot.com/ (Bitcoin Depot)

https://www.bitexpress.com/ (BitExpress)

http://www.digitalmint.io/ (DigitalMint)

At least you'd know who you would be dealing with. https://coinatmradar.com just gives the location of where you can find a local ATM that supports the purchase or selling (cash withdrawal) of Bitcoin or other Cryptocurrencies. Downside is some of them have high fees the last I've checked, but hey, it is what it is. Some of them also do not support selling and cashing out either, but those typically don't charge any fees to purchase. Just look at the links as examples.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaGWnKYEYsU

[Being_a_good_Indian]

@JudgmentDay

elizabethtayloraidsfoundation.org/.../...rt_v2.png

Thanks for sharing. I inquired from few friends in India associated with this field. Bitcoin ATM operators need to adjust the limits on deposits and withdrawals according to AML/KYC standards applicable in the jurisdiction where their ATMs are placed. In some countries / states this requires a money transmitter license.

I appreciate your opinions.

Check out this articles.

www.coindesk.com/.../

coinoutletatm.com/.../

Thanks for links.

[JudgmentDay]

@Being_a_good_Indian it's better that they have regulation than not, the system was meant to be an alternative way to send and receive payments as well as an investment opportunity, but like I said to you earlier that window of opportunity is largely gone when it comes to Bitcoin, and should and if it ever re-crash low enough to very low like when it first was or a few dollars worth, then it would be worth the money and risks again, but for now, the only thing to consider are other alternate cryptocurrencies that are pennies or a few dollars worth, when it comes to taking chances of getting a return on investment and profits on them.

They still haven't sorted out all of the tax laws etc. when it comes to cryptocurrencies yet although I hope they will, or at least specifically for when investors cash them out back into real currency and assets. Like I said it wasn't meant to be abused but because of the pseudonymous nature of them, they are attractive to criminals.

[AliciaJameson]

I would also recommend to use bitcovault com ATMs.
Among the preferences are reliability and flexibility of there bitcoin atms.
They are simple and reliable. And bitcoin and other crypto exchange is no problem for cash or to bank card directly.

[Guardian412]

Bitcoin is a scam where you provide your computer hardware's capacity to calculate unknown algorithms what is seemingly necessary for someone, and that someone is rewarding the jackass greedy people with Monopoly money. Bitcoin is basically one calculator, ran by the largest hardware ever connected together to calculate unknown calculations, algorithms for some unknown people. But if something is ran this shady way, that thing cannot be good. It's shady, it's all about greed and no one really knows what your hardware is calculating. Maybe you're just giving life to an A. I., aimed to kill mankind, or you're running decrypting calculations for a foreign intelligence agency. Who knows what these miner hardware are actually calculating.

[jacquesvol]

@Guardian412

"Maybe you're just giving life to an A. I., aimed to kill mankind.."
Or giving your savings to very human smart crooks.

[JudgmentDay]

@jacquesvol obviously the internet black market likes cryptos as they had made exchanging illegal services and goods easier than ever before.

[LeaveBar]

Bitcoin is a financial breakthrough in the 21st century. I'm not sure that now is the best time to invest in Bitcoin, but I know for sure that those who invested 5 years ago are now being withdrawn through the , as quickly as possible!

[JudgmentDay]

@LeaveBar Because it's at it's peak when it all over the news and exposed to the public. The prices skyrocketed from their original prices and thus it makes sense to sell them off and cash them in at that point. It's just like the stock market. Once a stock increases and skyrockets substantially that's when one would sell them off quickly and cash them out. Even if somebody didn't cash all of them out and sell all of them, they would certainly sell most of them for the substantial amount of gains and earnings.

At this point, it's too late in the game for most average folks to be investing into bitcoin, the price had already gone up way too much, the risk of loss is just too big now. Have to look elsewhere where things are low enough at the start to invest in with enough potential growth in the future. It's tough, once the window of opportunity is gone, it's typically gone and done for good.

[OpalLi]

Good written post. Bitcoin is a form of digital currency, created and held electronically. No one controls it. Bitcoins aren’t printed, like dollars or euros – they’re produced by people by using some complex algorithm which is called Mining Bitcoin. Also there are many interesting ICO projects. For instance I invested in Keep network ICO after reading the detailed review on
. There are a few benefits of using Keep Network. It's decentralized transactions confirmation on the main blockchain can use this network. Creation of private wallets for exchange between blockchains. Decentralized encrypted data repositories.

[jacquesvol]

They are or became a Ponzi scheme
Others think it too:
The Rise of Cryptocurrency Ponzi Schemes - The Atlantic: www.theatlantic.com/.../
Bitcoin is a Ponzi scheme: The Internet currency will collapse. www.slate.com/.../...t_currency_will_collapse.html
Paul Krugman on Trump, Fed, and bitcoin www.businessinsider.com/paul-krugman-on-trump-the-fed-and-bitcoin-2017-12
Krugman is a Nobel Prize laureate (Economy)

[jacquesvol]

Bad news:
Bitcoin speculative bubble is bursting and has a long way to fall, economists warn: www.theguardian.com/.../bitcoin-speculative-bubble-bursting-long-way-to-fall-economists-warn

[JudgmentDay]

The problem is the the whole mining thing with Bitcoin and almost all Cryptocurrencies. If you have no idea what it is, it's the way how users are able to record, verify and confirm all transactions across the entire distributed database (the blockchain) and in return they earn some Bitcoin or Cryptos as a service fee as that is the only process how new Bitcoins or Cryptos are generated.

Trouble is, it requires specialized hardware, REALLY EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT that is. Into the thousands of dollars, most average folks don't have that kind of money to spend and risk. So that automatically is in the favor of those that have money to risk and finance a big mining operation for Bitcoin and Cryptos.

It just isn't fair at all when it comes to that part of the system as not everyone in the world has an equal chance at earning Bitcoin or Cryptos with the costs of mining equipment. If it wasn't for this the system might be more balanced and everyone has an equal chance.

[jacquesvol]

@JudgmentDay folks don't have that kind of money to spend and risk on equipment havethe intention of getting a multiple of it out of it.
Remember TINSTAAFL (There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch)
The one who pays those people's equipment and benefits is the amateur risking his savings because he heard there might be a big free lunch for him on the internet.

[JudgmentDay]

@jacquesvol that's why I said when the creator (Nakamoto) created it he didn't seem to care or think about that when they designed the system so that everyone would have an equal chance to mine and earn bitcoins, and EQUAL fair share.

Instead it once again turned into the favor for those that are rich as fuck and can afford that kind of equipment and process. Perhaps a new cryptocurrency will have a much more fairer and balanced process when it comes to mining so that it isn't completely in the favor of just those that can afford the specialized equipment:

I mean just look at this shit:

mybtcpool.com/.../ASICminers-antminer.jpg

and look at the price tag for just one of these units, we both can fully agree that it is not fair at all:

i0.wp.com/.../bitmain-antminer-s9.png

[jacquesvol]

@JudgmentDay Sorry for the errors above. I repost my text with less errors, I hope. (f*cking tiny Gag editor without preview! :-p):
folks who HAVE that kind of money to spend and risk on equipment have the intention of getting a multiple of it out of it.
Remember TINSTAAFL (There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch)
The one who pays those people's equipment and benefits is the amateur risking his savings because he heard there might be a big free lunch for him on the internet and sees past performances. Past performances don't say ANYTHING.

[JudgmentDay]

@jacquesvol by the way, did you see the stuff I said about Bitcoin ATM machines? This is the only way or method I know of that is safe and convenient enough for users to cash back and cash out their earnings, although at this point we both already know it's no longer worth the risk anymore, I'd only risk it if it re-crashed back to a few dollars worth, no way in hell I'd be willing to risk anywhere from a few hundred dollars or more to buy a complete Bitcoin, and right now it's over $10,000 for a complete coin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaGWnKYEYsU

the smart ones would cash out from something like these Bitcoin ATMs as soon as they made a great amount of profit and Return On Investment, holding onto them forever would not be worth the risk.

[jacquesvol]

@JudgmentDay I don't know if there's a Bitcoin ATM in Brussels ( capital of tiny Belgium and of the EU) It wasn't mentioned by the media here, if any.

[JudgmentDay]

they do exist according to here:

coinatmradar.com/.../

coinatmradar.com/.../

coinatmradar.com/.../

coinatmradar.com/.../

coinatmradar.com/.../

[jacquesvol]

@JudgmentDay Indeed, easily an hour by car (counting the traffic jams) Not really something for weekly use (daily use would be asking too much but since the Bitcoin can vary 20% in a few days it would be rather problematic)

[JudgmentDay]

@jacquesvol The location is very critical. I have a few that I could ride a bike to, but here's the thing, here's the catch: some of them have fees for both buying and selling (cashing out) and some of those fees can be high, and as well as cash out limitations on how much cash you can withdraw from them in one day, some atms you can only buy but does not support cashing out from, and even buying has limitations, you can't deposit too much. the fees can be for both buying and withdrawal.

So like I said, we're too late in the game, if you want to risk it, you'll have to get a hardware wallet made for cryptos for maximum protection and defense against hackers and thieves:

Trezor https://trezor.io/

or a Ledger Nano S https://www.ledgerwallet.com/

or Keepkey https://www.keepkey.com/

[DanishSaint]

Wow, wow, wow... hold your horses man!
Just need to get one thing a little clearified here: Bitcoin is NOT a ponzi-scheme, no.
Two very simple reasons why:
Bitcoin is tradeable; they are NOT confined by 3. part and anyone can both win or lose money just the same if trading/bying bitcoins.
A Ponzi-scheme is not in effect, when there are basis for 1. Consolidating funds at any time without the interaction of a 3. party. (man or machine, that one I´ll give you)
2. Ponzi-schemes are constructed a bit like gravity; it works in one direction - and it simply doesn't allow the extend of randomization that bitcoin partially functions by. This would be the worst ponzi in history, mainly because NOBODY has any control of the rate or the flow, nor the direction of the money stream.

[Not_Average]

Love it man. I went deep down the rabbit hole years ago. Bitcoin has made me fantastically wealthy and this is just the start.

[Anonymous]

I was going to buy but l'm too scared because l have no clue what will happen.

[JudgmentDay]

The safest way I can think of to buy them is from a local Bitcoin ATM machine. you can find them at http://www.coinatmradar.com

You'll need the right stuff to safely secure any Bitcoin or Cryptocurrencies though, such as any of the following:

Trezor https://trezor.io/

or a Ledger Nano S https://www.ledgerwallet.com/

or Keepkey https://www.keepkey.com/

But it's really not worth it anymore since we had all missed the window of opportunity, unless Bitcoin somehow re-crashes low enough, otherwise you'll only be risking large sums of money for smaller gains, unlike how when in the beginning, people can risk a smaller sum of money on buying multiple complete Bitcoins, because now, we'd only be able to afford units of a Bitcoin rather than a complete one.