Topic: Are Bitcoins Worthwhile? (Read 1943 times)

lucrative...that's the problem...over here I pay about 20 (Euro-)cent per kWh, so I think building a dedicated mining rig is not reasonable. That's why I'm after those cycles, when average machines are idling. Maybe it makes more sense, when you don't have to buy an expensive graphics adapter...

Is it lucrative? Oh, just show your brand new and shiny GPU to your GF and tell her that it's exclusively for mining and she can't have fun rendering on it, because you don't want to go below xxx mega-hashes per second; suddenly she'll become nicer than ever before, haha.
I still have a lot of reading to do, but the most important thing: you can't go wrong with mathematics... plus I like the idea of nerds becoming economists. :-]

@jago25_98, wherever there's risk and some hope for gain (or at least a hope for a lack of loss), there's speculation; for example I'm speculating that I'll live another day, but I can't be 100% sure that I will.

Its worth it.
 

4.) Bitcoins are here to stay (hopefully).

At the very least, they cannot be un-invented.

You can't beat what bitcoins offers trust me this is amazing stuff. Get involved in some aspect of it you don't have to be in "all" aspects just some part.

Enjoy!

1.) Bitcoins are fun.
2.) They are revolutionary.
3.) Bitcoins are the future.

This is not quite accurate. Fiat money valuation is based on nothing but demand and supply; same as bitcoin. The difference you are alluding to is that fiat money is legal tender; that says nothing about its value, only that one is forced to accept fiat money to settle debts. So when you get an invoice for whatever, say your utility bill, you can pay it with euro's if you live in the euro zone. You can not use dollar, roebel, gold, bread or bitcoins, unless your supplier voluntary accepts it . Thats basically the only difference here.

Granted, the fact fiat money is legal tender does ensure to some extend a steady demand, but it does nothing to protect its value.

As for something backing it; I think its good BTC is not backed by anything. If you back a currency by something, be it another currency, gold, oil or whatever, it means the value of the currency is also dependent on the value of the commodity backing it, even though that can fluctuate independently for completely unrelated reasons. I dont see how thats an advantage; it helps no one if a currency suddenly appreciates or depreciates because of change in supply or demand of the underlying commodity.

I think it is more likely that banks and governments will join the bitcoin network and make my pitiful mining rig worthless. There are still almost 13 million bitcoin left to mine and rather than buy mine, they will just claim the rest.

Basically for the same reason there aren't multiple world wide webs. Anyone could create their own protocol, but try getting anyone to run it unless it had something much better to offer.

But why would they use bitcoin instead of establishing their own crypto-currency? I could see banks and companies and governments using crypto-coins someday. But it seems more likely that they would establish their own currency.

Adopting bitcoin basically makes a lot of people on the internet quite rich, those who invested in it early. But why would a powerful organization want these strangers to be wealthy, when it could by establishing its own currency instead make itself more wealthy?

There have been several threads about how a government can adopt bitcoin. There have also been threads about pinning bonds to Bitcoin. The best part is that it has an open ledger which is very easy to audit. Smart contracts are an evolutionary step beyond stocks and bonds. Bitcoin makes them all possible and much more.

You will regret not getting a few Bitcoins while they are cheap if/when they go up.

There has never before been any other currency on earth where you can see every single bit of it and know its impossible to fake.

With which you can be your own bank.

Ask yourself, how much did a bottle of milk cost 20 years ago? 40 years ago? 60 years ago? 100 years ago...
As you clearly see your money decrease in value for every year.

Bitcoin if still here will not decrease in the long run but increase.
So while your other money decrease your Bitcoin money will increase.

The longer Bitcoin lives, the more its value increase, because the more people understand its here to stay.

Dont miss the rocket...

True, but which government would? They need control over currency in order to seize it for taxes and what not.

What makes more sense is a corporation selling their own stock directly and the stock itself being crypto-currency.

For example let's say OmniCorp divides itself into 50,000,000 crypto-coins of stock and offers them online. They need USD and euros and other regular currencies to pay for factories and salaries and whatnot, so you offer them regular money in exchange for them giving crypto-coins to you.

Although OmniCorp issues the stock (no mining at all) once the coins are given out they lose control over them. Encryption keys are still used to trade the stock, and omnicorp has no way of recalling it. And they can't generate more without breaking various legal contracts.

Crypto stock would have several advantages over bitcoins. First off, it would entitle you to dividends. Owning a OmniCorp coin would allow you to claim a bit of regular money every so often. It would also give you a vote in the company's affairs. Essentially, it does everything a regular stock does but also can be tradeable.

Now, one company can fail or have swings in value. So eventually people might create a mutual fund crypto-coin that contains a tiny bit of stock in several different blue chip companies.

What would be needed is some kind of software that allows companies to issue crypto-coin stock, then allow people to use their coins to claim dividends in regular money and send in votes. And it would also need to be compatible with other corporations' crypto-coins, so users can "mint" custom coins consisting of whatever combinations of stocks in whatever amounts they want.

And a government adopting Bitcoin has the best of both worlds.

By raw governmental power. Or more accurately, by the fact the government will accept it as valuable, and assist people who have it or jail people who don't pay their taxes with it. True fiat currency has nothing physical backing it, but it's basically secure as long as its government remains in power and doesn't start printing money to pay off debts.

True there are downsides to that. There could be a coup, or unwise economic policies, or something else that affects the currency's valuable. And an unjust law can seize your money unfairly. But as long as the government is reasonably powerful and stable your money should retain value. It's a bit like buying stock in a company. Your Apple stock is probably secure bet, your Pets.com stock from 1999 probably not as wise.

 Speculation... is generally one of mankinds enemy. Stablised price fluctuations on the one hand but it's generally known as a major problem in life for everything else from raising food prices to pump and dump. I wouldn't call it an advantage.

 I wouldn't call it lucrative but it's worth a punt.

 For real advantages see my sig.

And your beloved dollars/euros are backed by... by?

Another thing worth mentioning:

• Sell things and offer services accepting bitcoin as payment. No fees, no chargebacks and since we're still at the early days you will get free publicity.

It costs <$7 to buy into one Bitcoin. No big risk. Get them while they are cheap.

Another cryptocurrency could only displace bitcoin if it offered a significant advantage that overcame a significant issue.  No coin to date has made any revolutionary leap forward, and I doubt we'll see such a leap before the initial shock of cryptocurrencies in general wears off.  Nobody understands this concept well enough to improve on it yet (other than the ongoing multi-signature work, which will improve bitcoin directly).  It's mindblowing.