Come-from-Beyond you do realize that you can take the Bitcoin source code, modify it how ever you like and start your own crypto currency that will follow the rules you want it to follow..
If you aren't happy with Bitcoin the way it is, why not do that? We'll all be thankful and move to your currency if it turns out better than Bitcoin!
Topic: Dying bitcoins - page 2. (Read 21579 times)
Wouldn't it be good to modify the protocol, so any coins that weren't moved for 1000 days (for example) could be returned back into the system and mined again? We would get rid of some issues this way (lost coins, wasted space). Anyone who hoards bitcoins should just transfer the coins from wallet to wallet once a year.
So if I'm going to jail for 10 years, my coins will be stolen from me? Bad idea.Two other threads on the topic from within the last month:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/so-what-happens-to-lost-bit-coins-104422
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/lost-bitcoins-109117
Network size is not determined by the number of units. If it was we could have been ten times bigger now for the cost of one extra "0"!
Wouldn't it be good to modify the protocol, so any coins that weren't moved for 1000 days (for example) could be returned back into the system and mined again? We would get rid of some issues this way (lost coins, wasted space). Anyone who hoards bitcoins should just transfer the coins from wallet to wallet once a year.
last weak my hard drive crashed, good thing i backed up my wallet 
as soon as i got my hard drive exchanged by western digital i will be back in the bitcoin system.
as soon as i got my hard drive exchanged by western digital i will be back in the bitcoin system.
Last but not least one can make tons of backups. Once could also setup a bank, even insurance could be made. You could also put your a wallet onto a media (cdrom, tape, whatever) and put it into a safe, like you would to it with money or gold. Then you can have a small wallet.
In most regards bitcoin is just like any other currency. If you are stupid enough to not keep it save it's your fault. It's like walking on the beach with all your money. Simply don't do it!
Maybe I could create a bank, but I'd have to think about away to make myself trustworthy.
If you put your money onto a bank account you also have to trust them. If they mess up their system and nobody knows who was the owner of the money it's exactly the same. Inside the bank your money only exists in a virtual way. Most of the time (not always, because they invest your money) it is backed up by something physical, but if you loose the data to link the physical with the virtual stuff the system is completely messed up.
To make it short: BitCoin is just money, so don't think of it as something too abstract. You can secure it, like every other money.
In most situations it's easier. It isn't that easy to encrypt your money before you put it in your safe, is it?
In most regards bitcoin is just like any other currency. If you are stupid enough to not keep it save it's your fault. It's like walking on the beach with all your money. Simply don't do it!
Maybe I could create a bank, but I'd have to think about away to make myself trustworthy.
If you put your money onto a bank account you also have to trust them. If they mess up their system and nobody knows who was the owner of the money it's exactly the same. Inside the bank your money only exists in a virtual way. Most of the time (not always, because they invest your money) it is backed up by something physical, but if you loose the data to link the physical with the virtual stuff the system is completely messed up.
To make it short: BitCoin is just money, so don't think of it as something too abstract. You can secure it, like every other money.
In most situations it's easier. It isn't that easy to encrypt your money before you put it in your safe, is it?
Lost coins only make everyone else's coins worth slightly more. Think of it as a donation to everyone.
I wonder though, is there a point where the difficulty of generating a new coinbase is so high that it would make more sense to try to recover keys for lost coins or steal other people's coins instead? The difficulty of that is really high so for now it makes a lot more sense to generate but I just wonder what the real figures are.. would that ever become more productive? Maybe Satoshi can address this..
Computers have to get about 2^200 times faster before that starts to be a problem. Someone with lots of compute power could make more money by generating than by trying to steal.
The current user interface doesn't support smaller than 0.01 increments but it is possible to support it in a future revision.
So how am I able to transfer less than BC0.01 without getting the message "error in amount" from the bitcoin program?
But loosing 1 bitcoin in the ocean of a maximum of 21.000.000 coins seems significant to me, so not comparable to gold and jewelry.
So only 21000 losses of 1000 coins can happen. That's not much!
But remember that each bitcoins can be divided into 100 million pieces, as needed.So only 21000 losses of 1000 coins can happen. That's not much!
And the more valuable they become, the more careful people will be not to lose them.
They are lost for good. Think of it like someone losing their wallet in the ocean. It seems like it would be a problem but it's really not that significant. People lose their gold jewelry all the time but it doesn't make much of a difference to the value of gold.
But loosing 1 bitcoin in the ocean of a maximum of 21.000.000 coins seems significant to me, so not comparable to gold and jewelry.
So only 21000 losses of 1000 coins can happen. That's not much!
They are lost for good. Think of it like someone losing their wallet in the ocean. It seems like it would be a problem but it's really not that significant. People lose their gold jewelry all the time but it doesn't make much of a difference to the value of gold.
I wonder though, is there a point where the difficulty of generating a new coinbase is so high that it would make more sense to try to recover keys for lost coins or steal other people's coins instead? The difficulty of that is really high so for now it makes a lot more sense to generate but I just wonder what the real figures are.. would that ever become more productive? Maybe Satoshi can address this..
I wonder though, is there a point where the difficulty of generating a new coinbase is so high that it would make more sense to try to recover keys for lost coins or steal other people's coins instead? The difficulty of that is really high so for now it makes a lot more sense to generate but I just wonder what the real figures are.. would that ever become more productive? Maybe Satoshi can address this..
Hello,
if somebody's loosing his wallet (e.g. due to disk crash) he's not able to get back his coins, is he?
So every time a person looses coins, they're lost forever? So the bitcoin network will slowly shrink over time? (Because there will always be people who loose wallets!)
TIA
virtualcoin
edit: Forgot to mention the coins of users that are try out bitcoin and then never use it again.
if somebody's loosing his wallet (e.g. due to disk crash) he's not able to get back his coins, is he?
So every time a person looses coins, they're lost forever? So the bitcoin network will slowly shrink over time? (Because there will always be people who loose wallets!)
TIA
virtualcoin
edit: Forgot to mention the coins of users that are try out bitcoin and then never use it again.
Jump to: