Bit coin

[NikolaiI]

Have you ever heard of bit coin? Do you think it'll be the new currency someday?

[YesNo]

Here's information on the origin of "bit" as a form of money: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bit_%28money%29

When I was younger, I heard the term "two-bit" which meant a quarter or 25 cents.

[Volya]

I believe OP is referring to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitCoin
I don't know much about it myself, vaguely aware that it's some kind of indie online currency that the US government don't like.

[Silas Thorne]

Yes, I have heard of bitcoin, and I have some friends in support of it, but to be perfectly honest, I haven't paid enough attention to them to understand how the transactions work exactly. But it definitely has a lot of potential as a currency. With everything, this has both its good points and bad points.
There are several reasons why many people might not like it. It appears that the value of bitcoin is the same everywhere, so people would not make money off currency exchange transactions. Also, there is little need for banks with bitcoin, as money is exchanged directly over the internet. The transactions can also be harder to detect than in many present transactions, and so it is possible (and at present some people do) use them to conduct transactions that may be illegal in particular places.
However, many of the reasons which may cause some people to dislike bitcoin may cause other people to like it.

Anyway, in many places actual physical money is disappearing, or is seldom used. I think bitcoin, or something like it, may take over. The world is always changing. For the better? Well, not always. But it is changing. Maybe a new electronic currency will give us more freedoms while removing others.

[cacian]

I have to say for a name of currency it is pretty awful I must admit but no I have not heard of it until now. thank you for bringing it up.
bit for a word is pretty insignificant even in its real meaning so not very exciting to say the least.
But then on second thoughts could B.I.T be the initials of something else?
T for ten not sure what the rest is yet :)

[The Atheist]

Have you ever heard of bit coin? Do you think it'll be the new currency someday?

It won't be the new currency, because there will never be a fraction of the number required to dominate the money supply.

It's already the world's most expensive currency by a huge margin, with each bitcoin costing thousands of dollars to produce. It uses about 100 times the energy required to produce the same value of bitcoins as it does gold.

It's an interesting subject - the only use for bitcoins for the first few years was buying porn, especially the illegal kind, while now you can buy a car or house with them.

I have a couple of mates mining them, but the payoff rate is very, very small.

[The Atheist]

I believe OP is referring to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitCoin
I don't know much about it myself, vaguely aware that it's some kind of indie online currency that the US government don't like.

Because they can't track or tax them.

[Calidore]

Because they can't track or tax them.

Also, no doubt, because it doesn't actually exist. Selling real goods (even digital content) for virtual money boggles the mind.

[Volya]

Also, no doubt, because it doesn't actually exist. Selling real goods (even digital content) for virtual money boggles the mind.

Because all the money on credit cards and in bank accounts isn't 'virtual money'.

[cafolini]

Because all the money on credit cards and in bank accounts isn't 'virtual money'.

Of course in the way it is distributed you might think of it as virtual. But it is backed in a very good way in which it ACTUALLY exists apart from the imagination.

[The Atheist]

But it is backed in a very good way in which it ACTUALLY exists apart from the imagination.

That is completely wrong, as the collapse of Lehman Bros and the worldwide financial crisis showed.

[NikolaiI]

I have to say for a name of currency it is pretty awful I must admit but no I have not heard of it until now. thank you for bringing it up.
bit for a word is pretty insignificant even in its real meaning so not very exciting to say the least.
But then on second thoughts could B.I.T be the initials of something else?
T for ten not sure what the rest is yet

Nope, I looked it up and found out that bit comes from binary digit.

"A bit is the basic unit of information in computing and digital communications. A bit can have only one of two values, and may therefore be physically implemented with a two-state device. The most common representation of these values are 0 and 1. The term bit is a contraction of binary digit."


It won't be the new currency, because there will never be a fraction of the number required to dominate the money supply.

It's already the world's most expensive currency by a huge margin, with each bitcoin costing thousands of dollars to produce. It uses about 100 times the energy required to produce the same value of bitcoins as it does gold.

It's an interesting subject - the only use for bitcoins for the first few years was buying porn, especially the illegal kind, while now you can buy a car or house with them.

I have a couple of mates mining them, but the payoff rate is very, very small.

I've read a bit about it and found that also, it may have difficulty as a currency because it's non-inflationary, which would lead to hoarding. .

Second-hand, someone told me it gained a lot of value; but it seems to be incredibly volatile. I agree it's curious, and I'll have to keep on eye on it as it develops.


Yes, I have heard of bitcoin, and I have some friends in support of it, but to be perfectly honest, I haven't paid enough attention to them to understand how the transactions work exactly. But it definitely has a lot of potential as a currency. With everything, this has both its good points and bad points.
There are several reasons why many people might not like it. It appears that the value of bitcoin is the same everywhere, so people would not make money off currency exchange transactions. Also, there is little need for banks with bitcoin, as money is exchanged directly over the internet. The transactions can also be harder to detect than in many present transactions, and so it is possible (and at present some people do) use them to conduct transactions that may be illegal in particular places.
However, many of the reasons which may cause some people to dislike bitcoin may cause other people to like it.

Anyway, in many places actual physical money is disappearing, or is seldom used. I think bitcoin, or something like it, may take over. The world is always changing. For the better? Well, not always. But it is changing. Maybe a new electronic currency will give us more freedoms while removing others.

I'm not sure if it has the same value everywhere or not. At least, it does seem to be highly fluctuating.

One thing I worry is that it'll be hacked or taken over. The original creator(s) of it, pseudonymously called Satoshi Nakamoto, apparently isn't continuing updates or evolutions on it, so I feel like it'll eventually be hacked again.


Unlike government-issued fiat currency, Bitcoin has no central issuing authority. Nodes on the network are programmed to increase the money supply according to a pre-determined schedule until the total number of bitcoins reaches 21 million. Operators of these miner nodes can then hold their new bitcoins, sell them on exchanges or trade them for other goods and services at their discretion.