Topic Wiki

Editor’s note: I know enough about this topic to be dangerous, but I’m not a true expert so please feel free to add to or edit anything in this wiki that will improve it. The FAQs contain many oversimplifications but that is intentional to make the information relatable to the audience. Thanks!

Frequently Asked Questions

What are blockchains and bitcoins and what is the difference?
A blockchain is the fundamental element in a crypto currency system. A blockchain is an accounting ledger. Each block contains a bunch of journal entries (i.e. a chronological record of transactions) that gets encrypted (by miners) but can be downloaded and read by anyone on the network. Why the blockchain ledger is secure and how we can vouch for its integrity is a slightly more advanced topic.

An accounting ledger typically keeps track of money, and a blockchain is no different. But the only type of money that it can accurately track is digital money that lives on the blockchain network. So dollars, euros, etc are out. The digital money that lives on the blockchain is called a crypto currency, and the most well-known one at this time is Bitcoin.

Currently there are a few major blockchain networks: the Bitcoin Network, the Ethereum Network, and the Litecoin Network. Each one has its own currency, which are Bitcoin, Ether, and Litecoin, respectively.

I’m just a simple DDFer and not an accountant + cryptographer + hacker all at the same time. Can you make this a little simpler to understand?
Let’s try an analogy. There is a certain website called Dansdeals.com and it has quite a following. Some of the followers are just users/readers but others are more active and produce value for the website. When they provide value, they earn currency for their work – called “EQP” and “HT”. So we have something we will call the Dansdeals Blockchain Network that is simply a record keeper of various ongoing deals and it issues a native currency that is fractionable (10,000 EQP = 1 HT). This is similar to the Blockchain network recording financial transactions and issuing bitcoins. The ones who work for the network (miners) earn bitcoins and everyone else needs to buy it to participate.

The analogy improves if you imagine that the Dansdeals website visitors have to pay a small amount, let’s say 5 EQP, in order to access a deal or a code that is recorded on the network. If the website has 30,000 followers who love deals, but only 1,000 active members who earn EQP, then you can see that there is a need for a marketplace to be created where you can buy EQP for later use.

Of course, websites are not networks, and this analogy is far from perfect. But useful.

How much is a Bitcoin worth
No one knows. A few people are speculating its worth based on the potential that Bitcoin will one day become a major world currency that people use in their daily lives. Most people though are speculating its worth based on what the next new investor will pay them for it (google “Greater Fool Investing”).

Even if a crypto currency becomes dominant, who says it will be Bitcoin? Maybe it will be Schmitcoin?
This is completely possible. Bitcoin and Ether are the most likely at this point, but their long term survival is not at all guaranteed.

So why all the fuss about Bitcoin? Shouldn’t we wait for Schmitcoin and its cousins to come out?
You could, but you don’t want to ignore how hard it is to start up a network from scratch. It may be that as little as one person can create rival code to compete with the existing digital currencies and blockchains, but one person is not a network. You need a lot of highly technical and motivated people to join you and also to invest their time, energy, and money in making that network run. It’s a highly specialized group of people, and most of the people who would fit that profile are already tied up with an existing network. So it’s not impossible, especially in the long-term, but even if it does happen it would be unlikely to pop up overnight and so Vegas odds for Bitcoin are way shorter.

Let’s go back to the Dansdeals analogy. Imagine that Dansdeals is not the only such website, and there are other websites in existence that provide similar services. For the sake of the analogy let’s call them MMS and OMAAT. They too have big enough followings to survive independently, and even though each one offers a slightly different flavor that differentiates them, anyone on one of the networks could also get their most important needs met on one of the other networks. In this analogy, do you think it’s worth collecting EQP/HT or not? After all, Schmansdeals.com could open up one day and all the business could move there.

The argument for the difficulty of starting up a rival blockchain network is much stronger than in the analogy (especially if we start to include “smart contracts” in the discussion), but the basic idea that you need a critical mass of follows to be successful and compete with existing rivals is the same.

« Last edited by yuneeq on December 25, 2017, 01:05:21 AM »

Author Topic: BitCoin Master Thread  (Read 347670 times)

Online ExGingi

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #660 on: January 18, 2018, 02:01:04 AM »
Use it as a currency. As of now. Until it ( may ) get banned in China and S Korea. And investigated in the US. And regulated in France.
Define currency.

Did you ever read Niall Ferguson's The Ascent of Money? (Full disclosure: TLDR. But heard/read excerpts and discussion).

Where can you "use" it? (In true DDF fashion: which airline, hotel or OTA accepts it as form of payment? Can you buy it with VGCs? Can you buy MOs with it? How about pay your CC balance?)

A while ago I seem to remember seeing on Dell.com that paying with Bitcoin was an option. I doubt that holds true now.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2018, 02:09:17 AM by ExGingi »
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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #661 on: January 18, 2018, 02:13:52 AM »
Define currency.

Did you ever read Niall Ferguson's The Ascent of Money? (Full disclosure: TLDR. But heard/read excerpts and discussion).

Where can you "use" it? (In true DDF fashion: which airline, hotel or OTA accepts it as form of payment? Can you buy it with VGCs? Can you buy MOs with it? How about pay your CC balance?)

A while ago I seem to remember seeing on Dell.com that paying with Bitcoin was an option. I doubt that holds true now.

1) something that is used as a medium of exchange; money.

2) not I didn't read the book.

3)A list of retailers that do ( Aug 17 )

https://www.lifewire.com/big-sites-that-accept-bitcoin-payments-3485965

4)Dell longer accepts Bitcoin

https://blog.dell.com/en-us/we-re-now-accepting-bitcoin-on-dell-com/

Offline yuneeq

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #662 on: January 18, 2018, 02:18:37 AM »
FTFY
Test #1: what can you do with it other than buy and sell it on a platform that you know nothing of?

There are many projects that have many real world uses.

Food for thought: Why are banks (Ripple) creating their own interbank currencies if they're useless?
Why is IBM partnering with Stellar? What are Ethereum smart contracts and how are they useful? How will VeChain help prevent counterfeits in the luxury industry? What do people living in Venezuela and similar countries think about crypto - do they think it's just some fancy useless software or might it save their life?

This is not to say that every coin out there serves a purpose or is worth its valuation.
But the least you can do is educate yourself a bit about the subject and come back with honest, useful questions.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2018, 02:21:54 AM by yuneeq »
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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #663 on: January 18, 2018, 02:35:06 AM »
There are many projects that have many real world uses.

Food for thought: Why are banks (Ripple) creating their own interbank currencies if they're useless?
Why is IBM partnering with Stellar? What are Ethereum smart contracts and how are they useful? How will VeChain help prevent counterfeits in the luxury industry? What do people living in Venezuela and similar countries think about crypto - do they think it's just some fancy useless software or might it save their life?

This is not to say that every coin out there serves a purpose or is worth its valuation.
But the least you can do is educate yourself a bit about the subject and come back with honest, useful questions.
Don't confuse blockchain with currency.
I've been waiting over 5 years with bated breath for someone to say that!
-- Dan

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #664 on: January 18, 2018, 02:43:32 AM »
Sorry to come in the middle of convo but what crypto wallet is recommended? Are there any that supports all alt coins too?

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #665 on: January 18, 2018, 02:58:03 AM »
Sorry to come in the middle of convo but what crypto wallet is recommended? Are there any that supports all alt coins too?
Excellent question in the middle of this conversation. Why don't you go back to all the places where you shopped or transacted in USD (or EUR, ILS, GBP, AUD, CAD, or any other currency) over the past 6 months, and ask them what is best to use when you want to transact with them again.
I've been waiting over 5 years with bated breath for someone to say that!
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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #666 on: January 18, 2018, 03:54:37 AM »
Again, you're talking to people who think that all crypto is a scam, if you do even the slightest research into it.
scam

: a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation

How is crypto a scam? Did anyone lie about it, promise something that wasn't true, or hide any truth about it? I don't see the deception in the operation.

It may not be worth anything, and the "investors" ignorantly speculating on it's value or betting on the greater fool may be stupid, but there is no apparent scam taking place.

If one were to buy a copper ingot for $500k because the seller told him it was gold, he was scammed. If he bought it for $500k because he believed copper is going to be more valuable than gold in a week, he may be a moron, but he wasn't scammed. The two cases are incomparable.
Who do you think you are fooling? You think you are going to pull a quick one on your Creator? Good luck with that.
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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #667 on: January 18, 2018, 03:57:49 AM »
Don't confuse blockchain with currency.
+1000000000000

Someone sent me this video last week to explain why Siacoin is a valuable currency... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cEEG3WOemI&feature=youtu.be

The guy couldn't understand how blockchain may have many useful and valuable applications, but that doesn't automatically make crypto currency valuable.
Who do you think you are fooling? You think you are going to pull a quick one on your Creator? Good luck with that.
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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #668 on: January 18, 2018, 08:28:25 AM »
Excellent question in the middle of this conversation. Why don't you go back to all the places where you shopped or transacted in USD (or EUR, ILS, GBP, AUD, CAD, or any other currency) over the past 6 months, and ask them what is best to use when you want to transact with them again.
We get it. You hate LY, things you don't understand, and Israeli journalism. Put it as your signature or place it in the wiki and move on please.

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #669 on: January 18, 2018, 08:43:55 AM »
Excellent question in the middle of this conversation. Why don't you go back to all the places where you shopped or transacted in USD (or EUR, ILS, GBP, AUD, CAD, or any other currency) over the past 6 months, and ask them what is best to use when you want to transact with them again.

Anyone else want to be more helpful? lol

Offline aygart

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #670 on: January 18, 2018, 08:49:59 AM »
We get it. You hate LY, things you don't understand, and Israeli journalism. Put it as your signature or place it in the wiki and move on please.
Can you explain why a bitcoin is worth more than a nickel?
Feelings don't care about your facts

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #671 on: January 18, 2018, 08:52:37 AM »
Can you explain why a bitcoin is worth more than a nickel?
No.

Offline yuneeq

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #672 on: January 18, 2018, 09:00:05 AM »
Don't confuse blockchain with currency.

Coming from the guy who doesn’t know what currency is.
Plenty of crypto projects are designed to be currency and work exactly like old fashioned currency but better.
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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #673 on: January 18, 2018, 09:04:26 AM »
No.
That is why so many believe it is a scam.
I just found a new supply of forks!

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #674 on: January 18, 2018, 09:05:02 AM »


Coming from the guy who doesn’t know what currency is.
Plenty of crypto projects are designed to be currency and work exactly like old fashioned currency but better.



Can you explain why a bitcoin is worth more than a nickel?

Feelings don't care about your facts

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #675 on: January 18, 2018, 09:06:41 AM »
Don't confuse blockchain with currency.

I’m not the one claiming that ALL crypto is a scam and then mid-topic claim I’m only talking about currencies. Take a deep breath, open google, and tell yourself, I will not stay irrelevant and pretend to be a crypto know-it-all without having educated myself more than reading the latest bitcoin headline on Bloomberg.
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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #676 on: January 18, 2018, 09:06:44 AM »


That is why so many believe it is a scam.






scam

: a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation

How is crypto a scam? Did anyone lie about it, promise something that wasn't true, or hide any truth about it? I don't see the deception in the operation.

It may not be worth anything, and the "investors" ignorantly speculating on it's value or betting on the greater fool may be stupid, but there is no apparent scam taking place.

If one were to buy a copper ingot for $500k because the seller told him it was gold, he was scammed. If he bought it for $500k because he believed copper is going to be more valuable than gold in a week, he may be a moron, but he wasn't scammed. The two cases are incomparable.


Put it as your signature or place it in the wiki and move on please.

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #677 on: January 18, 2018, 09:08:28 AM »
.

Very simple and foolish question, it’s the same reason that gives a nickel a nickels worth of value.
Millions of people believe in its value and utility as a currency, giving it value and utitlty as a currency.
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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #678 on: January 18, 2018, 09:16:32 AM »
We get it. You hate LY, things you don't understand, and Israeli journalism. Put it as your signature or place it in the wiki and move on please.
Don't confuse hate with disdain.

And take "things that I don't understand" out of that list, as those fall into the category of things that intrigue me an raise my natural curiosity.

If we get approval from a LOR (or DDF halacha expert) I am willing to take an over/under bet with you about the value of Bitcoin. With the loser giving $500 to the Yeshiva of the winner's choice.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2018, 09:21:00 AM by ExGingi »
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I just found a new supply of forks!