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 347467 times)

Offline Yammer

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #640 on: January 17, 2018, 01:33:07 PM »
Donno if this is true..

Offline Torkay

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #641 on: January 17, 2018, 02:10:44 PM »
Donno if this is true..
What don’t you know?

Offline ExGingi

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #642 on: January 17, 2018, 02:11:30 PM »
What don’t you know?
I don't know what's the point of posting those screenshots. And then quoting them again so they appear twice.
I've been waiting over 5 years with bated breath for someone to say that!
-- Dan

Offline ChaimMoskowitz

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #643 on: January 17, 2018, 02:15:22 PM »
I don't know what's the point of posting those screenshots. And then quoting them again so they appear twice.
+1000
I just found a new supply of forks!

Offline yuneeq

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #644 on: January 17, 2018, 06:23:12 PM »
Donno if this is true..

That's Bitconnect, an obvious ponzi scheme that anyone who visited any crypto forum would've been warned ad nauseam how its a scam and you will lose all your money. Sadly it reached about 1-2b market cap before it imploded.
Visibly Jewish

Offline Torkay

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #645 on: January 17, 2018, 06:54:33 PM »
I don't know what's the point of posting those screenshots. And then quoting them again so they appear twice.
I’m not the one that posted them... The purpose of me quoting was to ask a question about the legitimacy of these pics. A quick google search led me to understand that bitconnect was a scam that is related to crypto and not an actual flaw in crypto itself

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #646 on: January 17, 2018, 07:07:33 PM »
What is Bitconnect? Is it a cryptocurrency? Is it part of a blockchain? Is it a conglomerate of other currencies? Is it a trading platform?

Offline yuneeq

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #647 on: January 17, 2018, 07:14:07 PM »
What is Bitconnect? Is it a cryptocurrency? Is it part of a blockchain? Is it a conglomerate of other currencies? Is it a trading platform?

It's nothing but a ponzi coin.
It doesn't have any special technology or features, the only feature is that you would invest in it and they pay you back with interest every day.
Visibly Jewish

Offline Yammer

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #648 on: January 17, 2018, 07:23:01 PM »
What don’t you know?
If any of this is true
I don't know what's the point of posting those screenshots. And then quoting them again so they appear twice.
That's Bitconnect, an obvious ponzi scheme that anyone who visited any crypto forum would've been warned ad nauseam how its a scam and you will lose all your money. Sadly it reached about 1-2b market cap before it imploded.
Ouch.

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #649 on: January 17, 2018, 07:25:13 PM »
It's nothing but a ponzi coin.
It doesn't have any special technology or features, the only feature is that you would invest in it and they pay you back with interest every day.

For those of us who think all crypto is a ponzi scheme, please differentiate it from Bitcoin.

Offline Torkay

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #650 on: January 17, 2018, 07:39:08 PM »
For those of us who think all crypto is a ponzi scheme, please differentiate it from Bitcoin.
https://steemit.com/scam/@thegrinder/the-bitconnect-scam-exposed

Offline yuneeq

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #651 on: January 17, 2018, 07:39:54 PM »
For those of us who think all crypto is a ponzi scheme, please differentiate it from Bitcoin.

It's nothing remotely close to bitcoin.
Bitconnect's loan bot produces 1% daily interest. And they have a multi-level referral program.
It's same-old MLM in a shiny new wrapper.
Visibly Jewish

Offline henche

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #652 on: January 17, 2018, 07:53:31 PM »
It's nothing remotely close to bitcoin.
Bitconnect's loan bot produces 1% daily interest. And they have a multi-level referral program.
It's same-old MLM in a shiny new wrapper.

what do you mean loan bot?

So it's a cryptocurrency, whose blockchain awards referals? And whose blockchain also has built in inflation?

Offline yuneeq

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #653 on: January 17, 2018, 07:57:20 PM »
what do you mean loan bot?

So it's a cryptocurrency, whose blockchain awards referals? And whose blockchain also has built in inflation?

Read the article above
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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #655 on: January 17, 2018, 10:26:34 PM »
https://steemit.com/scam/@thegrinder/the-bitconnect-scam-exposed
Ok, yes,  a scam.

Obvious to me,  based on the returns they're promising. Not obvious to crypto investors, who think that kind of return makes sense

Offline yuneeq

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #656 on: January 18, 2018, 01:02:38 AM »
Ok, yes,  a scam.

Obvious to me,  based on the returns they're promising. Not obvious to crypto investors, who think that kind of return makes sense

Again, read any crypto forum, and it's pretty clear that bitconnect is a scam if you do even the slightest research on it.
Visibly Jewish

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #657 on: January 18, 2018, 01:20:57 AM »
Again, read any crypto forum, and it's pretty clear that bitconnect is a scam if you do even the slightest research on it.

Again, you're talking to people who think that all crypto is a scam, if you do even the slightest research into it. 

Offline ExGingi

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Re: BitCoin Master Thread
« Reply #658 on: January 18, 2018, 01:39:33 AM »
Again, you're talking to people who think understand that all crypto is a scam, if you do even the slightest research into it.
FTFY

Test #1: what can you do with it other than buy and sell it on a platform that you know nothing of?


I just realized now that my like count has increased since the last time I checked. Now, that's a valuable currency that can eradicate world hunger. True, likes could be taken away, and mods have been shown to meddle with posts (see וואט אר יור פרעדיקשענס thread), but so far my balance seems to only be going up, and more so והסנה איננו אוכל, despite having satisfied some hungry kids! Can't say any of that about crypto currencies traded on exchanges which are controlled by people who you don't even know by their DDF profile.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2018, 01:45:17 AM by ExGingi »
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 #659 on: January 18, 2018, 01:51:05 AM »
FTFY

Test #1: what can you do with it other than buy and sell it on a platform that you know nothing of?

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.