Total number of Bitcoins hits 10.5 million, production halves to stop inflation - Polidicks

[img]http://cdn2.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/7279395/bitcoin_lead_large_verge_medium_landscape.png[/img] [quote]The total number of Bitcoins in circulation just hit 10.5 million, triggering a safeguard against inflation that was hardcoded into the digital currency. This means a drastic change in the number of new Bitcoins being created, which is expected to have a huge impact on the economy that has been developing around the ecurrency. The safeguard has to do with the "block reward," the number of Bitcoins that can be created at a time, which has dropped from 50 to 25. Bitcoin miners, geeks who configure their own computers to mint the cultish digital currency, have been waiting for this moment for a long time — about four years, which is how long Bitcoins have been in circulation. [highlight]THE SUDDEN SCARCITY OF NEW COINS IS LIKELY TO DRIVE THE VALUE OF BITCOINS UP[/highlight] The sudden scarcity of new coins is likely to drive the value of Bitcoins up, as fewer new coins enter the system and current Bitcoin owners hoard their stashes. It's also possible that the change will simply trigger a period of instability due to the sudden change in the money supply. Another factor could add to the turmoil: new chips custom-built for Bitcoin mining will make the process many times more powerful and efficient. Exactly who designed Bitcoin is still a mystery. However, the ecurrency was engineered so that the technology could automatically adjust itself, replacing the need for a central monetary authority like the Federal Reserve. The block reward change is just one of many safeguards built into the protocol, which has been hailed as a masterful technological and economic accomplishment. Bitcoin has been hailed as a revolutionary populist movement, but it's also a grand economic experiment. The market's reaction in the coming weeks will be the first major test of whether technology can replace government's role in regulating money.[/quote] [url=http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/28/3701434/total-number-of-bitcoins-hits-10-5-million-production-halves-to-stop]SOURCE[/url]

I still don't understand how bitcoins can possibly have value. Like I never understood it in the first place, not the fact that it's unpopular makes it used less thus less demand. I wish there was like some 5 min, nah maybe like 3 min youtube video that could explain this to me real easy

so does this mean I can sell my heroin on silk road for even [i]more[/i] monopoly money?

I'll never get any so it doesn't matter ....

I thought the thread was going to be about bitches from the title

[QUOTE=The Baconator;38631633]I still don't understand how bitcoins can possibly have value. Like I never understood it in the first place, not the fact that it's unpopular makes it used less thus less demand. I wish there was like some 5 min, nah maybe like 3 min youtube video that could explain this to me real easy[/QUOTE] It has value in the manner that cash has value. Someone exists that wants to trade it for goods or services [QUOTE=YourFriendJoe;38631650]So they don't know the guy who made bitcoins? What if the technology they talked about in the article he made just deleted everything? Would suck for all those people who farmed all those coins but It would be interesting to see reactions. [editline]28th November 2012[/editline] Also I thought the thread was going to be about bitches from the title[/QUOTE] He can't, it doesn't work that way

[QUOTE=The Baconator;38631633]I still don't understand how bitcoins can possibly have value. Like I never understood it in the first place, not the fact that it's unpopular makes it used less thus less demand. I wish there was like some 5 min, nah maybe like 3 min youtube video that could explain this to me real easy[/QUOTE] I think you can exchange Bitcoins for more or less free money at some places? I quite like the idea of Bitcoins to be honest. A global ecurrency that has no exchange rate or anything. Pretty neat idea.

time to invest

Reminds me, I could use some good dank right now, but with the prices going haywire for a period means I'll have to consult a physical dealer. And was it FPGA's or ARM processors that were excellent for bitcoin mining?

I want to get involved but from all I know is that I can't actually do that...on my own.

Just when I was considering to start mining...

Dunning-Krugerrands

i've never seen any non deep web sites that use bitcoins as an acceptable currency for goods

[QUOTE=Swilly;38631762]I want to get involved but from all I know is that I can't actually do that...on my own.[/QUOTE] There was an idea for an FP mining pool but it never materialized.

[QUOTE=The Baconator;38631633]I still don't understand how bitcoins can possibly have value. Like I never understood it in the first place, not the fact that it's unpopular makes it used less thus less demand. I wish there was like some 5 min, nah maybe like 3 min youtube video that could explain this to me real easy[/QUOTE] Why does cash have value? It's only valuble because everyone accepts it as having value. If half the US population just decided that their loaf of bread wasn't worth $1-2 anymore, and that a dollar bill had no value to them at all except for the raw value of the paper, then you wouldn't be able to use a dollar to buy that loaf of bread - because it would have no value. You'd have to either barter directly, or trade for something they do find value in. Bitcoins are the same way. They are valuable as long as people put a value on it, and determine that 1 btc is worth 1 loaf of bread (for example). However its extremely unlikely that people will ever value a currency that is A. Common, and B. Easy to Fraud (because then anyone can have it), which is why only regulated currencies ever have value with people versus bottlecaps. Gold for example has extreme value because of it being scarce and reguarded as a regulated currency that you can't simply get by simple means. Bitcoins work in the same way in that much of its value is determined simply by how much is actually in circulation (of which, there is a hard limit), how much is mined per day, etc. And because Bitcoins are regulated simply because how it is coded, there's no way to "fake" a bitcoin, which gives legitimacy as a currency. These are reasons why it still has value today, even if you can't exactly walk down the street and start buying things at your everyday store using them. It's not a widely adopted currency, and its not exactly the most stable currency out there with constant fluctuations in value (which is normal considering its so "new"), but it still holds more value than the USD despite this.

[QUOTE=Van-man;38631735]Reminds me, I could use some good dank right now, but with the prices going haywire for a period means I'll have to consult a physical dealer. And was it FPGA's or ARM processors that were excellent for bitcoin mining?[/QUOTE] The cheap and dirty mining rig was like 4 GPU's hooked together.

[QUOTE=The Baconator;38631633]I still don't understand how bitcoins can possibly have value. Like I never understood it in the first place, not the fact that it's unpopular makes it used less thus less demand. I wish there was like some 5 min, nah maybe like 3 min youtube video that could explain this to me real easy[/QUOTE] same idea as real money, it only has value because a bunch of people agreed it does

In simple, you can buy weed and guns for bitcoins so it has value.

[QUOTE=Van-man;38631735]Reminds me, I could use some good dank right now, but with the prices going haywire for a period means I'll have to consult a physical dealer. And was it FPGA's or ARM processors that were excellent for bitcoin mining?[/QUOTE] It was AMD gpus.

There used to be a website you could use to buy steam games with bitcoins. No clue what happened to it.

[QUOTE=The Baconator;38631633]I still don't understand how bitcoins can possibly have value. Like I never understood it in the first place, not the fact that it's unpopular makes it used less thus less demand. I wish there was like some 5 min, nah maybe like 3 min youtube video that could explain this to me real easy[/QUOTE] I don't understand how dollars could possibly have value. I mean it's just strips of paper

[QUOTE=AJisAwesome15;38631849]i've never seen any non deep web sites that use bitcoins as an acceptable currency for goods[/QUOTE] [URL="http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonmatonis/2012/11/16/whats-your-bitcoin-strategy-wordpress-now-accepts-bitcoin-across-the-planet/"]Wordpress[/URL] is now accepting bitcoins, and reddit has plans to accept them in the near future.

[QUOTE=AJisAwesome15;38631849]i've never seen any non deep web sites that use bitcoins as an acceptable currency for goods[/QUOTE] [URL="http://minethings.com"]Minethings[/URL] does, though I suspect only because then they can make a bitcoin mining joke. There's a whole list of them on the wiki, though: [url]https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Trade#Internet_.26_Mobile_services[/url]

[QUOTE=The Baconator;38631633]I still don't understand how bitcoins can possibly have value. Like I never understood it in the first place, not the fact that it's unpopular makes it used less thus less demand. I wish there was like some 5 min, nah maybe like 3 min youtube video that could explain this to me real easy[/QUOTE] same reason that our paper money has any value it has value because people will trade goods and services for them. if no one took bitcoins they would have no value; if no one accepted paper money, paper money would have no value

[QUOTE=Van-man;38631735]Reminds me, I could use some good dank right now, but with the prices going haywire for a period means I'll have to consult a physical dealer. And was it FPGA's or ARM processors that were excellent for bitcoin mining?[/QUOTE] Don't bother, electricity costs will put you in the red

[QUOTE=supersnail11;38632439][URL="http://minethings.com"]Minethings[/URL] does, though I suspect only because then they can make a bitcoin mining joke. There's a whole list of them on the wiki, though: [url]https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Trade#Internet_.26_Mobile_services[/url][/QUOTE] It should also be noted that recently the trade page was trimmed down majorly. Many more merchants exist.

[QUOTE=Disseminate;38631690]time to invest[/QUOTE]

I don't even know what the fuck a bitcoin is :v:

[QUOTE=SuperHoboMan;38632554]I don't even know what the fuck a bitcoin is :v:[/QUOTE] Commonly used for the black market Silkroad.

[QUOTE=The Baconator;38631633]I still don't understand how bitcoins can possibly have value. Like I never understood it in the first place, not the fact that it's unpopular makes it used less thus less demand. I wish there was like some 5 min, nah maybe like 3 min youtube video that could explain this to me real easy[/QUOTE] wtf how can green paper have value?????????????????????? it's just like any other currency, it needs to be accepted and agreed upon with everyone, allowing you to exchange bitcoins for x product