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

[QUOTE=ShaunOfTheLive;38634042]So, not similar at all then.[/QUOTE] The canadian dollar is pretty stable, plus it's currently parity with the US dollar so it's also pretty valueable.

[QUOTE=Zephyrs;38634296]I wouldn't say that about gold. I suppose it's possible that it's a bubble, but gold does have a lot of intrinsic values. It's absolutely essential in almost every piece of computer related technology we have, and there aren't any substitutes for the moment. Things can go up in price without them being bubbles, as long as there is an actual use or need for those things.[/QUOTE] Gold is being pumped up by naive bandwagon investing. No wonder we hear, gold gold gold everywhere. It's a good investment if you don't plan on holding onto it for too long. There are better metals to invest in, in my opinion.

Man, this crazy internet currency and underground trading absolutely bottles my mind, if I'm getting it correctly, simply by idling your computer long enough you could effectively get free heroin?

The only reason money has value is because we were told it has value. It's a pretty elaborate Emperor's New Clothes prank.

[QUOTE=Secone;38633903]Of course this would happen when I was just about to work up the nerve to make my first purchase on Silk Road. Then again, I don't think there will be too huge of an impact? It sounds like the prices on sites like that are adjusted according to the value of Bitcoins.[/QUOTE] You should have invested in them coins earlier. If this cut in the money supply is bad enough to cause deflation, you might see yourself some real cheap crack.

[QUOTE=EmperorKabuto;38634965]Man, this crazy internet currency and underground trading absolutely bottles my mind, if I'm getting it correctly, simply by idling your computer long enough you could effectively get free heroin?[/QUOTE] It's the same as tf2. If you idle enough in there you'll be able to afford heroin too. Just that bitcoins are dependant on hardware and are actually seen as a currency.

[QUOTE=V12US;38634991]The only reason money has value is because we were told it has value. It's a pretty elaborate Emperor's New Clothes prank.[/QUOTE] master economist and anthropologist V12US tells us how it is

[QUOTE=EmperorKabuto;38634965]Man, this crazy internet currency and underground trading absolutely bottles my mind, if I'm getting it correctly, simply by idling your computer long enough you could effectively get free heroin?[/QUOTE] Yes, but it would take a really, really long time. From my math, it's somewhere from 16-25 bitcoins for a gram, depending on where you are. That would still take months of constant calculation with a top-tier machine, and even then you'd need to ignore the cost of the computer and the cost of the electricity.

I haven't really respected bitcoins personally, isn't mining slow as fuck anyways making it kinda useless? [QUOTE=Zillamaster55;38632731]Going to play idiot's advocate here: What are bitcoins.[/QUOTE] its like people don't Google these days

[QUOTE=J!NX;38635120]I haven't really respected bitcoins personally, isn't mining slow as fuck anyways making it kinda useless?[/QUOTE] For virtually everyone that doesn't happen to have access to a supercomputer.

[QUOTE=Strider*;38635190]For virtually everyone that doesn't happen to have access to a supercomputer.[/QUOTE] and since that would be costly + electrical bills wouldn't it kind of be stupid and pointless? especially with rarity of others using it? I remember someone saying a 300,000$ computer is an investment, he didn't know what the fuck he was saying however

so would it be legitimately good to buy a few bitcoins now or is it too late to make any sort of profit off this event? [editline]29th November 2012[/editline] i mean i figure now that production has gone down that the value of a bitcoin should go up at least a bit, right?

[QUOTE=yawmwen;38635229] i mean i figure now that production has gone down that the value of a bitcoin should go up at least a bit, right?[/QUOTE] I think the intent is just to cut the rate of inflation. However, if this automatic cut actually fucks it up and causes deflation then yeah you could profit a bit from buying in now. It'd fuck up the whole bitcoin economy so you wouldn't want to hold onto them for too long, though.

[QUOTE=ButtsexV3;38632710]the problem is that with virtual money there's nothing limiting inflation[/QUOTE] The point of this article is?

[QUOTE=yawmwen;38635229]so would it be legitimately good to buy a few bitcoins now or is it too late to make any sort of profit off this event? [editline]29th November 2012[/editline] i mean i figure now that production has gone down that the value of a bitcoin should go up at least a bit, right?[/QUOTE] Don't go down the rabbithole, it's full of ponzis and delicious e-tears

wats a ponzi and i would try and invest any money that i wasnt fully prepared to lose anyways.

When you see a turd covered in gold, you might think its a good idea to get in on that, because hey, its covered in fucking gold. But no matter how much gold is there, there is a proportionally gigantic turd underneath. Once you peel back the thin veneer of gold the whole point is lost, because you'll be seeing that gold covered turd as what it is, turd. that is investing in bitcoins

are there any other good short term investments that can make money then?

[QUOTE=yawmwen;38635756]are there any other good short term investments that can make money then?[/QUOTE] junk bonds. they're extraordinarily risky but you can't have high reward without high risk. I wouldn't advise investing in them unless you're really confident that it'll work out well. you're pretty young though so aggressive investments might be beneficial to you.

[QUOTE=yawmwen;38635756]are there any other good short term investments that can make money then?[/QUOTE] Trade stocks?

The scheme here is that everyone who knew this trigger would happen could've been buying BC just before and now sell it for a fortune. As the article mentions it's an inherent feature of the system and the guys who created it deserve praise and hate for one of the greatest pyramid schemes ever.

Its a free market, man.

[QUOTE=zombojoe;38635820]Its a free market, man.[/QUOTE] When one party has more information available than the other it really is not. Imagine facebook entering the stock market ans someone knows for sure that once a certain amount of facebook stocks are bought they'll suddenly limit the rate of spilling them onto the market.

[QUOTE=Lazor;38635022]master economist and anthropologist V12US tells us how it is[/QUOTE] Finally, recognition. I'm one step closer to usurping Garry and seizing control of Facepunch.

Everyone knew that bitcoins get harder to mine the more there are. Its not something deliberately hidden from people, its one of the first things they are informed about.

[QUOTE=zombojoe;38635864]Everyone knew that bitcoins get harder to mine the more there are. Its not something deliberately hidden from people, its one of the first things they are informed about.[/QUOTE] Exactly. You can see exactly how many bitcoins are in circulation at every moment as well. [editline]29th November 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=E1025;38632750]I still don't understand what it means to 'mine' bitcoins.[/QUOTE] Quick breakdown: Hardware generates useless random hashes to work towards a goal of generating a hash of a certain "difficulty" (requirement). The difficulty causes bitcoins to always be generated at approximately 10 minutes per block. If someone generates a hash at or above the currently set difficulty, their work is rewarded with the block reward, and the tax fee's of a few hundred transactions that they usually include in the block (that's one of the points of a block, to write transactions to the network). The block is then broadcasted to the p2p network. The difficulty changes depending on how fast or slow blocks were generated. If the average was faster then a block every 10 minutes, the difficulty increases (usually this happens because more people are mining, increases the total network hashrate). The difficulty drops if blocks took an average of more then 10 minutes. This cycle happens every 2016 blocks.

[QUOTE=zombojoe;38635864]Everyone knew that bitcoins get harder to mine the more there are. Its not something deliberately hidden from people, its one of the first things they are informed about.[/QUOTE] The rate of difficulty and it's dependence on the bitcoin number is not.

[QUOTE=Killuah;38635787]The scheme here is that everyone who knew this trigger would happen could've been buying BC just before and now sell it for a fortune. As the article mentions it's an inherent feature of the system and the guys who created it deserve praise and hate for one of the [b]greatest pyramid schemes ever[/b].[/QUOTE] I wouldn't call it a pyramid scheme at all, if anything it'd be closer to a Ponzi because of its bubble like nature. But that's something they're trying to get rid of. The goal is to stabilize the currency, I don't think the creators of bitcoin want it to be as volatile as it is now. At least not in the long run. I also just realized I can use bitcoin to illegally play poker online, sweet.

Yes, you can play poker with it, or you can buy things from amazon with it from btczone.com. I've bought a flash drive holder, CD holder, 64GB microSD card, phone battery, and bluetooth speaker with bitcoin in the past few months mined with my 5850.

[QUOTE=Neo Kabuto;38635027]Yes, but it would take a really, really long time. From my math, it's somewhere from 16-25 bitcoins for a gram, depending on where you are. That would still take months of constant calculation with a top-tier machine, and even then you'd need to ignore the cost of the computer and the cost of the electricity.[/QUOTE] 16-25 BTC a gram? [img]http://i46.tinypic.com/xdcunr.png[/img] However, the best deals on the deep web are the weapons and services. [img]http://i47.tinypic.com/1zpjeag.png[/img] [img]http://i45.tinypic.com/157dlid.png[/img] [img]http://i47.tinypic.com/13z8nt5.png[/img] [img]http://i47.tinypic.com/28ksf8h.png[/img] [img]http://i46.tinypic.com/2vjwy7q.png[/img]