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

[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's as simple as that all money is worthless when it lacks others who give it value. If people accept and use it as a currency, it has value. Imagine if quarters (the 25 cent pieces) came out of the ground as we use them in the US. They would have no other purpose, yet as a currency they would work fine if accepted.

[QUOTE=Sableye;38673261]didn't the price of bitcoins litterally tank a while back because someone hacked the bitcoin bank and steal like an estimated half a million ohgod striders in this thread[/QUOTE] No, it didn't "literally tank". It dropped from around $14.50 to $8, but leveled out to $10 shortly after and now it's up to around $12.50. And there's no such thing as "the bitcoin bank"; it was one specific exchange.

[QUOTE=ShaunOfTheLive;38673401]No, it didn't "literally tank". It dropped from around $14.50 to $8, but leveled out to $10 shortly after and now it's up to around $12.50. And there's no such thing as "the bitcoin bank"; it was one specific exchange.[/QUOTE] Wasn't that due to pirateat40, not the hacking? I thought the hacking was right around when the price finally broke out of the $5 flatline and started rising?

[QUOTE=mblunk;38673451]Wasn't that due to pirateat40, not the hacking? I thought the hacking was right around when the price finally broke out of the $5 flatline and started rising?[/QUOTE] Yeah, I'm not sure about the timing.

[QUOTE=Falchion;38664290]what caused the bubble?[/QUOTE] the return on bonds and other investments weren't perceived to be adequately covering for inflation so people were demanding precious metals instead of money.

He was running a ponzi and bailed with a good deal of the invested money only to have it laundered by a mining pool he created to ensure he received clean bitcoins in exchange for a higher amount of ponzi coins

Stocks didn't jump after this. The fact that bitcoins would be halved was known ages ago, and people calculated it out that it would be in November.

so basically what this is: You spend 500$ on a GPU to mine coins constantly. How does this even work, why is money being generated by your graphics card

[QUOTE=weedscopes;38695674]so basically what this is: You spend 500$ on a GPU to mine coins constantly. How does this even work, why is money being generated by your graphics card[/QUOTE] The "Money" is a p2p digital currency, and the reason you are making it is because your gpu is being rewarded for supporting the p2p network by mining (Mining = confirming transactions (see [url=http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1229178&p=38636302&viewfull=1#post38636302] my post.[/url]))

So basically bitcoin mining is you let your gpu work for the system and they reward you with the little extras. Seems like easy money for me.

[QUOTE=adam1172;38700091]So basically bitcoin mining is you let your gpu work for the system and they reward you with the little extras. Seems like easy money for me.[/QUOTE] It is, except if you pay for electricity consumption, you're spending about $6 per week (depends on local prices) to earn about $5 per week assuming a modern high-end AMD GPU. [editline]4th December 2012[/editline] ASIC mining devices will make it profitable for a long time once they arrive though.

And if you have a GeForce 8800, you'll make pennies per week

I have two PCs running 1x Radeon 6800 and 2x 5770s. I make pizza money, but so far I've made (according to my bitcoin wallet) ~$40 in bitcoins over the last six months. I just make the miners run whenever my PC is idle, since it's always on - even if it's only $40, it's still enough for a free game on Steam every once in a while.

[QUOTE=Stonecycle;38633751][media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um63OQz3bjo[/media] I pretty much stopped caring when everyone who traded Steam games for Bitcoins stopped.[/QUOTE] oh god when they said "let's look at some examples how bitcoins are used today" i expected human trafficking and heroin [editline]5th December 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Disseminate;38712315]I have two PCs running 1x Radeon 6800 and 2x 5770s. I make pizza money, but so far I've made (according to my bitcoin wallet) ~$40 in bitcoins over the last six months. I just make the miners run whenever my PC is idle, since it's always on - even if it's only $40, it's still enough for a free game on Steam every once in a while.[/QUOTE] you're probably spending more in electric bills lol

I make bitcoins by selling all the TF2 items i couldn't give 2 fucks about on tf2WH. Last batch got me half a bitcoin. [editline]5th December 2012[/editline] Mining with GPUs now just isn't worth it.

[QUOTE=Bobie;38712344]you're probably spending more in electric bills lol[/QUOTE] I don't pay for my electricity, my student residence does :}

[QUOTE=Disseminate;38712807]I don't pay for my electricity, my student residence does :}[/QUOTE] What kind of MH/s are you getting on each card? I've earned about 15 coins since I started in June with my 5850, which gets about 330 MH/s. I actually found my own block back in July, I would've gotten 50 coins on the spot without fees if I wasn't in a pool. Oh well.

Shit. I really need a new card. My 8800 barely gets one tenth of that.

[QUOTE=mblunk;38714920]What kind of MH/s are you getting on each card? I've earned about 15 coins since I started in June with my 5850, which gets about 330 MH/s. I actually found my own block back in July, I would've gotten 50 coins on the spot without fees if I wasn't in a pool. Oh well.[/QUOTE] ~300 MH/s on 6800, ~350 combined on 5770s [editline]5th December 2012[/editline] 5770s aren't always on though

[QUOTE=ShaunOfTheLive;38715026]Shit. I really need a new card. My 8800 barely gets one tenth of that.[/QUOTE] NVIDIA cards are inherently terrible at mining, about one fifth as fast as otherwise equally performing AMD cards. It has to do with the fact that AMD uses more (albeit simpler) shaders on their cards, and that one of the most used operations in mining can be run with a single instruction on AMD but requires 3 instructions on NVIDIA cards.

My little HD6670 could pull off 110MH/s without overclocking. Great little GPU that is.

[QUOTE=mblunk;38717455]NVIDIA cards are inherently terrible at mining, about one fifth as fast as otherwise equally performing AMD cards. It has to do with the fact that AMD uses more (albeit simpler) shaders on their cards, and that one of the most used operations in mining can be run with a single instruction on AMD but requires 3 instructions on NVIDIA cards.[/QUOTE] Dammit, I don't like AMD. Maybe I'll just get a job instead of mining.