Bitcoin is not just digital currency. It's Napster for finance.

CNN Money ^ | 21 January 2014 | David Z. Morris

[Errant]

Meanwhile:

Why Bitcoin Matters [NY Times]

"The coming years will be a period of great drama and excitement revolving around this new technology.

For example, some prominent economists are deeply skeptical of Bitcoin, even though Ben S. Bernanke, formerly Federal Reserve chairman, recently wrote that digital currencies like Bitcoin “may hold long-term promise, particularly if they promote a faster, more secure and more efficient payment system.” And in 1999, the legendary economist Milton Friedman said: “One thing that’s missing but will soon be developed is a reliable e-cash, a method whereby on the Internet you can transfer funds from A to B without A knowing B or B knowing A – the way I can take a $20 bill and hand it over to you, and you may get that without knowing who I am.”

Economists who attack Bitcoin today might be correct, but I’m with Ben and Milton."

[mrsmith]

Bitcoin question:

What are the opportunities- besides investment?
Jobs, services needed?

[Errant]

Jobs, services needed?

Some that come to mind...

Integration
Programming
Consulting
Training
Hardware
Mining
Sales
Legal
Tax
B2B

[mrsmith]

well, thanks anyway. Hard to not be vague at this point.
Someone’s gonna make a bundle in one of those areas somehow.

[DUMBGRUNT]

I see different price quotes on different bitcoin markets?

Can the spread be played (arbitraged)?

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Watch the worldwide flow of bitcoins in real time at this website

http://fiatleak.com/

Look at the flow to China.

[mmichaels1970]

What are the opportunities- besides investment?

I'm sort of new to the entire thing but based on some research I've been doing into the area:

Mining - Be somebody who MAKES the coins rather than buys them. In the event of a crash, the high-end equipment could be sold off to recoup losses. Now mining bitcoins appears to be a bit out of reach for us common-folk. However, alt-coins like Litecoin can still be mined using decent graphics cards. Those resulting litecoins can then be exchanged for bitcoins or sold for cash just like the bitcoin. At the current exchange rate (if all holds steady of course), most decent mining rigs should see themselves fully paid for in about 4 months. Electricity cost should also be factored into the profitability of your rig.

Equipment - The price of high-end equipment like graphics cards has gone up dramatically with this mining rush. The ability to build a decent mining rig and then sell it at a profit could be a way to go.

Consulting - Techies can teach people how to mine. Finance/brokers can teach people how to trade.

Renting - I've seen people rent out their mining rigs for 24hour periods where all coins mined in that period are transferred directly to the renter. People appear willing to pay more in rent than the value of the mined coins due to speculation that the coins they do receive will eventually increase in value.

Some of the risks outside of a crash involve new methods of "scamming". For instance, I've learned that attempting to sell coins via paypal or ebay frequently results in buyers claiming they never received your "product" thus granting them a full refund so you end up out the money and out the coins.

As I said, I've just started researching this area. I don't know if it's all going to pan out, or crash-and-burn. I'm more than willing to hear other points of view or learn more from those with more experience.

[mmichaels1970]

Can the spread be played (arbitraged)?

From what I understand, yes it can. However I've heard that transactions can experience delays that might prevent you from successfully moving between exchanges. Also there are deposit/withdrawal and transaction fees that may also need to be taken into account.

[mmichaels1970]

Watch the worldwide flow of bitcoins in real time at this website

That's awesome! lol. I don't completely understand what I'm looking at, but I aim to figure it out.

[dalereed]

Now I’m really lost, I have no idea what napster is.

[GeronL]

NAPSTER is a file sharing program where people share illegal copies of copyrighted software.

[Errant]

Napster was a well known program (a file sharing application) that used peer to peer networking (P2P) technology. Cryptocurrencies build on that technology for use in their distributed database ledgers.

[Errant]

Hard to not be vague at this point.

In what way?

[Errant]

Napster

[Errant]

Look at the flow to China.

You mean even the Chinese government hasn't been able to eradicate Bitcoin? ;)

I suppose once people experience freedom, and acquire the tools of a freeperson, it's harder to subjugate them.

[Errant]

Update: Enter UltraCoin: It Is To Banks As Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Is To The Music Industry

[mrsmith]

Didn’t mean to sound critical errant. Was after very specific examples.

One that occurs to me is using a program like SETI@home to create a bitcoin mining ‘company’.
Or groups like FR could support themselves by sharing their computers’ downtime for Bitcoin mining.

[MrB]

When the fiat-issuing governments start seeing it as a threat, they’ll do what they can to shut it down, including propaganda and sabotage.

[mmichaels1970]

One that occurs to me is using a program like SETI@home to create a bitcoin mining ‘company’.

Those already exist. They are called "mining pools". It has apparently become near impossible for a miner to go "solo" with standard equipment. So these pools were created where groups of people combine their computer power to mine the coins. When a coin is awarded, it is split amongst the pool based on the resources that were lent to it.

An example of a pool that I've seen is one called coinotron

[TsonicTsunami08]

Full faith and credit?
We are over 17 Trillion with a “T” in debt and climbing.
Do you have faith in the Commander in Chief and the Cabal that surrounds him?
The Chinese are starting to run rings around us because of our dumbed down leadership.

This is a non starter FRiend, I am very sorry to say!

Bitcoin the protocol is here to stay and it will gain the lions share of all things financial.

Diversify between DACs ( Distributed Autonomous Communities ) If you want to balance risk. This infrastructure is being built over the decentralized encrypted Bitcoin network and it is changing everything. Bitcoin the currency is the tip of the iceberg

Here’s an example, give it a read if you like. A total tsunami this way cometh.

https://bitsharestalk.org/index.php?topic=1053.0