Posted on 05/29/2016 5:04:47 PM PDT by oblomov
“Bit coin” is a total nothing. Anything not backed in rock solid Gold is a joke.You had just as well believe in tulip bulbs.
The US dollar USED TO BE backed by gold, until Pres. Nixon took the US off the gold standard.
Paper Federal Reserve Notes are now worth ?
Downhill we go.................
Its “value” can only be measured in easily traded - and highly regulated - sovereign currencies.
This isn't terribly surprising as sovereign currencies are what we relate to best currently.
Bitcoin’s greatest strength - total secrecy - is also its greatest weakness.
Bitcoin maintains (and relies on) a completely public ledger. So it is far from total secrecy. Its best described as pseudonymous, masking identity.
If there is no verifiable transaction history, how do you legally “prove” ownership, or pay an employee, or discharge a debt?
The public ledger validates the transaction history tracing back to the creation of any bitcoin in the system. Ownership is demonstrated by proving possession of a private cryptographic key in the form of a digital signature. Paying an employee or discharging a debt requires signing a transaction giving cryptographic control of some bitcoin to another private key.
If I buy your house for 1,000 Bitcoins, and you claim the money never arrived in your account, how do either one of us prove the transaction did - or did not - take place?
Since the ledger is public, its easy to show that a transaction took place. In the case of large transactions an escrow agent can be used as a third party. The funds are placed in escrow controlled by the private keys of the three parties. Two of three signatures are required to move the funds from escrow.
I could be lying about sending the money. Or, you could be lying about not receiving the money. Or, the payment may have been incorrectly routed. Or, the transaction may have been hacked.
Most of these concerns are addressed using escrow. The cryptography that Bitcoin is based on has proven secure for the time being. It has not been hacked at the basic level over the last seven years. Cryptographic systems do fail eventually, but usually not suddenly. The system can be updated to whatever the latest and greatest is at that time.
Who knows? And how do you prove it? And how do you get an enforceable judgment?
From here, use your imagination...
They are so gushing with cash, they can afford a few adventures.
Yes, but so far...
Maybe Ransom-Ware is helping - a commercial says that they demand payment in Bitcoin before unlocking files....
No, silly, you buy when it’s high because it will go higher. And if the price drops, well, then you buy more because it’s low. /S
“No, silly, you buy when it’s high because it will go higher. And if the price drops, well, then you buy more because it’s low. /S”
thanks for straightening me out on the proper way to buy and sell bitcoin; no wonder I’ve been losing so much money on it lately ...
“My money is tied up in Unobtanium and Impossibilium. The only source of these precious elements is the wild mountains of Trashcanistan.”
Hey, at least you’re investing in something tangible!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.