Posted on 03/30/2021 12:20:14 PM PDT by aMorePerfectUnion
If you still can’t figure out what the heck a bitcoin is…
I have one apple with me. I give it to you.
You now have one apple and I have zero.
That was simple, right?
My apple was physically put into your hand.
You know it happened. I was there. You were there. You touched it.
We didn’t need a third person there to help us make the transfer. We didn’t need to pull in Uncle Tommy (who’s a famous judge) to sit with us on the bench and confirm that the apple went from me to you.
The apple’s yours! I can’t give you another apple because I don’t have any left. ...You have full control over that apple now. You can give it to your friend if you want, and then that friend can give it to his friend.
What if we gave this ledger — to everybody? Instead of the ledger living on a Blizzard computer, it’ll live in everybody’s computers. All the transactions that have ever happened, from all time, in digital apples will be recorded in it.
You can’t cheat it. I can’t send you digital apples I don’t have, because then it wouldn’t sync up with everybody in the system. It’d be a tough system to beat. Especially if it got really big.
The rules of the system were already defined at the beginning. And the code and rules are open-source. ...
You could participate in this network too and update the ledger and make sure it all checks out. For the trouble, you could get like 25 digital apples as a reward. In fact, that’s the only way to create more digital apples in the system.
(Excerpt) Read more at freecodecamp.org ...
Downed internet because of governments or natural disasters will stop Bitcoin...People will work immediately to bring the internet back. If the internet stops working entirely so do modern economies and governments.
Bitcoin can function even with 1% of the current nodes. Internet shutdowns, solar flares, or other disasters might disrupt a large part of the internet but Bitcoin would be secured by the part of the internet that continues to function.
The internet is adaptive–Bitcoin satellites, mesh networks, and radio transmitters can continue to transmit Bitcoin blocks and transactions between countries if cellular or fiber internet goes down
Slow or broken communication between countries can be worked around. Delays in communication between chains means more blocks are required for final settlement, but does not stop Bitcoin. If the chain split is permanent each chain can fork to disallow being rewritten.
https://safehodl.github.io/failure/#shut-off-internet-because
Simple. S. W. I. N. D. L. E.
Tulip mania taken to a new high-tech level.
Only the first few that get into the Ponzi scheme ever get a payoff.
For later.
Bitcoin has been there for more than 10 years now...
All I can tell you is that I began invested in crypto about 4 months ago.
As I write this, my crypto portfolio is up 83.20%
Reality:
I have an apple.
You have a item for sale.
I give you an apple.
You give me the item.
There’s an apple ...... somewhere........
Sooo, you need access to that interweb thingy, dontcha?
It is better said that bitcoin does not require you to have access to the internet.
It will exist even if you cannot access it.
Nah...that was Q. Bitcoin is different.
How do I create a bitcoin? Is there a ‘ bank’ ? Who sets ‘worth’?
The value it brings is in the immutable network.
The “tokens” are merely the markers on the network. The fact that it cannot be counterfeited gives it value.
We are in the very early stages of this. Very, very early.
Bitcoins are “Created” via mining, but validating the accuracy of the blockchain ledger.
No bank is involved, unless you wish to cash out.
The market sets worth - just like walmart stock.
Thank you, I will check it out tonight.
But I will say-with each passing day, I am more, and more against digital currency, especially a mandated digital currency.
With the advent of 5G, there is going to be a big push for that.
And with digital currency comes control...even if we manage to secure our individual data for ourselves (that we own our own data, not the government, and not Big Tech) in that 5G world that is coming, I am still not convinced this is the way we should go.
I am not a Luddite by any means, but I am resistant to this. The option is okay, but...we have seen, there are people in powerful places who don’t want it to be an option.
For more detailed response, I copied and pasted this...
How are new bitcoins created?
New bitcoins are generated by the network through the process of “mining”. In a process that is similar to a continuous raffle draw, mining nodes on the network are awarded bitcoins each time they find the solution to a certain mathematical problem (and thereby create a new block). Creating a block is a proof of work with a difficulty that varies with the overall strength of the network. The reward for solving a block is automatically adjusted so that, ideally, every four years of operation of the Bitcoin network, half the amount of bitcoins created in the prior 4 years are created. A maximum of 10,499,889.80231183 bitcoins were created in the first 4 (approx.) years from January 2009 to November 2012. Every four years thereafter this amount halves, so it should be 5,250,000 over years 4-8, 2,625,000 over years 8-12, and so on. Thus the total number of bitcoins in existence can never exceed 20,999,839.77085749 and counting. See Controlled Currency Supply.
Blocks are mined every 10 minutes, on average and for the first four years (210,000 blocks) each block included 50 new bitcoins. As the amount of processing power directed at mining changes, the difficulty of creating new bitcoins changes. This difficulty factor is calculated every 2016 blocks and is based upon the time taken to generate the previous 2016 blocks. See Mining.
Think of Tulip Mania in the 17th century. Then think about what happened when the tulip “holders” discovered there were other flowers in the world.
Thanks for the article - it helps, but I’m still basically confused. And maybe that’s just me.
It pretty much comes down to this: I know what to do with the apple that guy gave me, but I’m not real sure what I can do with the digital apple he sent me. (Yeah, I do realize I can sell that digital apple to somebody else, maybe even for a load of dough, but when that digital apple stops moving around, what does the last guy do with it?). If somebody cornered the market on every single digital apple in existence, would that person be incredibly rich, or basically destitute?
Tulips would make great currency—personally I would prefer them to bitcoin—at least you get beautiful flowers out of the deal, you can take _physical_ possession of _something_, and they are still there when the power goes out or the hackers shut down the computer system!
Other than the digital apple, are there digital oranges, tomatoes, grapes? Which is worth more?
Your question about buying up all of the apples is almost moot now. It would drive the price up incredibly high.
Remember, bitcoins can be divided to the 8th places. People will not hold bitcoins, but rather these little pieces of a Bitcoin. In a year or so, owning a Bitcoin will be like life savings.
Central bank digital currency is not your friend. Independent crypto currency—not beholden to a bank or country—will blow them away.
Central bank digital currency is not your friend. Independent crypto currency—not beholden to a bank or country—will blow them away.
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