Can someone explain this to me?
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OK, I'm a retired old fart.
I use credit cards, a checking account, etc.
(please type really slowly so I can get this)
Can someone please explain Bitcoin to me? Other than anonymity, what's the point?
"Bitcoin mining?" WTF is that.
Should I be concerned, or just ignore?
wrote on 4 Aug 2021, 07:32 last edited by@george-k said in Can someone explain this to me?:
"Bitcoin mining?" WTF is that.
It's the Bitcoin way of how to deal with the initial distribution of currency and the growth of the money supply. The idea is that you can create new Bitcoin by solving computationally expensive problems.
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OK, I'm a retired old fart.
I use credit cards, a checking account, etc.
(please type really slowly so I can get this)
Can someone please explain Bitcoin to me? Other than anonymity, what's the point?
"Bitcoin mining?" WTF is that.
Should I be concerned, or just ignore?
wrote on 4 Aug 2021, 11:39 last edited by
16th Century Tulips
21st Century Tulips -
wrote on 4 Aug 2021, 11:58 last edited by Doctor Phibes 8 Apr 2021, 12:01
I'm none the wiser after reading all that.
I do know that I can't buy a decent video card for love nor money.
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I'm none the wiser after reading all that.
I do know that I can't buy a decent video card for love nor money.
wrote on 4 Aug 2021, 12:01 last edited by@doctor-phibes said in Can someone explain this to me?:
I'm none the wiser after reading all that.
You took the words right out of my keyboard, Phibes.
I felt like a 4-year-old listening to Uncle Einstein explain relativity.
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@doctor-phibes said in Can someone explain this to me?:
I'm none the wiser after reading all that.
You took the words right out of my keyboard, Phibes.
I felt like a 4-year-old listening to Uncle Einstein explain relativity.
wrote on 4 Aug 2021, 12:02 last edited by@catseye3 said in Can someone explain this to me?:
I felt like a 4-year-old listening to Uncle Einstein explain relativity.
I felt like a 4 year old listening to a bunch of people who don't really understand relativity trying to explain relativity.
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@george-k said in Can someone explain this to me?:
"Bitcoin mining?" WTF is that.
It's the Bitcoin way of how to deal with the initial distribution of currency and the growth of the money supply. The idea is that you can create new Bitcoin by solving computationally expensive problems.
wrote on 4 Aug 2021, 12:16 last edited by@klaus said in Can someone explain this to me?:
@george-k said in Can someone explain this to me?:
"Bitcoin mining?" WTF is that.
It's the Bitcoin way of how to deal with the initial distribution of currency and the growth of the money supply. The idea is that you can create new Bitcoin by solving computationally expensive problems.
It seems to me that there's a fundamental flaw with a currency that requires you to do something completely pointless and damaging to the environment in order to create wealth.
Then again, I guess you could say the same thing about gold mining.
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@klaus said in Can someone explain this to me?:
@george-k said in Can someone explain this to me?:
"Bitcoin mining?" WTF is that.
It's the Bitcoin way of how to deal with the initial distribution of currency and the growth of the money supply. The idea is that you can create new Bitcoin by solving computationally expensive problems.
It seems to me that there's a fundamental flaw with a currency that requires you to do something completely pointless and damaging to the environment in order to create wealth.
Then again, I guess you could say the same thing about gold mining.
wrote on 4 Aug 2021, 12:20 last edited by@doctor-phibes said in Can someone explain this to me?:
@klaus said in Can someone explain this to me?:
@george-k said in Can someone explain this to me?:
"Bitcoin mining?" WTF is that.
It's the Bitcoin way of how to deal with the initial distribution of currency and the growth of the money supply. The idea is that you can create new Bitcoin by solving computationally expensive problems.
It seems to me that there's a fundamental flaw with a currency that requires you to do something completely pointless and damaging to the environment in order to create wealth.
Then again, I guess you could say the same thing about gold mining.
I doubt that the inventor of mining had the current situation in mind when he came up with the idea.
If you leave off the unfortunate ecological consequences, the idea of mining is pretty interesting. I wouldn't know a better way to control initial distribution and growth of the money supply in a different way that is both decentralized and "fair" in a certain sense.
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@doctor-phibes said in Can someone explain this to me?:
@klaus said in Can someone explain this to me?:
@george-k said in Can someone explain this to me?:
"Bitcoin mining?" WTF is that.
It's the Bitcoin way of how to deal with the initial distribution of currency and the growth of the money supply. The idea is that you can create new Bitcoin by solving computationally expensive problems.
It seems to me that there's a fundamental flaw with a currency that requires you to do something completely pointless and damaging to the environment in order to create wealth.
Then again, I guess you could say the same thing about gold mining.
I doubt that the inventor of mining had the current situation in mind when he came up with the idea.
If you leave off the unfortunate ecological consequences, the idea of mining is pretty interesting. I wouldn't know a better way to control initial distribution and growth of the money supply in a different way that is both decentralized and "fair" in a certain sense.
wrote on 4 Aug 2021, 12:45 last edited by Doctor Phibes 8 Apr 2021, 12:45@klaus said in Can someone explain this to me?:
I doubt that the inventor of mining had the current situation in mind when he came up with the idea.
Software engineers aren't engineers.
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wrote on 4 Aug 2021, 13:08 last edited by
Is/was the inventor of Bitcoin an engineer?
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wrote on 4 Aug 2021, 13:11 last edited by
@axtremus said in Can someone explain this to me?:
Is/was the inventor of Bitcoin an engineer?
Nobody knows....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satoshi_Nakamoto -
@klaus said in Can someone explain this to me?:
I doubt that the inventor of mining had the current situation in mind when he came up with the idea.
Software engineers aren't engineers.
wrote on 4 Aug 2021, 13:12 last edited by@doctor-phibes said in Can someone explain this to me?:
Software engineers aren't engineers.
Indeed, whenever I get tech support on a piece of software that's not behaving, the person says, "I'll relay this to the engineers."
It takes all of my self-restraint to not ask what kind of locomotive...
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wrote on 4 Aug 2021, 13:16 last edited by
I’ve seen a compelling set of evidence that it is a guy named Adam Back.
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I'm none the wiser after reading all that.
I do know that I can't buy a decent video card for love nor money.
wrote on 4 Aug 2021, 13:48 last edited by 89th 8 Apr 2021, 13:49@doctor-phibes said in Can someone explain this to me?:
I'm none the wiser after reading all that.
And for @Catseye3 , how about this description:
Bitcoin is a type of "crypto currency". Aka digital money you can't hold, and that isn't owned by anyone or any government.
It's internet money. Enough people have decided it's real enough that they use it like real money to buy/sell things, and so the "equivalent dollar price" of what a bitcoin is worth has gone up based on the demand to have one.
Every time a bitcoin is created or used, it updates this magical internet ledger so every transaction and every bitcoin ever is tracked using the internet.
To create a bitcoin, which 99.999% of bitcoin users do not do because it's so expensive, you have to run lots of computer actions that conform to the bitcoin software rules.
Right now the energy it takes to run all of those computer actions is approximately the same energy used by a US household for 53 days.
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wrote on 4 Aug 2021, 13:51 last edited by
I'm taking the Buffett approach - if I don't really understand it I don't invest in it.
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OK, I'm a retired old fart.
I use credit cards, a checking account, etc.
(please type really slowly so I can get this)
Can someone please explain Bitcoin to me? Other than anonymity, what's the point?
"Bitcoin mining?" WTF is that.
Should I be concerned, or just ignore?
wrote on 4 Aug 2021, 13:55 last edited by -
wrote on 4 Aug 2021, 14:08 last edited by
@mik said in Can someone explain this to me?:
I'm taking the Buffett approach - if I don't really understand it I don't invest in it.
Ok how about this.
Let's pretend every post by @George-K is a Cheddarcoin, tracked by the post ID. How much money would you spend to own a Cheddarcoin? Once enough people buy his Cheddarcoins, @Klaus announces that TNCR officially supports the use of Cheddarcoin in TNCR transactions. For example, it might cost 5 Cheddarcoins to see a picture of @Doctor-Phibes drink a non-alcoholic beer, or 10 Cheddarcoins to force @mark to buy a Dell off of a Best Buy shelf. Or maybe 50 Cheddarcoins to see a picture of @Aqua-Letifer 's sister, but 100 Cheddarcoins to remove it. How many Cheddarcoins would you pay to watch @Larry wear a BLM shirt or for @Jolly to hire someone to chop down a small maple tree?
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@mik said in Can someone explain this to me?:
I'm taking the Buffett approach - if I don't really understand it I don't invest in it.
Ok how about this.
Let's pretend every post by @George-K is a Cheddarcoin, tracked by the post ID. How much money would you spend to own a Cheddarcoin? Once enough people buy his Cheddarcoins, @Klaus announces that TNCR officially supports the use of Cheddarcoin in TNCR transactions. For example, it might cost 5 Cheddarcoins to see a picture of @Doctor-Phibes drink a non-alcoholic beer, or 10 Cheddarcoins to force @mark to buy a Dell off of a Best Buy shelf. Or maybe 50 Cheddarcoins to see a picture of @Aqua-Letifer 's sister, but 100 Cheddarcoins to remove it. How many Cheddarcoins would you pay to watch @Larry wear a BLM shirt or for @Jolly to hire someone to chop down a small maple tree?
wrote on 4 Aug 2021, 14:15 last edited by@mik said in Can someone explain this to me?:
I'm taking the Buffett approach - if I don't really understand it I don't invest in it.
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wrote on 4 Aug 2021, 14:42 last edited by
Incidentally, I've been drinking alcohol free beer for the last two weeks.
That makes no sense, either.
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@doctor-phibes said in Can someone explain this to me?:
I'm none the wiser after reading all that.
And for @Catseye3 , how about this description:
Bitcoin is a type of "crypto currency". Aka digital money you can't hold, and that isn't owned by anyone or any government.
It's internet money. Enough people have decided it's real enough that they use it like real money to buy/sell things, and so the "equivalent dollar price" of what a bitcoin is worth has gone up based on the demand to have one.
Every time a bitcoin is created or used, it updates this magical internet ledger so every transaction and every bitcoin ever is tracked using the internet.
To create a bitcoin, which 99.999% of bitcoin users do not do because it's so expensive, you have to run lots of computer actions that conform to the bitcoin software rules.
Right now the energy it takes to run all of those computer actions is approximately the same energy used by a US household for 53 days.
wrote on 4 Aug 2021, 15:09 last edited by@89th said in Can someone explain this to me?:
And for @Catseye3 , how about this description:
Thanks, 89th. That's the clearest explanation I've gotten yet.
I'm no economist (eyes rolling here), but it seems to me that bitcoin's supposed advantage is its greatest weakness -- that government backing of a country's currency is what makes it "go", whether you like it or not. Why all the mention of a "strong dollar" like it's THE desirable thing -- with which everyone in the developed world agrees, and everyone relies on.
Something kinda Monopoly money-ish about bitcoin, it seems to me. And it relies on everyone's participation. If enough people drop out, where does that leave you?
Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace. – Mike Ditka
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@89th said in Can someone explain this to me?:
And for @Catseye3 , how about this description:
Thanks, 89th. That's the clearest explanation I've gotten yet.
I'm no economist (eyes rolling here), but it seems to me that bitcoin's supposed advantage is its greatest weakness -- that government backing of a country's currency is what makes it "go", whether you like it or not. Why all the mention of a "strong dollar" like it's THE desirable thing -- with which everyone in the developed world agrees, and everyone relies on.
Something kinda Monopoly money-ish about bitcoin, it seems to me. And it relies on everyone's participation. If enough people drop out, where does that leave you?
wrote on 4 Aug 2021, 15:19 last edited by@catseye3 said in Can someone explain this to me?:
it's THE desirable thing -- with which everyone in the developed world agrees, and everyone relies on.
Don't listen to 89th, he's a sucker. Bitcoin was so 2019.
It's 2021, son, NFT is where it's at! You best get in the game!
