Off Topic Bitcoin.

Younger people on this forum   should look into   Bitcoin because it is going to  affect  your life.   Last year it increased in value  by 100 %  I expect it to double again this year.  It is already up 79 %    this year.  I did have some that I paid about  $890  for   , they are now worth about $2,400 .  I no longer have them....   Some people predict    that they will go to  $10,000  -$ 50,000  or even $1 million , for one !  Buy one and hold it,  better than buying and selling gold.

Mike,
A timely bit of advice, I was just having a discussion on this with my parents last night, I'm not familiar with this at all, so you're saying it's a good thing hey ??

I am only trying to pass on information that I have found out to other members of this forum . Australia is behind on taking this up. China is one of the biggest users. It is a direct , safe payment and does not involve a 3 rd. party i.e banks. I have an account with www.independentreserve.com they are in Sydney and are gov. regulated . You can buy a Bitcoin from them or part of a Bitcoin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG_XiOdbum8 Have a look at this video . If you buy a Bitcoin or part of one you can sit on it and watch the price go up or trade it . Buy when it is down and sell when it is up , they take 0.5 % for each trade. Google for more info and read.

On Aug.22 2016 one Bitcoin was worth AUD$772.49 latest sale to day was AUD$2,600 . How did gold go ????

Just found what I was looking for https://bitcoinwisdom.com this shows you what is going on in real time with Bitcoin. It is mind boggling !

In USD Bitcoin has gone up +52.62 % in the last 30 days. How is your bank interest ???

A 'beware' sign should be at the back of your mind on the topic of Bitcoin. A friend recently lost over 10k because the company he used to purchase the Bitcoin went under. He is still looking for an avenue to find his money. I will try and get some details soon.
Cheers Vasilis

There is other crypto currency that is worth looking into as well, a friend showed me his portfolio it went up $25,000 in 4 days but then it dropped $8,000 on the 5th day,but $17,000 in 5 days ain't to shabby

It surprised me how many crypto currency's there are now , over 200. I'll see if I can find the list.

Independent Reserve has an office in Sydney and works to ASIC's rules , but that does not mean that it cannot get hacked.

You can set up a wallet and move your Bitcoin into it. You can also set up so that you have to put a stick into computer before moving the Bitcoins in or out. Like a key to your wallet .

Try this www.coinmarketcap.com There is a good list there.

Bitcoin is what Nigerian scamers use when they ask for ransom after encrypting  your comp files.

More like Russian or Chinese scammers. This could send the price of Bitcoin up. Some people will pay them as they will have no choice. Buy a Bitcoin or two and watch the price go up .

I've often wondered about the robustness of crypto-currencies like Bitcoin.

Many who buy gold buy because they believe it will always hold it's value, and that they would be able to trade it for it's retained value even in times of crisis. With Bitcoin, consider in times of war for example, there would likely be no connection to the Internet available to you. How are you going to trade?

Gold, on the other hand, is tradable during most times of crisis.

Make a profit with Bitcoin and buy some physical gold. How does that sound ?

Bitcoin will fall apart at the seams.What is it backed up by?......Anyhoo I prefer Wholecoin or Realcoin. 

What is gold backed up by ? They buy and sell it but they do not have the gold in the vaults to back it up. The Germans asked for their gold back from the Yanks and they could not because they did not have it.
If you had bought 1 Bitcoin on Jan. 1 st. at about $1300 you could now sell it for double that amount. Some people say that it could go to $50,000 - $100,000 per coin or higher .

Minermike wrote:What is gold backed up by ?

Physical gold (assuming you are buying and holding physical gold, and not ETFs) is backed by the cost of labour to mine it from the ground.

I see Bitcoin as Cyber money.....Not real.

Market capitalization for Bitcoin is USD$28,188,856,553 must be a lot of fools out there.

That's not much on a world wide scale

The algorithm used to create a bitcoin limits the number of coins to a finite amount.  Bitcoin is a Cryptocurrency and is the considered to be the first decentralized currency.  Most members here will know little of Bitcoin and may never be interested in it.  But no doubt a few will have bought or sold with it.

Because bitcoin is untraceable currency, it is associated with human slave trafficking, sex trade, child pornography, drugs (especially), illegal firearms, murder contracts and cyber crimes - such as the one presently sweeping the world today.  It is a volatile currency due to insufficient liquidity and a Forbes journalist claimed that this is related to the uncertainty of its long term value.  It has a volatility seven times greater than gold and eighteen times greater than the US Dollar.

Wikipedia:

Units
The unit of account of the bitcoin system is bitcoin. As of 2014, symbols used to represent bitcoin are BTC, XBT, and BitcoinSign.svg. Small amounts of bitcoin used as alternative units are millibitcoin (mBTC), microbitcoin (µBTC, sometimes referred to as bit), and satoshi. Named in homage to bitcoin's creator, a satoshi is the smallest amount within bitcoin representing 0.00000001 bitcoin, one hundred millionth of a bitcoin. A millibitcoin equals to 0.001 bitcoin, one thousandth of a bitcoin. One microbitcoin equals to 0.000001 bitcoin, one millionth of a bitcoin.

If a computer crashes with bitcoins stored on it, the currency is lost if the computer cannot be resurrected or if the hard drive is wiped.  Digital wallets exist to store Bitcoins.  There is even hardware wallets that look a bit like a Flash Drive.  But malicious software can easily steal the encoded Bitcoins they might contain.  Ownership of Bitcoin requires a digital signature and the use of a "Private Key".  Without knowledge of the Private Key, the Bitcoin network will not recognize or authorize any other evidence of ownership.  The Bitcoins are then considered "Lost".  In 2013 one user claimed to have lost 7,500 bitcoins, worth $7.5 million at the time - when he accidentally discarded a hard drive containing his Private Key.

Privacy:
Bitcoin is pseudonymous, meaning that funds are not tied to real-world entities but rather bitcoin addresses. Owners of bitcoin addresses are not explicitly identified, but all transactions on the blockchain are public. In addition, transactions can be linked to individuals and companies through "idioms of use" (e.g., transactions that spend coins from multiple inputs indicate that the inputs may have a common owner) and corroborating public transaction data with known information on owners of certain addresses. Additionally, bitcoin exchanges, where bitcoins are traded for traditional currencies, may be required by law to collect personal information.

The first major vulnerability in Bitcoin protocol was identified in August 6, 2010.  This enables users to bypass Bitcoin's economic restrictions and create an indefinite number of Bitcoins.  A week later (Aug 15), the vulnerability was exploited and over 184 billion bitcoins were generated in a transaction before the bug was spotted and altered.

Volatility:
Also in January 2015, Business Insider reported that deep web drug dealers (selling cocaine, heroine and speed) were "freaking out" as they lost profits through being unable to convert bitcoin revenue to cash quickly enough as the price declined – and that there was a danger that dealers selling reserves to stay in business might force the bitcoin price down further.

Obituaries:
The "death" of bitcoin has been proclaimed numerous times. One journalist has recorded 29 such "obituaries" as of early 2015. Forbes magazine declared bitcoin "dead" in June 2011, followed by Gizmodo Australia in August 2011. Wired magazine wrote it had "expired" in December 2012. Ouishare Magazine declared, "game over, bitcoin" in May 2013, and New York Magazine stated bitcoin was "on its path to grave" in June 2013. Reuters published an "obituary" for bitcoin in January 2014. Street Insider declared bitcoin "dead" in February 2014, followed by The Weekly Standard in March 2014, Salon in March 2014, Vice News in March 2014, and Financial Times in September 2014. In January 2015, USA Today stated bitcoin was "headed to the ash heap", and The Telegraph declared "the end of bitcoin experiment". In January 2016, former bitcoin developer Mike Hearn called bitcoin a "failed project".

Fraud:
The legal status of bitcoin varies substantially from country to country and is still undefined or changing in many of them. While some countries have explicitly allowed its use and trade, others have banned or restricted it.  Bitcoin is useless for money laundering since all transactions are public.  But it was involved in a Ponzi scheme in 2012 that resulted in the Bitcoin Savings and Trust being fined $40 million for operating the illegal scheme.  An Australian Bitcoin wallet service was hacked for an estimate $100 million in 2013.  Vitually all banks handling Bitcoin have been robbed of them, including Mt Gox (the world's largest online virtual currency exchange) who filed for bankruptcy after over $350 Million in bitcoins were stolen.  Chinese and Canadian Bitcoin vaults were hacked to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars as well.  The US House Of Representatives Committee on Small Business noted in April 2, 2014, "these vendors lack regulatory oversight, minimum capital standards and don't provide consumer protection against loss or theft."

Would I buy or use Bitcoin?  Probably not.

Thanks for putting all that info. up Nero. It is beyond me to do that. Buy a Bitcoin or part of one and trade it . When you can , take your investment out and play with the profit. Keep withdrawing some of your profit . I would buy one if I had some spare cash.

nero_design wrote:

The algorithm used to create a bitcoin limits the number of coins to a finite amount.  Bitcoin is a Cryptocurrency and is the considered to be the first decentralized currency.  Most members here will know little of Bitcoin and may never be interested in it.  But no doubt a few will have bought or sold with it.

Because bitcoin is untraceable currency, it is associated with human slave trafficking, sex trade, child pornography, drugs (especially), illegal firearms, murder contracts and cyber crimes - such as the one presently sweeping the world today.  It is a volatile currency due to insufficient liquidity and a Forbes journalist claimed that this is related to the uncertainty of its long term value.  It has a volatility seven times greater than gold and eighteen times greater than the US Dollar.

Wikipedia:

Units
The unit of account of the bitcoin system is bitcoin. As of 2014, symbols used to represent bitcoin are BTC, XBT, and BitcoinSign.svg. Small amounts of bitcoin used as alternative units are millibitcoin (mBTC), microbitcoin (µBTC, sometimes referred to as bit), and satoshi. Named in homage to bitcoin's creator, a satoshi is the smallest amount within bitcoin representing 0.00000001 bitcoin, one hundred millionth of a bitcoin. A millibitcoin equals to 0.001 bitcoin, one thousandth of a bitcoin. One microbitcoin equals to 0.000001 bitcoin, one millionth of a bitcoin.

If a computer crashes with bitcoins stored on it, the currency is lost if the computer cannot be resurrected or if the hard drive is wiped.  Digital wallets exist to store Bitcoins.  There is even hardware wallets that look a bit like a Flash Drive.  But malicious software can easily steal the encoded Bitcoins they might contain.  Ownership of Bitcoin requires a digital signature and the use of a "Private Key".  Without knowledge of the Private Key, the Bitcoin network will not recognize or authorize any other evidence of ownership.  The Bitcoins are then considered "Lost".  In 2013 one user claimed to have lost 7,500 bitcoins, worth $7.5 million at the time - when he accidentally discarded a hard drive containing his Private Key.

Privacy:
Bitcoin is pseudonymous, meaning that funds are not tied to real-world entities but rather bitcoin addresses. Owners of bitcoin addresses are not explicitly identified, but all transactions on the blockchain are public. In addition, transactions can be linked to individuals and companies through "idioms of use" (e.g., transactions that spend coins from multiple inputs indicate that the inputs may have a common owner) and corroborating public transaction data with known information on owners of certain addresses. Additionally, bitcoin exchanges, where bitcoins are traded for traditional currencies, may be required by law to collect personal information.

The first major vulnerability in Bitcoin protocol was identified in August 6, 2010.  This enables users to bypass Bitcoin's economic restrictions and create an indefinite number of Bitcoins.  A week later (Aug 15), the vulnerability was exploited and over 184 billion bitcoins were generated in a transaction before the bug was spotted and altered.

Volatility:
Also in January 2015, Business Insider reported that deep web drug dealers (selling cocaine, heroine and speed) were "freaking out" as they lost profits through being unable to convert bitcoin revenue to cash quickly enough as the price declined – and that there was a danger that dealers selling reserves to stay in business might force the bitcoin price down further.

Obituaries:
The "death" of bitcoin has been proclaimed numerous times. One journalist has recorded 29 such "obituaries" as of early 2015. Forbes magazine declared bitcoin "dead" in June 2011, followed by Gizmodo Australia in August 2011. Wired magazine wrote it had "expired" in December 2012. Ouishare Magazine declared, "game over, bitcoin" in May 2013, and New York Magazine stated bitcoin was "on its path to grave" in June 2013. Reuters published an "obituary" for bitcoin in January 2014. Street Insider declared bitcoin "dead" in February 2014, followed by The Weekly Standard in March 2014, Salon in March 2014, Vice News in March 2014, and Financial Times in September 2014. In January 2015, USA Today stated bitcoin was "headed to the ash heap", and The Telegraph declared "the end of bitcoin experiment". In January 2016, former bitcoin developer Mike Hearn called bitcoin a "failed project".

Fraud:
The legal status of bitcoin varies substantially from country to country and is still undefined or changing in many of them. While some countries have explicitly allowed its use and trade, others have banned or restricted it.  Bitcoin is useless for money laundering since all transactions are public.  But it was involved in a Ponzi scheme in 2012 that resulted in the Bitcoin Savings and Trust being fined $40 million for operating the illegal scheme.  An Australian Bitcoin wallet service was hacked for an estimate $100 million in 2013.  Vitually all banks handling Bitcoin have been robbed of them, including Mt Gox (the world's largest online virtual currency exchange) who filed for bankruptcy after over $350 Million in bitcoins were stolen.  Chinese and Canadian Bitcoin vaults were hacked to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars as well.  The US House Of Representatives Committee on Small Business noted in April 2, 2014, "these vendors lack regulatory oversight, minimum capital standards and don't provide consumer protection against loss or theft."

Would I buy or use Bitcoin?  Probably not.

Thanks Nero design ,another well researched / written commentary , I enjoy reading your posts ,yeah excuse the SCEPTIC in me ,but yeah if it sounds to good to be real ,it usually is ,...

No worse than playing the horses !

As I said in the beginning this is off topic but I am only trying to bring it to members attention . Could be a benefit for some . In 2016 Bitcoin doubled in price , in Jan. I said to some of my friends that I expected it to double again in value in 2017. It has already doubled in value. You can buy one or part of one and sit on it . Or you can trade it , buy when it is low and sell when it is high. As Nero said it is very volatile , you can make money on the swings. A few years ago I got hooked up in that big ponzi in New York . Lucky for me I pulled my stake money out , but lost the $100,000 paper profit . I am no longer opal mining but over 10 years I spent over $80,000 for no return . That's life !!! No regrets.

The world's largest Ransomware attack occurred last week.  Some of us have been tracking the payment of ransom towards several Bitcoin digital wallets.  We can't see who owns them but we're waiting to see when the money is withdrawn.  If you ever had doubts about Bitcoins preference by scammers and thieves, this is your proof.  What will happen next (most likely) is that the world's governments will eventually force it completely underground by making Bitcoin an illegal currency to use.  At the moment it is barely recognized as "legitimate".  I think a lot of people are playing with it as an experimental currency but are wary of high investment since it's so new.  


Balance of the bitcoin wallets tied to the WannaCry ransomware attack
.
.

I tend to glaze over with Nero's posts but bitcoin interests me.

Miner Mike, have you looked into bitgold?
Seems to me to be the ultimate travel card.

No, I do not know  any thing about Bitgold.   Had a quick look on Google  ,  some say it is a scam.

You can get a card  that you can use in any  ATM   and it debits your   Bitcoins.   I think it has limits  to stop fraud .   I have an account with   Independent  Reserve , in Sydney , but no Bitcoins at the moment.  They charge  0.5  %  for each trade ,  some charge more.

Last sale of Bitcoin on Independent Reserve was AUD$2,878 .

bitcoins and all other cryptocurrencies - wouldnt touch them with the proverbial ten foot pole

Last sale of Bitcoin on Independent Reserve AUD$3,210 .