Quote from: rjk on June 28, 2012, 02:57:40 AM

Quote from: SiliconAlchemist on June 28, 2012, 02:30:32 AM

This is exactly what my dad thinks bitcoin mining is.

"Well, someone has to be using your processing power for something immoral, like to hack bank info. That's where the money must come from."

I've tried to explain too many times. Roll Eyes

As a currency, it is given value by the people that trade it. More often than not, those that trade it do so because of its properties that are otherwise impossible to replicate in a centralized setting. Some are in it only for the money, but it is those that use it as a store of value that really enable the moneymakers to do what they do.

Mining should really be less in the forefront of the scene than it is currently. As evoorhees has said in the past, how many people mine for gold, silver, etc? And how many of those that use such metals as a currency know the complex techniques used to do so, just so they can get some more? The ones that make all the money aren't usually the miners, they are the ones that trade the stuff in the commodities markets, or use it to manufacture products.

Do you now if there is a limit to the database size that is downloaded to each wallet client? My understanding has been that every bitcoin transaction is stored in these database that eveyrone has...i.e. distributed evenly. Is this accurate? Ifso, how far back does it go in stroing each transaction? The database will become too enormous if there is no limit.