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Showing 20 of 25 results by anonymous_hero
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Board Service Announcements
Re: Bets of Bitcoin - Bitcoin betting on real world events
by
anonymous_hero
on 13/12/2013, 19:13:18 UTC
Is he the only admin of the Web site?
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Topic
Board Service Announcements
Re: Bets of Bitcoin - Bitcoin betting on real world events
by
anonymous_hero
on 12/12/2013, 20:42:01 UTC
Forgot username, and have been trying to e-mail admin... please respond so I can access my account

I, too, made this exact same mistake.  Did you use feedback@betsofbitco.in or another address?

Has anyone else had any luck contacting them for account access issues?
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Topic
Board Mining speculation
Re: BFL - You Must Confirm Your Order - AKA - We are short on cash
by
anonymous_hero
on 02/05/2013, 21:22:31 UTC


Via newsletter.


Quote
Final confirmation is required

Please be advised that due to the adjustments described above, we need your confirmation prior to release of your order into the final build queue and on to final delivery.  It may also be a good time to review your purchase altogether relative to the bitcoin market as this is the last opportunity to do so.  If your order is not confirmed, it will be canceled and your money will be refunded.



Sounds like a cashflow problem.  Last minute refunds after capital investment might sink their ship.


Interesting.
Sounds more like a cash grab to me. New orders cost a lot more, they can ship to more people in line, and they may not have immediately sold the BTC they collected. Since the refunds are basically forced (48h ultimatum via email is absurd), I really doubt BFL didn't think this one through.

I don't necessarily disagree, but where'd you hear the 48h limit?  Seems they've been ambiguous about when they will refund all non-confirmed orders.
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Board Mining speculation
Topic OP
BFL video of a 5 GH/s hashing rig
by
anonymous_hero
on 20/04/2013, 04:23:10 UTC
Here's BFL's latest video, showing a 5 GH/s miner in what is suspiciously not a Jalapeno case.  The power consumption isn't as bad as what their apparent first attempts were getting, though.

Speculate away as to the (non)meaning of this video.  My take is that actual customers will start receiving their orders around the last half of May.
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Topic
Board Speculation
Re: Yup, still feeling bearish.
by
anonymous_hero
on 18/04/2013, 02:47:36 UTC
I think the point here is:
The world now knows about bitcoin, pretty much all of it.
But it knows it for what it is: A trading game with scummy figures playing captain of the industry and an attached army of zealots with the attitude of MLM participants.

In short: We're out of suckers.

I agree that we're "out of suckers" as it were but I disagree that the whole world knows about Bitcoin.

Outside of my fellow news/tech junkies, only a couple people I know have heard of it.  Then of course there's also the fact that the majority of the world doesn't have Internet access (source).
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Board Beginners & Help
Re: The Bitcoin Wikipedia Article Is Now Shit
by
anonymous_hero
on 18/04/2013, 00:28:15 UTC
On the other hand, that statement has 4 citations.  To modify it significantly (and have your edit accepted) you'd probably have to cite at least twice as many similarly-famous "commentators" that say otherwise.  Bloomberg and Krugman are pretty big names, and there aren't that many opinion writers of their reputation that have endorsed Bitcoin.
A couple of Keynesians who believe that the economy needs a constant pumping of artificial credit to avoid coming to a screeching halt don't like a currency with a fixed limit? That's a shocker.
I didn't say it was shocking, and I certainly don't agree with them, but to my knowledge I've hardly seen any libertarian/conservative economists endorse Bitcoin, which is why I was saying in the mainstream press right now it's still not regarded very highly.  If you do know of any well-known economists who have praised Bitcoin, I'd be sincerely interested in reading their opinions.  Perhaps I just haven't looked hard enough.
I think the problem is that
1. There aren't as many Austrians to begin with because that's not the form of economics that colleges teach. Since government subsidized colleges get the vast majority of students, most of them are going to turn out Keynesians; because we all know how impartial and well-read most government school teachers are, right?
2. Famous economists aren't young guys. Younger/more computer adept adults are more swift to adopt or entertain the idea of Bitcoin because the idea of virtual currencies makes perfect sense to them. To pre-internet folks, it really doesn't make much sense and sounds either completely ridiculous or very risky business.

Not that it isn't risky in certain ways, but it's not just going to suddenly implode without warning. That would be ridiculous. Unless of course people believe the Discovery Channel when they talk about a mega solar flare wiping out the power grid and all electronic devices that aren't shielded by Faraday cages in 2013.

I don't necessarily disagree; the original point (and only point) I was making is that from the view of the person who was editing that Wikipedia article, most "commentators" have written off Bitcoin.

Also, brinebold, I agree -- Bitcoin itself is worth no more nor no less than what people are willing to pay for it.  It's a fascinating sociological/economic experiment.
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Topic
Board Speculation
Re: Single digits believers
by
anonymous_hero
on 17/04/2013, 23:44:13 UTC
I highly doubt it will get to single digits within the next 2 or 3 months.  I'm thinking $30 is the minimum.  I don't think the current price ($93) will sustain itself over the next month, though.
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Board Speculation
Re: the crash is over?
by
anonymous_hero
on 17/04/2013, 02:25:18 UTC
I'm still bearish.  Using the June 2011 "crash" as a reference for how this one will turn out, prices will continue to drop for some time.  Obviously things are different in many ways now, but I think the price will steadily drop for some time.  We'll see whether I'm wrong soon.   Wink
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Topic
Board Economics
Re: Who ACTUALLY knows what they're talking about here?
by
anonymous_hero
on 17/04/2013, 02:10:24 UTC
Generally, people with advanced degrees in economics do not bloviate on Internet forums, and even if they did, they don't have much reason to share their credentials or their identity.  Degrees or any other such qualifications are generally hard to prove, anyway, so why bother?
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Board Beginners & Help
Re: Questions!
by
anonymous_hero
on 14/04/2013, 23:44:12 UTC
I can't really answer your first question, but as to the second -- I would say probably not.  Buying any miner from them right now is a risky investment, since:

 1) it's hard to say when they will deliver; they initially promised shipments 7 months ago
 2) many, many other people (in the tens of thousands) will get their orders before you, and this will increase the difficulty of the network.  Basically, the more people mining, the harder it is for you to get rewarded for your contribution to a mining pool.  See here for a detailed explanation.
 3) they apparently are willing to give people their money back most of the time even though they say their sales are final, but the wording leaves them room to just flatly deny refund requests.
 4) the price of BTC may go up or down, making the investment worthwhile -- or worthless.

With that said, if you have the money to spare and want to participate, there's no harm.
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Board Beginners & Help
Re: Mining: Where's the catch?
by
anonymous_hero
on 14/04/2013, 23:30:52 UTC
DeathAndTaxes is correct, of course.  A much more complicated estimate of the future difficulty is here.

There's also the fact that the price of Bitcoin itself is volatile -- no one knows for sure what the future price will be.

But, yes, especially if you started much earlier and even if you started now, if you play your cards right, it can be a pretty sweet gig.  But of course do not under any circumstances invest anything more than you can afford to lose.  Essentially there is a lot of risk with the potential for a great reward or a substantial loss.
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Board Beginners & Help
Re: Cool TechCrunch article
by
anonymous_hero
on 14/04/2013, 23:26:22 UTC
It's been said before but what Bitcoin really needs to help it become more mainstream is Porn websites, the big tube sites like xhamster & pornhub to accept payments in Bitcoin, Bitcoin is perfect for micropayments and what sites get more traffic than adult websites! There are a few I know LOL but adult sites make up a good percentage of the top 100 most visited sites on the internet.

That may increase its usage, but unfortunately that probably wouldn't do much for its reputation.  It's already dismissed by some for being associated with other illicit activities, and while a large number of people do go to those sites, I don't think it would help all that much.
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Board Beginners & Help
Re: Selling 15 Bitcoins via Paypal!
by
anonymous_hero
on 14/04/2013, 19:06:55 UTC
People aren't likely to trust you:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=164254.0
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Board Beginners & Help
Re: what happens if all bitcoins are mined
by
anonymous_hero
on 14/04/2013, 19:06:02 UTC
An even more fundamental problem with bitcoins, and indeed any private currency, is that there is no way to limit its supply. True, bitcoins cannot be manufactured beyond the limits set by Nakamoto. But there is no way to prevent future Nakamotos from creating bitcoin substitutes—say, bytecoin, or botcoin. If merchants are willing to accept bitcoins, they will be willing to accept the substitutes, especially as bitcoins become scarce and consumers scramble for substitutes. Nakamoto must have realized this because there are not enough bitcoins to substitute for the currencies around the world. The currency can only succeed if it is expanded or supplemented. But if there are no constraints on substitute digital currencies—and there aren’t—then the value of bitcoins will plummet as the subs begin to circulate. And once it becomes clear that there is no limit, people will realize that their holdings could become worthless at any moment, and demand for bitcoins and the other currencies will collapse, ending the experiment.[/i]

Currently people value fiat currency because they trust other people to continue accepting it.  The reason they trust other people to continue accepting it is because the USG tells them to.  It is certainly possible that enough people will, eventually, decide to value crypto-currency because they trust other people to continue accepting it, just because they think it's a good idea.

It is not quite true that "there are not enough bitcoins to substitute for the currencies around the world."  The hard limit of the number of satoshis (which equal .00000001 BTC) is 21x10^5 satoshis, and there 1.178 x 10^12 USD in circulation (source).  Ergo there are roughly 1,781 more satoshis than there are USD in circulation.  This doesn't take into account other currencies, though.
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Board Beginners & Help
Re: The Bitcoin Wikipedia Article Is Now Shit
by
anonymous_hero
on 14/04/2013, 18:48:11 UTC
On the other hand, that statement has 4 citations.  To modify it significantly (and have your edit accepted) you'd probably have to cite at least twice as many similarly-famous "commentators" that say otherwise.  Bloomberg and Krugman are pretty big names, and there aren't that many opinion writers of their reputation that have endorsed Bitcoin.
A couple of Keynesians who believe that the economy needs a constant pumping of artificial credit to avoid coming to a screeching halt don't like a currency with a fixed limit? That's a shocker.
I didn't say it was shocking, and I certainly don't agree with them, but to my knowledge I've hardly seen any libertarian/conservative economists endorse Bitcoin, which is why I was saying in the mainstream press right now it's still not regarded very highly.  If you do know of any well-known economists who have praised Bitcoin, I'd be sincerely interested in reading their opinions.  Perhaps I just haven't looked hard enough.
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Board Beginners & Help
Topic OP
Cool TechCrunch article
by
anonymous_hero
on 14/04/2013, 18:28:31 UTC
http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/11/bitcoin/

It looks like Silicon Valley is making more and more investements in Bitcoin-related startups, etc.  This is good news for Bitcoin; credit cards are causing such problems for both consumers and businesses that replacing it with something like Bitcoin is definitely preferable for everyone but the credit card companies.
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Board Beginners & Help
Re: BTC = Gold, LTC = Silver?
by
anonymous_hero
on 14/04/2013, 18:25:31 UTC
It's possible that LTC will become more popular and therefore your current mining efforts will be profitable, but it's certainly hard to say.  Any virtual currency mining, including BTC, is a risky economic venture.
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Board Beginners & Help
Re: what happens if all bitcoins are mined
by
anonymous_hero
on 14/04/2013, 18:22:24 UTC
Thanks for your replies.
I want to give my opinion here.

I think a good way to circumvent this problem is to not to limit the amount of BTC to 21M. Instead it should have a deterministic inflation rate of let's say 1%. This would have 2 benefits:
First the concept of mining as it works today could go on for ever. Secondly, deflationary forces such as loss of BTC, could be compensated for.

I general inflation as it is today is not a good thing cuz it takes monex from the savers to the speculaters, but if the inflation rate is small and deterministic it would be a good compromise.

What do you think of that?

I'm a newb as well, but I have thought something along similar lines before.  A small, steady amount of inflation as you suggest seems like a good thing.  From my understanding, I think only deflation or inflation are possibilities; it's either one or the other.  I'm not sure about that, but since coins will inevitably be lost, and more and more people use Bitcoin, right now it's set up to be deflationary, and the only other way to counteract that is to make it inflationary in some way.  I suppose that you could try to make it result in 0% inflation, but that would be difficult.

I suppose another way to do it would be to have the limit of Bitcoins indexed to population somehow.  That is, assuming all the world was using only one currency and population was increasing, then with a fixed limit it would be deflationary, since more and more people would be using it as more and more people participated in the economy.  0% inflation could theoretically be achieved by adding the same number of Bitcoins (somehow) for every person participating in the economy.  I'm just talking off the top of my head here, though.

As for the possibilities of other currencies supplementing Bitcoin, that's certainly a possible solution, but for the sake of convenience (which is huge in terms of getting everyday people to adopt it), I think having Bitcoin be slightly inflationary is a better solution.

creativex makes a good point, too; I highly doubt Bitcoin will be changed, but if there is or will be a better model, hopefully it would be adopted as a replacement.
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Board Beginners & Help
Re: The Bitcoin Wikipedia Article Is Now Shit
by
anonymous_hero
on 14/04/2013, 05:06:46 UTC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin

"Although bitcoin was initially promoted as a virtual currency, commentators have largely rejected that claim due to bitcoin's volatile market value, relatively inflexible supply, and minimal use in trade."


"Although bitcoin has been promoted as a virtual currency, some commentators have largely rejected that claim due to their belief that bitcoin's relatively inflexible supply and history of volatile market value will lead to minimal use in trade."

This would be ok.

It seems as though that statement has been removed altogether from the article.  I think some of those additions/changes you made are implied, but I suppose making it explicit doesn't hurt anything, except perhaps for conciseness/readability.

Interestingly, the page now has a warning that it contains too much "intricate detail" that may be of interest only to a few people... heh.  I sort of see what they mean, but on the other hand I'm not sure how that's not true for almost every Wikipedia article.  :-P
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Board Beginners & Help
Re: Financial regulation
by
anonymous_hero
on 13/04/2013, 01:13:46 UTC
The USG, as powerful and full of unlimited hubris as they are, cannot simply make bitcoin illegal carte blanche, although I'm sure many of them would like to do that if they could get away with it.

They can make anything illegal, so long as it stands up to challenges in court, and even then they can make it illegal for a time.  There's a difference between whether something can be made illegal and whether something is enforceable.

The thing is that just if they do make it illegal, that will scare a great number of potential users from using it.  The current Bitcoin community demographics do not exactly reflect the economic demographics of any country, and for Bitcoin to achieve widespread adoption, it needs to be seen as legitimate by the market participants who see something being illegal as making it illegitimate in their minds.