systems, such as Bitcoin, that lack any single central authority to validate their operations and which have to use other means to determine the validity of operations.
1
vote
1answer
140 views
Is there a list of all cryptocoin currencies? [duplicate]
Apart from bitcoin, I know few other crypto currencies (by this I mean currency which works in a similar way to bitcon). They are:
namecoin
lightcoin
ripple
I also heard about SolidCoin, but as ...
2
votes
1answer
42 views
Why is decentralized e-commerce good or better?
All of the promotional materials (videos, papers, articles, etc.) on Bitcoin bill it as a decentralized solution for e-commerce/online financial exchanges that bypasses traditional banks, federal ...
5
votes
1answer
327 views
What is the Ripple equivalent of the “51% attack?”
In Bitcoin, if a participant gains control of more than 50% of the hash power, they can execute a double-spending attack. The "attack" could come from within, say if the existing powerful miners ...
7
votes
3answers
288 views
How is a hard fork resolved?
In March 2013 there was a fork following the v0.8 release. The issue was resolved rather efficiently, as explained in the post-mortem report. However in this process there were winners and losers: the ...
2
votes
0answers
49 views
Is Bitcoin really decentralized? [duplicate]
To quote the Bitcoin wiki (emphasis added):
Bitcoin is an experimental, decentralized digital currency
This of course is repeated on and on in the mainstream media/blogosphere to the point where ...
1
vote
1answer
94 views
Where does bitcoin-qt try to connect to when running for the first time? [duplicate]
My question is, where does bitcoin-qt try to connect to when running for the first time? How does it know where to connect?
Is blockchain.info some domain that has discovery services? If yes, then ...
-1
votes
2answers
271 views
Is mining the unfair part of bitcoin in the same way banks (or rather, fractionary reserve systems) are to current monetary system?
I've been reading a lot about bitcoin lately and I'm very interested.
Especially, when it comes to making a currency that is way more fair, because it avoids a centralized control of it.
However, in ...
2
votes
0answers
50 views
What are some resources that analyze “how centralized Bitcoin really is”
Are there any blogs that track the centralization in Bitcoin? Is it growing, or is Bitcoin becoming less centralized over time?
E.g. I believe mining pools have become somewhat less centralized in ...
1
vote
1answer
38 views
Is there a way to create decentralised rating system akin to #bitcoin-otc?
I'm wondering if there is a way to create a ranking system similar to #bitcoin-otc, but making it decentralised?
6
votes
3answers
333 views
Decentralized escrow functionality built into Bitcoin?
AFAIK there are a few websites out there that offer escrow services for Bitcoin. Those however are central, i.e. I have to "trust" them.
Is it being discussed, is it theoretically possible, or does ...
9
votes
2answers
271 views
Decentralized transactions between two decentralized currencies
Currently, bitcoins and namecoins are implemented using the Bitcoin protocol. And there might be several reason for new block chains to appear, but this is not the subject here.
As far as I know, ...
