All Questions
65
votes
13answers
27k views
What is a good way to concisely explain Bitcoin?
Often I'm asked to explain Bitcoin to someone and occasionally I come up with something stellar that really nails it, but most times it's a rambling incoherent mess.
What I would like to see is a ...
44
votes
5answers
13k views
What exactly is Mining?
I have heard that mining is for people with ready hardware and blah blah blah... But what exactly is it? Does it operate like real mining? I mean, people talk about it like you are physically mining.
44
votes
5answers
4k views
How can I accept bitcoins on my website?
I have an online store and would like to begin accepting bitcoins. How can I go about doing this?
43
votes
4answers
23k views
What are “bitcoin days destroyed”?
The concept of bitcoin days destroyed has been proposed as a measure of bitcoin volume, however, I don't think the bitcoin wiki really explains the idea very well.
What is the purpose or advantage of ...
42
votes
4answers
5k views
Why is 6 the number of confirms that is considered secure?
Why is 6 is the number of confirms that is considered secure? I haven't found any mathematical explanation or otherwise that explains with it is 6 and not 5 or 7. Is there a historical reason for 6? ...
41
votes
7answers
10k views
How much will transaction fees eventually be?
Some people keep evangelizing that Bitcoin transaction fees are much lower than in PayPal or with credit cards.
However, once nearly all 21 million bitcoins have been mined, the network will still ...
38
votes
14answers
7k views
Does hoarding really hurt Bitcoin?
Some people believe that hoarding hurts the Bitcoin economy.
But are they really right?
As long as corresponding goods vendors and services will be here to stay and reinforce people's faith in ...
37
votes
3answers
10k views
Should I leave the Bitcoin client open?
Some people recommended that I leave my Bitcoin client open because it helps the network.
Apart from the security implications, why should I do this? I thought that miners were the ones responsible ...
36
votes
11answers
74k views
How can I buy Bitcoin via a Credit Card or Paypal?
I want to buy some bitcoins. Ideally, I would like to buy them on the MtGox exchange (because the consensus seems to be that this is the most reputable exchange), however I have found the system for ...
36
votes
5answers
7k views
What can an attacker with 51% of hash power do?
Suppose organization X has 51% of the hash power for a period of 1 week. In this week, what exactly can and can't X do?
35
votes
7answers
4k views
Is there any way to track an individual bitcoin (or satoshi)?
For example, if I wanted to "collect" important bitcoins is there any way to track a coin rather than a series of transactions? If I wanted one of the bitcoins from the infamous "Bitcoin pizza" ...
32
votes
3answers
3k views
Have any cryptography experts vetted the bitcoin source code?
Theoretically, bitcoin's open source nature makes it more resistant to bugs and exploits. However, due to the specialized nature of the code, even many programmers don't fully understand the ...
30
votes
6answers
4k views
What unique business models has Bitcoin enabled?
Are there specific, unique business models that have been made possible by the invention of Bitcoin? And if so, what are they?
Edit:
I seem to be getting a lot of answers about the areas of ...
30
votes
5answers
11k views
Can I download the whole block chain from somewhere?
Every time I turn on the Bitcoin client it takes days to catch up with the block chain.
Are there alternatives to getting it trickling through the peer-to-peer network? Can I just download it ...
30
votes
8answers
13k views
How do you obtain bitcoins?
This is a question many people ask when they're introduced to Bitcoin.
Bitcoin sounds interesting, but if I want to use this system I will need to get some coins, otherwise there's no way I can spend ...
28
votes
6answers
5k views
Is it possible to brute force bitcoin address creation in order to steal money?
Bitcoin users frequently generate new addresses for each transaction they make, which greatly increases the number of bitcoin addresses being used to receive money.
Would it be possible (and ...
27
votes
6answers
4k views
Can bitcoins be counterfeited?
Traditional currencies have anti-counterfeiting features designed to make them hard to copy, but despite this attempt counterfeit money is a real threat. Since bitcoins are digital, it's trivial to ...
27
votes
3answers
2k views
Who runs www.bitcoin.org?
The original client that can be downloaded from www.bitcoin.org is often referred to as the "official client". Similarly many regard www.bitcoin.org as the "official homepage" of the project. So, who ...
26
votes
4answers
3k views
How can one remain relatively anonymous while using Bitcoin?
Bitcoin transactions are pseudo-anonymous. What can an individual that uses Bitcoin do in order to remain as anonymous as possible?
26
votes
8answers
5k views
How anonymous are Bitcoin transactions?
I read some sources that say Bitcoin transactions are anonymous, some that say they are semi-anonymous, and some that say they are not anonymous at all. In what ways are the transactions anonymous ...
26
votes
5answers
2k views
How do I reduce the size of the block chain data on my machine?
The block chain file is getting rather large, ~500MB. Is there a way to trim it or clean up, or maybe configure it to be limited in the future? I am using the stock Bitcoin client on Ubuntu.
25
votes
6answers
8k views
Is CPU mining even worth it?
I would like to start mining, but my GPU isn't the greatest and I don't really want to spend the money on a dedicated rig. Is mining from my CPU (in a Linux environment) still worth it? Or will I not ...
24
votes
8answers
2k views
How can I keep my wallet secure?
The standard Bitcoin client does not encrypt wallet files, so any malicious user that gains access to this file will be able to transfer all the coins to their own wallet. Furthermore, if I lose the ...
24
votes
10answers
4k views
Will Bitcoin suffer from a mining Tragedy of the Commons when mining fees drop to zero?
One issue that I haven't seen clearly addressed is the possible Tragedy of the Commons in Bitcoin's future (see this answer). 40 years into the future, the only significant direct benefit for honest ...
23
votes
7answers
35k views
How much Bitcoin will I mine right now with hardware X?
Say I have a given piece of hardware (CPU/GPU). Where can I find out how much Bitcoin will I mine per day?
23
votes
4answers
6k views
Where do bitcoins come from and what gives them their value?
Where do bitcoins come from? From the WeUseCoins.com video it appears they are just being produced by "miners" and sold to people. So who backs Bitcoin or gives it its value?
23
votes
4answers
2k views
How to save bitcoins as paper
I would like to save some of my bitcoins on a piece of paper with QR code printed on it. What would be the easiest way to do it without using Mt Gox. or similar. Just bitcoins (I'm not afraid of some ...
22
votes
9answers
2k views
Will deflation destroy Bitcoin?
With the limited total quantity of bitcoins, and people losing their wallets constantly decreasing that number, won't rampant deflation destroy Bitcoin?
22
votes
6answers
1k views
Why doesn't Bitcoin return lost coins back into the block reward?
The idea of putting back lost Bitcoins back onto block rewards seems like a great idea.
I acknowledge that there were quite a handful of early adopters who were generating blocks daily, but had no ...
22
votes
5answers
7k views
Why is downloading blocks taking longer and longer?
First off, this really needs to get fixed. I'm downloading blocks for at least 8 hours now, and it's still not done. I know the problem of having to download the entire block chain is being worked on, ...
22
votes
3answers
713 views
What is a deterministic wallet?
It sounds as if it's a process that enables a wallet to be rebuilt from a passphrase, or from several fragments scattered about. Could someone provide a detailed technical explanation?
22
votes
6answers
3k views
Is there a Bitcoin bank, which gives interest on my deposit?
Is there any Bitcoin bank I can place my Bitcoins in that will give me a decent interest rate. It should be at least 1% for it to be worth it.
21
votes
7answers
885 views
What are some good resources for understanding Bitcoin?
I've tried to read about what a Bitcoin is, how to mine, etc. I find them to be confusing in that I don't understand the underlying factors driving Bitcoin. Everything I've read seems to assume the ...
21
votes
8answers
1k views
How can a single person operation keep a collection of online wallets secure?
While this question is similar to others about securing wallets, I think it merits a question of it's own.
One thing that has dissuaded me in the past from running an online wallet service of some ...
21
votes
2answers
2k views
What is a 'Satoshi'?
I am aware that Satoshi Nakamoto is the author of the paper that originated Bitcoin and the creator of the original bitcoin client. However, I often hear the term Satoshi as if it was a monetary unit.
...
20
votes
8answers
4k views
Can bitcoins be “sold short”? Or are there “put” options?
Borrowing an asset and "selling it short" facilitates finding the appropriate price for the asset, allowing people to bet that the asset is overpriced (e.g. in a "bubble"). Can bitcoins be sold ...
20
votes
3answers
2k views
What are bitcoin miners really solving?
As with mining, what are the bitcoin miners really solving? I read they are solving hashes, but what does that really mean. Can we see what they are solving? Can someone give an example of what a ...
20
votes
2answers
5k views
How does merged mining work?
How does the implementation of merged mining affect the global hash rate of alt chains?
Does one solution fit all? Does one solution fit some? Does the rate of "solutions that will fit" decrease ...
20
votes
5answers
1k views
What would a country adopting Bitcoins as official currency have to reinvent?
Let's say that a country decided to ditch their currency and go for Bitcoins. What would this country have to reinvent. The reason why I ask, is because I believe that if a tiny country was to adopt ...
20
votes
3answers
3k views
Why was 21 million picked as the number of bitcoins to be created?
Why did Satoshi pick 21 million as the number of bitcoins to be created? What is the significance of that number?
20
votes
1answer
1k views
What do the different .dat files contain?
What data do different Bitcoin .dat files contain? How about the other files in the same folder?
The wallet.dat file is somewhat documented and there are some ways to convert it to human-readable ...
20
votes
3answers
1k views
Are there algorithms that could have been chosen for mining that balance CPU/GPU?
The mining algorithm for Bitcoins (and most alternative but similar currencies as well) is purely computation hard, but not decision hard or memory hard. This caused the unexpected effect that GPUs ...
20
votes
2answers
516 views
Hardware Bitcoins (Smartcards, RFID etc.)
is it possible to create a real hardware Bitcoin, e.g. a specified (and verifiable) value which is stored on a smart card or RFID which can be given directly to other people?
20
votes
2answers
2k views
What are bitcoin “confirmations”?
When I receive bitcoins I see a certain number of "confirmations" in the client. What do these mean? Why do most sites make me wait for 6 "confirmations" before a purchase will go through?
19
votes
4answers
1k views
What methods could a government use to shutdown Bitcoin?
Let's say that that a government decided to shut down the Bitcoin network, what options would they have to achieve this? Would they need to convince other/all governments? Let's set as a precondition ...
19
votes
5answers
25k views
Is Butterfly Labs reputable / Should I preorder the SC Jalepeno?
I'm somewhat new to the mining scene but I'm a bit familiar with everything. I see that GPU mining will become much less cost effective over the next year or so, especially around December when the ...
19
votes
4answers
2k views
How do I see the IP address of a bitcoin transaction?
How do I see the IP address that someone used to send or receive bitcoins with? Is it stored in the blockchain?
19
votes
5answers
3k views
How can I accept Bitcoin donations on my blog or site?
If I sell things, there are many services that allow me to accept bitcoins as payment. But for those who simply want to accept bitcoins on their blog or other site ... as donations.
A simple bitcoin ...
19
votes
5answers
929 views
How can I send Bitcoins via SMS?
I am considering working on giving Africans access to trade using Bitcoins.
In many ways, parts of Africa is more developed when it comes to mobile payments than the west. The success of M-PESA ...
19
votes
1answer
7k views
How to mine in Ubuntu?
How do you mine in Ubuntu 11.04? Are there any GUI miners like poclbm-gui for Ubuntu?
