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21-12-2017, 12:30 AM
1

Bitcoins

Can anyone please explain - really simply - what Bitcoins are?

They were talking about them on telly tonight, but I really don't get it at all.

What's the point in them?
Where do you get them?
What they for?

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21-12-2017, 12:34 AM
2

Re: Bitcoins

It's a virtual currency Mups for transactions on the net. It seems to have massively appreciated in the last year or so. I don't fully understand how it works vs other currencies, but seems pretty pointless to invest in any now. Apparently easy to buy but not so easy to exchange back into cash.
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21-12-2017, 12:35 AM
3

Re: Bitcoins

Thanks for trying Annie, but I'm non the wiser.

What good's a 'virtual' currency to anyone?
Do you buy 'virtual' good with it?
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Morticia
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21-12-2017, 12:46 AM
4

Re: Bitcoins

I think they're a bit like Monopoly money Mups

You pay real money and get Bitcoins back .. and loads of people have bought them so they've increased in value.
Everyone is still waiting for someone to say ... Pass Go .. and get hard cash back in return.
Except maybe the clever ones who started it all off by selling them. They've got the hard cash.

I'm like you. Stumped.
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21-12-2017, 12:50 AM
5

Re: Bitcoins

It's pretty mindblowing stuff Mups. I guess it's international so you don't have all the exchange rate issues and there's no central bank. You can buy anything on the net if it's for sale in bitcoins. I've read it's been very popular on the dark web... possibly it's not easy to trace who makes transactions. Difficult to regulate. From my point of view loaded with risk.

Someone I work with thinks that the system underpinning bitcoin (blockchain) will replace the systems we currently use for recording transactions between organisations. It's possible that at some point bitcoin could replace actual hard currencies. I don't fully understand the blockchain system relative to how bitcoins are generated, but my gut feeling is that it is a clever idea which like uber could go belly up somewhere along the way. Particularly if people start buying it to invest.
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21-12-2017, 12:51 AM
6

Re: Bitcoins

I've no idea what they are either but I wish they would stop sending me four emails a day about them
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21-12-2017, 12:55 AM
7

Re: Bitcoins

Well it basically goes against all the international boundaries and deep love of national currencies such as Sterling. Which is quite interesting as the World is currently going back to the womb...
Fogey
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21-12-2017, 01:12 AM
8

Re: Bitcoins

I think it's a financial version of the dot com boom.

"The value of Bitcoin, like all currencies, is determined by how much people are willing to exchange it for.

To process Bitcoin transactions, a procedure called 'mining' must take place, which involves a computer solving a difficult mathematical problem with a 64-digit solution.

For each problem solved, one block of Bitcoin is processed.

In addition, the miner is rewarded with new Bitcoin".


As there is no money involved in the creation of a bitcoin, I think, when the bubble bursts, a lot of people will lose money.
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21-12-2017, 01:14 AM
9

Re: Bitcoins

Originally Posted by Fogey ->

As there is no money involved in the creation of a bitcoin, I think, when the bubble bursts, a lot of people will lose money.
but will it be real money? Surely it's only those who invest now when the value is so high that are taking a risk?
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21-12-2017, 02:14 AM
10

Re: Bitcoins

Thank you for your patience, Annie.

Sounds a pretty dumb idea to me.

"I'm out!"
 
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