Bitcoin Forum

Other => Beginners & Help => Topic started by: knight22 on September 06, 2014, 06:46:42 PM



Title: The Essence of How Bitcoin Works (Non-Technical) - Video
Post by: knight22 on September 06, 2014, 06:46:42 PM
Great explanation.


The Essence of How Bitcoin Works (Non-Technical)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5JGQXCTe3c


Title: Re: The Essence of How Bitcoin Works (Non-Technical) - Video
Post by: odolvlobo on September 06, 2014, 09:17:54 PM
I agree it is very good. My only complaint is that it refers to addresses as "accounts", promoting a misconception.


Title: Re: The Essence of How Bitcoin Works (Non-Technical) - Video
Post by: panju1 on September 07, 2014, 09:44:50 AM
Excellent video.
I am going to check out the 22 minute video"How Bitcoin works under the Hood" by the same user.  :)


Title: Re: The Essence of How Bitcoin Works (Non-Technical) - Video
Post by: Wusolini on September 07, 2014, 11:21:43 AM
Yea, great video, thanks for sharing.

just to add: ledger=blockchain, maintainer=miner  ;)


Title: Re: The Essence of How Bitcoin Works (Non-Technical) - Video
Post by: alani123 on September 07, 2014, 11:27:28 AM
Another thing, the money is not distributed randomly. The more computational power one has the more bitcoin he gets, it's not random in any way.


Title: Re: The Essence of How Bitcoin Works (Non-Technical) - Video
Post by: knight22 on September 07, 2014, 03:41:03 PM
Another thing, the money is not distributed randomly. The more computational power one has the more bitcoin he gets, it's not random in any way.

It remains random. The more computational power you have is like having more card when you play bingo.


Title: Re: The Essence of How Bitcoin Works (Non-Technical) - Video
Post by: silvestar on September 07, 2014, 03:47:46 PM
Another thing, the money is not distributed randomly. The more computational power one has the more bitcoin he gets, it's not random in any way.

It remains random. The more computational power you have is like having more card when you play bingo.

That is true. You could theoretically find the next block while solo-mining with just a small 330 MH/s USB miner, but the chance is incredibly low.


Title: Re: The Essence of How Bitcoin Works (Non-Technical) - Video
Post by: alani123 on September 07, 2014, 04:30:23 PM
Another thing, the money is not distributed randomly. The more computational power one has the more bitcoin he gets, it's not random in any way.

It remains random. The more computational power you have is like having more card when you play bingo.

If a pool owns 30% of the hashing power it gets approximately 30% of the rewards... While in bingo owning 30% of the cards gives you a 30% possibility of wining. Quite a difference isn't it?


Title: Re: The Essence of How Bitcoin Works (Non-Technical) - Video
Post by: silvestar on September 07, 2014, 04:40:38 PM
Another thing, the money is not distributed randomly. The more computational power one has the more bitcoin he gets, it's not random in any way.

It remains random. The more computational power you have is like having more card when you play bingo.

If a pool owns 30% of the hashing power it gets approximately 30% of the rewards... While in bingo owning 30% of the cards gives you a 30% possibility of wining. Quite a difference isn't it?

CMIIW, if a pool has 30% of the network hashrate, the pool should have a 30% chance of finding the next block (equivalent to winning the next game).


Title: Re: The Essence of How Bitcoin Works (Non-Technical) - Video
Post by: alani123 on September 07, 2014, 04:59:42 PM
CMIIW, if a pool has 30% of the network hashrate, the pool should have a 30% chance of finding the next block (equivalent to winning the next game).

That's not entirely wrong. The more hashing power someone has, the fastest he will be able to solve the problems required to find a block. But you can't really say that coins are distributed randomly (because that's what the video says). There are some certain criteria on how the coins are distributed, it's not a random distribution.


Title: Re: The Essence of How Bitcoin Works (Non-Technical) - Video
Post by: odolvlobo on September 07, 2014, 05:09:54 PM
Another thing, the money is not distributed randomly. The more computational power one has the more bitcoin he gets, it's not random in any way.
It remains random. The more computational power you have is like having more card when you play bingo.
If a pool owns 30% of the hashing power it gets approximately 30% of the rewards... While in bingo owning 30% of the cards gives you a 30% possibility of wining. Quite a difference isn't it?

I think you don't understand mining. If you have 30% of the hashing power, you have a 30% chance of finding each block.


Title: Re: The Essence of How Bitcoin Works (Non-Technical) - Video
Post by: silvestar on September 07, 2014, 05:24:44 PM
That's not entirely wrong. The more hashing power someone has, the fastest he will be able to solve the problems required to find a block. But you can't really say that coins are distributed randomly (because that's what the video says). There are some certain criteria on how the coins are distributed, it's not a random distribution.

Maybe it is "more correct" to say that the block finding process is random, but the chance is proportional to your hashrate.



Title: Re: The Essence of How Bitcoin Works (Non-Technical) - Video
Post by: ScottDriscoll on September 10, 2014, 03:48:14 AM
I admit that coin distribution is not a perfect random distribution by person, but I think the important point is that it's mostly random, and not just sitting in the account of the creator, for example. I wanted to emphasize that the math is there to agree on the ledger, and not necessarily create money.

I'm more than happy to add some pop-up notes if people point out mistakes or misleading aspects. I struggled trying to bridge between words that newcomers are familiar with and the Bitcoin world without spending a lot of time on terminology alone, and I think I'm pushing it with 5 minutes as it is. This is why I went with 'accounts' over addresses. Address creation is also completely left out.

thanks very much for the feedback!