Bitcoin Forum

So Bitcoin solved the Byzantine general problem. Everyone is working on the next hash, the first to find it gets to draft the next master ledger which is then shared with all, the longest chain always wins......... or something like that

So I am confused..... what truly differentiated Bitcoin from its precursors: "eCash", "Nanobarter", "BitGold" & "BitGold-Markets" yada yada

Were these precursors simply ideas on paper and Bitcoin was the first real open source coded attempt? Were prior efforts not decentralized???? Is that really all it comes down to?

What specific piece did Satoshi add to the mix that created the technological tour de force that became Bitcoin?  Or was it simply adoption? Bitcoin was adopted by millions the others were not?????

Bitcoin would of been had it's plugged pulled long ago by the authorities if it were centralised like your previous examples.

It didn't. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=934626.0

Satoshi implied that price of 1 BTC will be raising all the way to the moon. This made Bitcoin popular.

Likely decentralization, but wasn't the double spend an issue with the others and bitcoin solved that? I could be wrong about that though.

I thought all the precursors were centralized and the authorities pulled the plug on at least one of them. Bitcoin is the first decentralized solution that the authorities cannot pull the plug on.

This. The others had a big target on their backs and could be taken down. And were.

Why did Napster fail while Bittorrent has not?

As we all know, BTC doesn't have any fixed value, and it isn't related to anything with a fixed value. This could be the difference, though in my mind, there never were anything comparable to BTC.

Pretty disappointing answers frankly......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Generals%27_Problem

Why bitcoin succeeded:

1. Decentralized

2. Open source code

3. Strong community support

Although its true, there is still people that thinks that its bad since no one can "protect" the market value of bitcoin.
It atracts the attention of diferent people when compared to centralized solutions.

Didn't?
I read every newspaper say it solved this problem.

Probably its the idea of being decentralized. It was also definitely much better and flexible than any of the precursors.

Decentralization is the future, might as well deal with it. The next step is decentralizing the internet itself.

Well, those things weren't decentralized. They were merely vehicles build atop of another commodity (USD/Gold/etc.) Bitcoin on the other hand isn't controller by a single authority and can't be shut off or go bankrupt itself. It's just not possible. There was no incentive for people to buy the precursors, with Bitcoin people anticipate the price going up. Also, Bitcoin is open, everyone can go and create their own services, it invites people to participate, to mine, and to experience using Bitcoin.

That's what I was going to say. There really are no precursors of bitcoin. The examples you gave were attempts to make traditional systems work in a digital environment. Bitcoin is a digital native, and when combined with the lack of central authority it is truly different. It is a revolutionary development in the evolution of money.

This implies that the technology itself was not that important but rather the implementation and momentum.

Makes Bitcoin seem more fad than revolution with that narrative. For me I would rather hear that Bitcoin implemented something in the algorithm that was truly unique and revolutionary that until that point represented a fatal flaw that would not allow the distributed momentum to ever take hold.

Then you're not reading.

I would say that the protocol is brilliant, but does not include much revolutionary code. Except for perhaps the blockchain, It is more of a revolutionary system. As long as it is the fastest, safest, and cheapest way to send money it is not going anywhere.

the credit cards are the cheapest way and the "safest". BTC propaganda is spreading a lot of lies regarding to this thing. BTC is not free and not safe. a lot of hackings, a lot of problems. :)

bitcoin solved the problem of double-spending, of course

Bitcoin, especially in the early days, so an alternative for those who do not like to trust the government, central bank, or a third-party institution to maintain the value of the currency and ensure the user transaction.

In Bitcoin, all of it was replaced by using mathematical calculations and cryptography.

Each transaction in bitcoin will be tested through a cryptographic system that is spread across a network peer-to-peer. It is estimated, there are tens of thousands of systems that also perform this test.

Bitcoin is not free from theft. However, any stolen bitcoin will remain recorded in the system so that when used for transactions were, in theory, will always be tracked.

Bitcoin decentralized system made many refer to it as the Internet for money. If the Internet is revolutionizing the way the global communications, Bitcoin is believed to change the way the world uses money.

Lots of folks conclude that Satoshi's genius lay in herding several elements together that were already out there to create something new and unprecedented.

The history of systems with a central point of failure, ie some guy the authorities can nail, is unsurprising.

I dont think that projects was precursors to Bitcoin.

Credit cards may appear "safe" and without additional charges compared to cash from the perspective of the consumer.

The cost of this system is directly paid for by the merchant, and indirectly passed on to non credit-card-using customers, due to the way that merchant contracts are written.  Losses from fraud are socialized and passed on this way.

The act of using a credit card requires that you hand over your personal information to the merchant.   The number of data breaches of merchants by hackers for the purposes of identity theft simply dwarfs the hackings of bitcoin services.   Bitcoin is still in its infancy, and solutions will develop to secure personal bitcoins that involve securing private keys away from platforms like general purpose PCs that can be targeted by a hackers.

Surely not! But, maybe?: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Liskov

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Barbara_Liskov_MIT_computer_scientist_2010.jpg/330px-Barbara_Liskov_MIT_computer_scientist_2010.jpg

http://www.indiatechonline.com/it-happened-in-india.php?id=197


What did Satoshi say about cloud mining?

Chaum's DigiCash solved the problem of double-spending. Bitcoin solved the problem of a distributed ledger run by mutually mistrustful parties.

because they were centrilized, like our loved banks

BTC is unsafe only if you don't protect yourself online.
If you use all protection offered by Blockchain and other services, you will be fine.
In fact, I think that bitcoin security online is higher than security if you use credit card online.
I never had problems spending bitcoin online but had security problems using credit cards online.
In my opinion bTC is free and BTC is safe, but I can't say this for credit cards.
 

Well it seems like Bill Gates wants to get in the ecurrency bandwagon and im sure he's looking into a centralized solution. This guy is a tech leech.