Bitcoin Forum

I've been tracking BTC for a couple months now and have really been looking into it. I know we are approaching a half block mark.

but what is a "Half block" and why should it matter to me?

Also how secure are programs like "Armory"? because i dont want to transfer BTC to some service with the number of scam post that are being put out on this forum.

any help will be greatly appreciated

First, welcome!

The half-block mark has to do with (so-called) Bitcoin mining. It's the mathematical process by which new Bitcoin value is introduced to the network. When a miner "discovers" the next block (more precisely, solves a mathematical hashing problem), they generate and get ownership of a pre-determined number of bitcoins. At each (pre-determined) half-block point, half as many bitcoins are issued per block discovery. Eventually, no new bitcoins will be issued.

What this should matter to end-users: Nothing. If you want to get into mining, it's all about the economics of running processors (consuming electricity) and probability of solving blocks.

If you have any concern for the security of your wallet, you'll likely want a local client application rather than an online e-wallet. While I can't speak to the specific security of any Bitcoin software, one of Armory's primary tenets is security. I'd consider Armory to be a wallet for advanced use, with lots of powerful features. If you want to get started with something simple, try VanillaWallet (http://vanillawallet.com) (I'm the developer, and it's still Alpha).

Armory is amazing program, if you want and take the time to use it correctly it is invaluable, I use with my bitcoin-qt as your suppose too. My bitcoin-qt handles transactions that are quick and dirty for under ~50btcs. I use my armory setup for everything else, long term holdings, cold storage (were a bulk of my coins currently sit). It is one of those applications that is a must!

So Armory is kind of like a bank but with all the bank like stuff (interests, payments, etc.)?

Armory is not difficult to use and has some brilliant features.  You can make paper back ups and create an offline wallet (all expalined on the site) which gives you real security.  I would thoroughly recommend it!

The purpose of Bitcoin is to send and receive digital value ("bitcoins").

There are many software applications that make use of the Bitcoin system. To say that Armory (or VanillaWallet, or bitcoin-qt, or any other piece of software) is like a bank is a bit off the mark.

Here's the distinction: Bitcoin is an open protocol that defines a digital currency system ("Bitcoin"). Because the system is open, anyone can write software that participates in the (collective) Bitcoin network.


Right! Armory is a place to store your bitcoins (securely). The basic purpose of any Bitcoin wallet is to hold your private key(s) so you can receive and send bitcoins. Armory does this and a whole bunch more. VanillaWallet does this and not much more. (The reference client from bitcoin.org is somewhere in between.) That's the beauty of an open system - there can be any number of applications to meet the needs of different users, all without any central authority.

sorry to hijack, but is there a reward at half block? like when the full block is completed?

this is what i was wondering as well because i was told that the value of BTC would double at the half block. and if im not mistaken i think the full block is completed at 21 million BTC. its that or a half block is marked by the number of transactions.

Some incorrect terminlogy being used.

A block is solved roughly once every 10 minutes.  Unconfirmed (pending) transactions are hashed together and included in the block being solved.  When the block is solved (a very difficult math problem) the block becomes gets added to the end of the blockchain (a historical record of all blocks solved and all tx recorded).  Currently the blockchain contains 198,637 blocks.  The process of solving blocks has been happening continually since the genesis block (block #0 created by Satoshi) roughly four years ago.

Miners are provided a subsidy for solving a block.  The subsidy is (and has been) 50 BTC per solved block.  At block 210,000 the subsidy will be reduced to 25 BTC per block and it will continually halve every 210,000 blocks (~ every 4 years).  The reduction in the subsidy is well known (known since before the first block was produced) IMHO it is unlikely to surprise the market.  Just because the subsidy is cut in half doesn't mean the value of each coin will double.  

Electricity is fairly cheap from what I understand, does this meen the cost of electricity is really going to effect your profit? or income? if so I cant see how anyone would make a significant amount of dollhairs

Thanks for the info ............precaution to keep my wallet safe ............still learning........

Where I am, electricity is fairly expensive. But you can find out yourself if you are (or would be) mining at a loss or win with one of the several calculators (http://allchains.info/calc.html) you can find on the web.