Bitcoin Forum

I just found out about Ethereum. I've watched a few videos from Vitalik Buterin and others on the subject and now I have a few questions if someone knowledgeable about Ethereum can help me out.

1. What mining algorithm does Ethereum use? I thought it was a Proof of Stake system? Does Ethereum use both Proof of Work and Proof of Stake?

2. How is Ethereum decentralized? It seems highly centralized because there is one organization and one website that is selling the Ether.

3. What incentive do individual nodes have for running and maintaining the Ethereum blockchain. In bitcoin this is a 25 BTC reward per block solved. In Ether... ?

4. Will any Ether be generated by Proof of Work or will it all be sold? If Ether will all be pre-mined, what sets it apart from the other pre-mined (scam) coins?

5. Is Bitcoin incapable of having the same functionality that Etherium is claiming it has? Like, Etherium is building this programming language into it. But could Bitcoin still accomplish these things with future software implementations and/or bitcoin core updates?

6. Is this still true:
A premine? 50% of the whole supply? Isn't the massive amount of BTC being gathered in the IPO enough? I wouldn't invest for this reason alone.


Note: I may have some of my questions or data incorrect. If this is the case it's because I don't understand. In this case, please help me understand what I don't.

They already raise well over 850k (or 1900 BTC) worth of coin based on the price.

It is a hype and pump and dump like any other coin out there.

3582 BTC donated toward Ethereum right now. That's $2,220,792 USD (After only 13 hours of being open for public purchase, with 42 days left).  It is going up extremely fast.  Assuming the numbers are true.



I think it is possible this could be right.  If this is a pump and dump (we will only know after it has been dumped), then I suspect it will be one of the biggest ones yet.

On one hand, allowing 42 days to accumulate all that BTC is the perfect way to take a LOT of peoples money.

But I want to weigh the potential value of Ethereum for myself once the questions in my OP have some answers to them.  It's better to make informed decisions for oneself.

Actually I have asked these Qs to ethereum guys multiple times, but as of now they are mum. In this regard u might be interested in a Bitcoin based approach for solving Ethereum problems by Gavin => http://gavintech.blogspot.in/2014/06/bit-thereum.html

Pretty insane they raise over 3k bitcoin in a day or two.

Anyone who buy into this madness care to give the reasoning?

Thanks for that read. It was interesting and good to read from Gavin Andresen.

To sum up what Gavin thinks about Ethereum, you can take the last few sentences: "Bitcoin already provides a global currency and distributed ledger-- there is no need to re-invent those wheels. Combining real-world information with Bitcoin is where things start to get really interesting."

So basically, he thinks Ethereum is unnecessary.

Because sidechains are where the magic will happen.   

Sarcasm?

If not, please explain why u think this

in the end this will be a niche product i guess. you must have the whole world as a Dev (like with bitcoin) to become really sucessfull in the long run.

you could also read on their page, that the amount of Ether can change when the devs want this...fiat here we come  ::)

Sounds like another ripple attempt what is up with the devs can change the amount at any time? what? developers trying to get rich and haven't created anything to ocmpare to Bitcoin.

actually yes  :P

Can't see this project getting very far if that is the case this had to much hype and now the cracks are starting to appear.

If they can create any amount, why are people buying now?

I'm not 100% sure why people are it's a pretty fishy business investment but I'm going to have a look into it a little more and see if I can find the pros and cons of investing in this alt coin.

Really? What's wrong with it? I mean I haven't really looked into it. But is it some kind of cloud technology limited by cryptographically controlled supply?

This one answers all the questions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eU2INYe4gk
;)

The biggest concern as already been discussed about the devs can change it at any time....which is kind of bad as that means its pretty much centralized.

I'll stick with Maidsafe thanks.

Devs should never be able to change anything. At least with bitcoin, basically everyone can change anything. But it won't get accepted until the majority decides to. What makes me think: Who controls the Bitcoin core devs? :)

Seems silly to have all these presentations, meetings, plannings, whitepapers, code, etc for being a simple pump and dump doesn't it? But then again, when you're talking about millions of dollars people are willing to do a lot...

It's worked for the devs and they are rubbing their hands together we'll be having a few sob stories in the near future about people investing a lot in this coin and losing it all prepare yourself!

I heard Eth is super smart. Lots and lots of things BTC cannot do apparently. I don't understand a single thing about them and those "contracts" but the devs went around, talked around, know their shit... today I found out ETH launched...


And I can buy it.

Now.

Are you kidding dude? I don't buy this for a second.

You need to be skeptical on any products that come from academy type. They are usually good at theoretical model which have no practical use in the real world.

How usable is Ethereum compare to bitcoin and NTX? Can they deliver what they promise?

This might give some people an idea of what's being done with the test client \ code.  Worth checking out github commits before calling it a scam.

https://forum.ethereum.org/discussion/1009/the-people-s-republic-of-doug-ethereum-based-decentralized-organization

What do you mean the academic type? They may not have PhD's in computer science but all the developers are very intelligent and have some experience in this field. It's a very real project.

Gavin Anderson thinks about Ethereum "Bitcoin already provides a global currency and distributed ledger-- there is no need to re-invent those wheels. Combining real-world information with Bitcoin is where things start to get really interesting."


this is where it gets really exciting

..."Combining real-world information with Bitcoin is where things start to get really interesting"..

all those things you love in an altcoin, digital currency, online payment funds, credit card, transactions, stocks, shares, voting etc etc etc

bitcoin will eventually do

developers from around the world are already providing applications on top of the blockchain and will grow as bitcon grows

this in itself gives bitcoin a great advantage over alternate currencies due to its established network for a new financial/social system

in time there may be something to replace it but at the moment the new financial/social system is about to explode with the blockchain at the heart of it all. For example targeted advertising, a new way of voting, shares, ,sidechains, messaging, anonymity, decentralised exchange, payment through facebook (already here this one, imagine giving friends or family some money through facebook cool)



remember to create a public good e.g. google search is a public good it is free but to use certain services around its free product is where the money is made

will ethereum or ethereum "blockchain" be a public good, no I do not think so, it is a bought product I believe, whereas the bitcoin blockchain is a public good

in answer to... Can Bitcoin do these things too, with implementation? Yes and more as there will be a whole world developing bitcoin


hope I got that right




one last thing did it say in the ethereum terms and conditions something like ..."we may not even complete the software"..

just read in the
Terms and Conditions of the Ethereum Gensis Sale
WARNING: DO NOT PURCHASE IF YOU ARE NOT AN EXPERT IN DEALING WITH CRYPTOGRAPHIC TOKENS AND BLOCKCHAIN-BASED SOFTWARE SYSTEMS

not sure why this is there, must have to be an expert to use the currency


from an earlier post this was great overkillcoin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eU2INYe4gk

You can quote this back a year from now and said "I told you so".