I'd like to see some data on how many wallets have been downloaded for any of the altcoins... Is there a way to easily find that information?

Greetings folks,

I'm from a small rural community in New Brunswick, Canada. I'd like to set up a small community scholarship fund for our High School graduates that would pay out in Bitcoin in June. The community is fading, as are many rural communities in the Province but there is also a lot of pride that goes back generations. Most of the families here are not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination but they are good people who work hard and want the best for their children and the community.

Even so, I suspect that just through Facebook, I could set up something simple using QuickBT that would allow people of the community to donate up to $50 to the fund with a target allocation of $1000 (or 1 bitcoin). Then, come June, I could present the award at the Graduation. Not only would this be a fun exercise for the community but it would have the added benefit of getting people involved and familiar with bitcoin without having to go through the hassle of setting up a wallet.

Word would spread, it's a small town and people would talk. To me it's a win/win and fun to boot! And depending on how much is raised, the scholarship could be awarded to multiple students rather than just one. And as far as the Graduates go, the young'uns are ALL familiar and comfortable with the idea of a virtual currency, most of them grew up playing video games and MMO's, so yeah, they get it. And another benefit would be publicity, for my little town and for bitcoin!

So I'd like your guidance in some aspects of the set-up. Keeping in mind that I want to keep the structure as simple as possible. The first step would be to set up a secure wallet for the donations, I'm thinking Bitcoin Armory? Then set up a group in Facebook that explains the idea and provides instructions on how to use QuickBT to donate. I'd also have to layout how the funds would be awarded so I need to think on that a bit. I hesitate to limit the recipients because it sort of goes against the non-hierarchical spirit of bitcoin, but I'm not sure how far to take it. I also want to make it clear that the fund is available for the public to see at any time through the blockchain and that all transactions can be seen going into and out of the fund and if any funds come out, well, they know where I live so... And for those who want to remain anonymous, they can, or they can post that they've contributed.

Anyway, those are some of my initial thoughts, any feedback or advice on the set-up would be VERY much appreciated!

Cheerio

Price, Date of Confirmation, Time since last confirmation
0, ?, ?
1, ?, ?
1, ?, ?
2, November 2011, ?
3, January 2012, 1 month
5, May 2012, 3 months
8, August 2012, 3 months
13, January 2013, 5 months
21, February 2013, 1 month
34, March 2013, 1 month
55, April 2013, 1 month (outside speculators coming in media induced "bubble" formed and pops bottoming at $55)
89, July 2013, 3 months
144, October 2013 3 months
233, November 2013, 1 month
377, November 2013 (real or speculation "bubble" forming?)
610, November 2013 (real or speculation "bubble" forming?)
987, November 2013 (real or speculation "bubble" forming?)
1597,
2584,
4181,
etc..

I'm no mathematician, but I see a pattern here. Don't I? According to this sequence, the confirmation of the $250 hasn't officially happened yet. I suspect the speculative bubble formed due to media attention, like it did in April. We need to test $250 again before heading to the next level in the sequence of $377, then $610, then $987 and so on.

The time scale is the only thing I'm uncertain about...

In fact, it even more resembles the green numbers shown on this website: http://www.maths.surrey.ac.uk/hosted-sites/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fibtable.html. The green numbers are defined as "Every Fibonacci number bigger than 1 [except F(6)=8 and F(12)=144] has at least one prime factor that is not a factor of any earlier Fibonacci number." And the index numbers corresponding to the green numbers appear to follow the jerky time limits shown in the bitcoin prices above if you think of the index number in terms of months.

The green numbers preceded by the corresponding index numbers are as follows:

3:2
4:3
5:5
7:13
11:89
13:233 (projected for January 2014)
17:1597 (projected for May 2014)
23:28657 (projected for November 2014)
29: 514229 (projected for May 2015)
etc..

Ok, now the idea of bitcoin hitting half a million dollars in May 2015 seems pretty out there, but there it is...

Anyway, I just noticed this and thought it was interesting. I'm sure I'm not the first though. There have been much smarter people than me studying bitcoin and the protocol for a lot longer than I have. But the protocol IS based on complex mathematics right? And Pi was an awesome movie... Could the Golden Spiral have been written into the code somehow? Or maybe I should stop smoking pot before looking at historical bitcoin charts?

Back in April I was doing my weekly check of facebook and saw an article by the CFA Institute on bitcoin. Now for those of you who don't know the CFA Institute, they are the issuers of the highly respected and difficult to obtain CFA Charter (Chartered Financial Analyst). Ask anyone involved in the buy/sell investment community and they will know what CFA stands for and represents.

Point being, I happen to be a CFA Charterholder. So when I read that article, I started to do some research and I liked what I saw in theory. So I proceeded to get verified at an exchange, deposited $100 and bought a bitcoin to test the waters. Then I monitored off and on for a few months, did a bit more research, etc.

Obviously a few weeks ago, I began to get giddy with the price rise (and regretful wishing I had bought more!). At that time, I started to research mining as well. I have my own theories about where this thing could be headed and based my most recent purchase of a mere $300 for a Black Arrow X-1 on the results of my analysis and incorporating my own risk/return calculations. I'm so accustomed to financial/investment transactions being conducted in what most of us would say is "normal", so this purchase has me right at the edge of my comfort zone, but I did it anyway! I now have an "awaiting delivery" status for the X-1 and am anxiously awaiting the end of February for two reasons: 1. to see if the equipment actually arrives () and 2. to start tinkering and get real world personal experience with how all of this mining business works.

So I have a couple of months to research pools and things before my itty bitty machine arrives.

I'll use this thread to update as time goes by for any other noobs like me who are just hopping on this bitcoin train. Are we late to the show or is it still in the early stages? Am I an early adoptor or a sucker? Will bitcoin change the word and save humanity from itself or just be another big idea that flops when the 1% realizes their wealth could potentially be at risk?

Only time will tell. And that's what makes taking this small risk so exciting! So many variables at play! I'm buckled in and can't wait to enjoy the ride, even if it does crash. But I have a feeling that's not going to happen anytime soon.

Bitcoin is brilliant in theory, and exciting to be part of the action.

So someone in another thread linked to here: http://getaddr.bitnodes.io/ where it shows the number of bitcoin nodes in each country. So I pulled some other numbers to do a quick analysis: number of computers per country and population. When looking at the penetration of the nodes in the world and sorting them, we have the following:

Countries in order of nodes per one million computers:

1. Canada (338)
2. China (233)
3. Germany (219)
4. Russia (218)
5. UK (191)
6. US (139)
7. France (74)
8. Italy (71)
9. Brazil (59)
10.India (19)
11. Japan (14)

Countries in order of nodes per one million people:

1. Canada (215)
2. Germany (194)
3. UK (164)
4. US (136)
5. Russia (81)
6. France (60)
7. Italy (53)
8. China (33)
9. Brazil (14)
10. Japan (11)
11. India (1)

Now I realize this isn't a scientific analysis but it is still interesting nonetheless. Being a Canadian myself, I can tell you we feel the chokehold of being so strongly tied to the US dollar. I've heard my whole life that if they go down, we go down with them (economically speaking). So I find it very encouraging that Canadians are early adopters of a currency solution that could provide us a safe way out of that chokehold. When the financial kaka hits the fan and the bubble that is the US reserve currency goes bust, perhaps we can survive the ride through bitcoin!

Honestly, if that does take place, I'll be the first one laughing at the 1% as they crash and burn... THAT my friends is where the real bubble is, and I can't wait for it to bust.

But Canada aside, all in all, those are a couple of pretty interesting lists right there when considering world economics and politics.

Can someone help me figure out the potential return if I buy into this? I have found a calculator, amplified the difficulty to what seems to be expected come march, put in what I think are the correct numbers for everything else and I am seeing a pretty nice return. So I can't help but wonder if I'm doing the calculations wrong with the calculator.

Anyhoo, here is the info I'm referring to:

https://www.blackarrowsoftware.com/store/rent-some-minions-4-months.html

Can someone who actually understands this help me out with some input?

Thanks a bunch.