I don't think they pulled the number out of their arse. Yes, the maths behind the figure required a lot of assumptions and guesswork, but their assumptions seemed fairly logical to me.

Are you saying that you think bitcoin will become an international currency? I just don't think this will happen.

In December 2013, Bank of America published a fair value assessment of Bitcoin, giving it a value of 1300USD.

Here is a link to the article: https://ciphrex.com/archive/bofa-bitcoin.pdf

To quickly summarise the article, BAML think that Bitcoin can be used effectively as a medium of exchange, taking market share from the likes of Paypal and Credit Card companies. I found the article very interesting and broadly agreed with BAMLs assessment.

I wanted to create a debate around whether people think the fair value is higher or lower than 1300USD. So please provide some fundamental reasoning behind your answers.

Hi,

I use Bitcoin core wallet to store my bitcoins. Is it possible to find the private keys for the addresses in my wallet? Also, is there a way to import bitcoins from cold paper storage? I know it is possible through something like blockchain to import a private key but I was wondering if there was a similar function for bitcoin core wallet?

Hi,

I have been buying bitcoin through the Kraken exchange. I really like the exchange. However, I am from the UK so it is very expensive to fund money to my account. Kraken is based in Germany so I have to use a SEPA transfer. For example, If I deposit £300, it costs me me approx £40 in fees. Is there a cheaper way to buy bitcoin from the UK? Are there any exchanges in the UK?

Cheers, great replies. Slowly but surely understanding how bitcoin works.

Thanks guys for your patience.

I am still trying to get my head around wallets and the way bitcoin works.

If I download wallet software such as "bitcoin core", can I create numerous wallets within this or is it just one wallet?

From what I have read, you can have numerous addresses in one wallet. And addresses are made from a public and private key combination? Is it possible for two people to have the same public key but a different private key of does each private key always generate a unique public key?

Say I have a wallet with 4 addresses in it: With 5 bitcoins assigned to each address. So my wallet total is 20 bitcoins. I want to buy a loaf of bread that costs 12 bitcoins (a bit on the expensive side, i know). I go into my wallet and click on the 'send' option. I type in the public key that the bakery has provided me with and send 12 bitcoins. Is this possible? If so, how does it decide which address' to take from? Does it take evenly from each address or does it start from the 1st one and when it has filled its order, it stops. So if there was 15 bitcoins in the 1st address, it would stop there?

I watched a tutorial on how to paper store your bitcoins offline. And I understood he whole process. However, I want to cold store my bitcoins on a usb stick. So I was thinking instead of printing the codes, just save them on a notepad onto my USB? Is this the best way to do this, or is there a better way?

If you wanted to split 1000 bitcoins between 1000 addresses, will you have to do there a way to only send once but have it split across 1000 addresses. Maybe if they are in the same wallet for example?

Finally, am I right in thinking, you don't actually need to download wallet software to receive bitcoins? You could just go to "bitaddress.org" and generate a random address. Write this address down. Then give the public key to someone who can then send you the bitcoins? If this is possible, how could you then spend the bitcoins?

Cheers.

When taking bitcoins out of cold storage or paper storage, am I right in saying that you have to take the entire amount from your cold storage address? I.e if you had $10 worth, you could only take out $10 worth and not $5 worth>

First of all, does every public key have a corresponding private key or can more than one public key correspond to just one private key?

Could you not generate the same key as someone else by fluke? What happens if someone sends bitcoins to this key?

Thank you. Feel more assured now.

When you buy from an exchange, can you transfer the bitcoins straight to your wallet? Or do the bitcoins first get stored on the exchange, then you transfer them to your wallet?

Okay guys,

I am interested in investing in bitcoin for the long term: I think that it has real potential to rival the likes of paypal, etc.

I am new to bitcoin and have done a lot of reading on it. But I am still slightly confused on the process of buying/selling bitcoins and need to be reassured on a few issues. I want to start off with £500 worth of investment.

I have started off by downloading a bitcoin wallet - "bitcoin Core" and it's in the process of synchronizing . Is this a good wallet? Is it safe from hackers, etc? I also want to be able to store my bitcoins offline on a harddrive - I think it is called 'cold-storage' - This stops malware/viruses taking your bitcoins. How do I do this? Do I need a separate wallet? Can I store my bitcoins both on my laptop and offline hardrive or can I only store it on one?

I am not going to 'mine' so I need to buy some bitcoins from somewhere else: I understand I can do this through an exchange. If I were from the US, I would use "Coinbase" because it looks easy to use and you can transfer money from your bank account. But I am from the UK so that's not possible. I have looked at a couple of exchanges and I like the look of 'Kraken'. Is this a good exchange? Is it safe?

Obviously, I need to deposit money onto 'Kraken' before I can buy bitcoins. The only way to do this is through an International Wire transfer or SEPA. I have never done one of these before. After I have sent the money to 'Kraken' through a wire transfer, how do they know what account to deposit it to? Do I need to include something in the reference/instructions giving my account name/email? How long does this process normally take?

Regarding verification, I have verified myself to tier 2. In order to verify myself to tier 3 I need to provide a scan of my passport and a utility bill. How long does it take them to approve this or is this instant? Do you need tier 3 verification to sell bitcoins? I think you only need tier 2 to buy?

Okay, so say I buy £500 worth or bitcoin on 'kraken'. How do I get these bitcoins to my wallet? Is this even possible? How long does this process take?

Although this is a long time off, if I want to sell my bitcoins, I assume I transfer them back from my wallet to 'kraken'. And then sell them for Euros. How do I then withdraw these from 'Kraken'? Is it difficult? How long does the process take?

Sorry for asking so many questions but I would really appreciate if you guys could reassure me on my worries.