Well an update years later, seems my 1.5 bitcoins have been lost completely.

Thanks Multibit!

Yeah, some kind of portable USB booting version of linux, the installation files for Multibit, which still doesn't work, and what seems to be test documents, also with 0 balance on the addresses.

I haz 0 bitcoins, with a total value of $0.00

Looks like I was in the process of creating an offline wallet but never finished it.

Oh well.


Thanks anyway. On the bright side, I now have the use of a nice 8 GB flash drive

Thanks

Mmm, sniffing around it seems bitaddress.org just creates random 'wallets', and I tried entering the address on blockchain.info and it seems that address has never been used.

"No transactions found for this address, it has probably not been used on the network yet."

So what's written on the paper is meaninglesss I guess, question now is what mysteries are on the USB drive? As I recall I had to put a portable version of Linux on it or something weird.

I'm about 99% giving up here now but will have a look at the USB thing...


:/

Please forgive my impatience but I really don't feel up to re-learning everything...

Back in 2013 I purchased a bitcoin. Just the 1.0 I think, but I might have purchased 0.5 later.

I was using Multibit.

Last time I tried using Multibit it didn't do anything, the icon just flickered. I tried reinstalling the software but it was saying a balance of 0, that was a few years ago. I've completely forgotten how all this works...

Tucked away in a draw I have a sheet of paper and a USB drive with a "bitaddress.org" on the top, and a bitcoin "address" and below that a "private key (wallet import format)"

The paper also has my handwriting saying "DO NOT insert USB drive if modem is online".

By the looks of it I tried to create some kind of paper wallet? I really didn't know what I was doing back then and I have even less idea now  

Actually as I'm writing this I seem to remember I put half of the bitcoin in/on the paper thing.

Anyway, sorry for making it into such a long-winded question, my question is pretty simple I guess - if I have an address" and a "private key" does that mean I can import some balance, if there is any, into a new install of Multibit or similar?

I seem to recall you need a wallet and password for that wallet - but that's just software and easily corrupted?


Sorry to be such a noob - again

I have the same problem, it won't open, tried installing latest version, still won't open.

What freaking use is this?

Worse, I cannot find any sign of any file ending in ".wallet". Does the backup have a different file extension or should I be able to find it with a wildcard search for *wallet?

Hidden folders and files IS switched on.

I know I have a paper backup for 0.5 of a BTC (though I've entirely forgotten how to use it) but I should have 1.5 BTC in my main wallet, wherever the heck it is.

*sigh*

 The One Thing Bitcoin Has Taught Me ... is that even when presented with clear evidence of how governments and central banks devalue currency, and even when there's a great alternative currency that no government can devalue in that way, and even when you're talking to people who actually come to you asking for ways to make money online - they still run away from anything they don't understand.

The free market is what you get *without* government intervention.

Dunno if I need to do anything except reply but I will say 'Batman' sorted me out nicely, on TWO occasions, when I purchased some bitcoin from him with Paypal.




Alan Carr
www.copywriter-ac.com

I agree with bitbank.

Using names is plain silly. We need something that the public can understand and feel comfortable using, not some World of Warcraft style.... guild or something.

For my own suggestion:

Centibit

Millibit

Microbit

Nanobit

Satoshi - only acceptable as it's already in use and being the smallest it's easy to remember.



Sez you?

Or just use a screencast video of you paying via 'friends and family', which doesn't allow chargebacks 

Remember that big recession of 1920-21?

No?

That's because the theory of leaving things the heck alone WAS tested.


http://www.lewrockwell.com/woods/woods125.html

Meh.

Saturated?

The only people I know in the real world that have ever heard of bitcoin only heard of it because I told them a couple of months ago. There is still huge potential out there for newcomers who've never heard of it.

I also think that for many people, when they hear of bitcoin again in a few months will realise it's still here, still going and then jump on board.

In the meantime, making predictions about this weekend or next weekend is pretty meaningless. Try and think in months instead of minutes...

Do you mean 25K American dollars or 25K BTC?

The post above me nailed it.




AC

But most people prefer .00

ARE YOU SURE YOU WERE BANNED JUST FOR USING ALL CAPS, BECAUSE THAT DOESN'T SEEM VERY LIKELY?

OK, speaking as a sales copywriter, my job is exactly this kind of thing.

Trust me, such subtle changes can makes a HUGE difference.

Talking of copywriting I need to get on with some work but I'll throw a few points out to muse on:

1. Yes, to the guy who mentioned becoming a bitcoin 'millionaire'. Ideally that should be something to aspire to, not something you could buy with pocket change or about the price of 1 BTC now. Something around $1,000 to $5,000 to become a bitcoin millionaire would be cool, and still leave others happy to own "hundreds of XXX"

2. I recently just purchased 1.0 BTC, for the exact same reason that it felt silly and cheap to own anything less. It IS a big mental barrier. Right now we're asking people to join in with an idea, where the entry cost is around $100 or more, plus transfer fees etc. It's ridiculous that someone should consider this currency to be "expensive' but that's the way the human mind works.

3. Don't ask me or any other copywriter which is best, a fraction of a big thing or lots of little things, because the studies on this are all over the place and inconclusive. For example some studies suggest people think "12 months" is longer than "1 year", whereas other studies show the opposite. For my own writing I tend to use the smaller unit if I want something to seem longer ("and get a full 12 months coverage!") or a large unit if I want it to seem smaller ("..and you'll have paid it all off in less than one year!"). I repeat though, the studies are inconclusive.

4. No, don't go to the Satoshi just yet. That's even harder to get your head around than the idea of a single unit costing so much. Once you talk of how a single unit is some tiny fraction of a single $ cent you make bitcoin seem worthless. Again, this is how the human mind works, whether we like or approve of it or not, that's how we DO think, plus no outlet anywhere will be able to mention it without the usual drama of "the unknown hacker..." crap.

5. THE biggest challenge for bitcoin, greater than any technical issue or personal issues with some guy called Gavin () which mean NOTHING to me or other noobs, is indeed the whole social acceptance thing. Please DO NOT under-estimate these perception issues. I get paid thousands of bux to make subtle changes that can mean many more thousands of sales in the longer term for clients.

The subtle difference between a currency that seems normal and which one can simply buy $100 worth, or something where it costs $100 just for a single coin, is not really subtle at all. It's actually a BIG barrier to entry.



AC

why video? Link it?

There's a video out there where Julian talks to Eric from Google about bitcoin.

Thought I'd mention it.

Lemme see if I can find it..

Well this isn't video but it'll do:

http://www.webpronews.com/julian-assange-eric-schmidt-discuss-censorship-bitcoin-and-the-internet-in-recently-published-conversation-2013-04