STFU. Stop telling newcomers about mining. DON'T.

[🏰 TradeFortress 🏰]

"Hey, have you heard of bitcoins?"

"What's bitcoins?"

"Oh it's a digital currency where you mine for them with your computer or graphics card or ASIC."

"How do you mine them?"

"You change a nonce to make the hash of the block have a certain amount of leading zeros as per the difficulty."

"Cool.. Have you seen that video on youtube?"

--- vs ---

"Hey, have you heard of bitcoins?"

"What's bitcoins?"

"Oh it's a digital currency, basically cash but decentralized."

"So what exactly is a bitcoin?"

"It's just a stream of bits that are cryptographically encrypted. You can transfer the bitcoins to people in exchange for goods and services, just like cash."

"So can't I just copy the bits and make more bitcoins?"

"No, because once you spend the bits, you can't spend them again since there is a history called the blockchain!"

"What's the point of bitcoins through?"

"They can be used by anyone in the world, there's low fees, and it's designed to not inflate! So you're expected to get richer holding bitcoins, instead of losing money."

"Sounds interesting, how do I get bitcoins?"

"Here, have a bitcoin! Merry christmas!"

[1715018795]

1715018795

[1715018795]

1715018795

[rat]

DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO, BRO!

[Garr255]

It's definitely best to introduce Bitcoin from an economics standpoint, rather than SHA256d hashing.

[rat]

well. in all seriousness.

the question of "how are they made?"

will always come up....

[cypherdoc]

well. in all seriousness.

the question of "how are they made?"

will always come up....

not really.  usually the first question is "how can i get some?".

[dadj]

well. in all seriousness.

the question of "how are they made?"

will always come up....

not really.  usually the first question is "how can i get some?".

I would say that people I have talked to want to know how they are made before they are keen to get some. They like to know how it works on some level before knowing they can trust it.

[DannyHamilton]

. . . cryptographically encrypted . . .

Is there a way to encrypt something without doing it cryptographically?

More importantly, I don't think bitcoins are encrypted?  They are just an unencrypted value in the blockchain.

. . . and it's designed to not inflate! . . .

If we are getting new coins every 10 minutes or so, then the currency supply is inflating, isn't it? (Unless of course more coins are being permanently lost than mined)

So you're expected to get richer holding bitcoins, instead of losing money."

You should always be careful about what you "expect". We can hope that you'll get richer, but there are no guarantees.

[GernMiester]

No Tradejackass please STFU you MORON. PT Barnum had your number.. If you don't get the reference, well lets face it, even if you do your a tool at best.

Its more like this anyway you $%^#^!.

You say "bitcoins are really taking off they are worth like $13.00 each"
Friend says "whats a bitcoin"
you say "its a digital currency that you make with a SPECIALIZED PIECE OF HARDWARE THAT HAS ZERO OTHER USES or you can buy them at exchanges."
friend hears you say "its a digital currency that you make blah blah blah blah blah blah must use special hardware blah blah blah"
They then feign interest. That means to fake interest you used mens underwear sniffer. Oh sorry, that word, fake, it means not real, like the love your parents "gave" you.

See, the fact is Bitcoins is not and NEVER EVER will be for the every man.
Its a great idea an I have profited off of from selling the suckercoins as fast as they come in but the barrier for entry was
raised to high. Once it left the CPU it was the beginning of the end.  ASICS will put all the power in just a few hands. Then we have the morons who continually allow website to hold the cash or coins and get supprised when they are robbed blind.

If I was a criminal I would have had a site up and took all the BTC i could from the stupid like you tradeass. Come on, anyone who deals with guys with names like PIRATEAT40 deserved a good hard but pounding.  I mean really, pirateat40,  do names like irobyourcopins or closeyoumouthmouthbreather need to be used to make it anymore obvous this place is full of people looking steal your BTC and pretending to be honorable.  Ohh looky here I traded stuff on some BTC websites, its safe to trust my new BTC site with all you funds.
.

Everyone please continue to value these worthless and useless coins, I am so glad there a suckers buying.. You certainly can make a ton of money buying and selling BTC but the odds are you are just too stupid and will lose it all buying high and selling low.
I sell, always making more and more real money and NEVER EVER losing a BTC.

BTC! Its how I take your money while you smile like a fool.  I get cash you get the equivalent of some MMORPG gold that may or may not last.. LOL
Reminds me of when I used to sell gold for real cash back in the EQ days. That is EverQuest Trade%$^&#, the 1st huge MMORPG that was not that Ultima PVP griefer lame ass one. Bet all those EQ gold buyers felt exactly the same way BTC buyers do. Now we all know the EQ gold buyers feel stupid for buying some dumb game gold and they wasted their real money. BTC will be the same one day, a forgotten relic of the past that took peoples money, made a few rich and many had a good time. Me I had a good time and took some real money for these suckercoins.

[legolouman]

Depending on the view, I introduce Bitcoin from an economic/currency standpoint, a commodity/investment standpoint, or for mining.

Depending on who I talk to, a "dumbed down" version of mining is the best way "You use your computer to make free money."

[Luno]

Mining is becoming less important as a price regulating factor as the market grows. New miners will loose money from day one.

And remember: "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks".

[zvs]

not if you're using someone else's system to do the mining

re: first question, most of the people i've mentioned *bitcoins to have questions as to wtf they are and how they retain value, not how to get them (that comes much later)

[adamstgBit]

No Tradejackass please STFU you MORON. PT Barnum had your number.. If you don't get the reference, well lets face it, even if you do your a tool at best.

Its more like this anyway you $%^#^!.

You say "bitcoins are really taking off they are worth like $13.00 each"
Friend says "whats a bitcoin"
you say "its a digital currency that you make with a SPECIALIZED PIECE OF HARDWARE THAT HAS ZERO OTHER USES or you can buy them at exchanges."
friend hears you say "its a digital currency that you make blah blah blah blah blah blah must use special hardware blah blah blah"
They then feign interest. That means to fake interest you used mens underwear sniffer. Oh sorry, that word, fake, it means not real, like the love your parents "gave" you.

See, the fact is Bitcoins is not and NEVER EVER will be for the every man.
Its a great idea an I have profited off of from selling the suckercoins as fast as they come in but the barrier for entry was
raised to high. Once it left the CPU it was the beginning of the end.  ASICS will put all the power in just a few hands. Then we have the morons who continually allow website to hold the cash or coins and get supprised when they are robbed blind.

If I was a criminal I would have had a site up and took all the BTC i could from the stupid like you tradeass. Come on, anyone who deals with guys with names like PIRATEAT40 deserved a good hard but pounding.  I mean really, pirateat40,  do names like irobyourcopins or closeyoumouthmouthbreather need to be used to make it anymore obvous this place is full of people looking steal your BTC and pretending to be honorable.  Ohh looky here I traded stuff on some BTC websites, its safe to trust my new BTC site with all you funds.
.

Everyone please continue to value these worthless and useless coins, I am so glad there a suckers buying.. You certainly can make a ton of money buying and selling BTC but the odds are you are just too stupid and will lose it all buying high and selling low.
I sell, always making more and more real money and NEVER EVER losing a BTC.

BTC! Its how I take your money while you smile like a fool.  I get cash you get the equivalent of some MMORPG gold that may or may not last.. LOL
Reminds me of when I used to sell gold for real cash back in the EQ days. That is EverQuest Trade%$^&#, the 1st huge MMORPG that was not that Ultima PVP griefer lame ass one. Bet all those EQ gold buyers felt exactly the same way BTC buyers do. Now we all know the EQ gold buyers feel stupid for buying some dumb game gold and they wasted their real money. BTC will be the same one day, a forgotten relic of the past that took peoples money, made a few rich and many had a good time. Me I had a good time and took some real money for these suckercoins.

 

are you still making coins?
I'd like to buy some  

I can pay you in real colorful Canadian dollars!

[edmundedgar]

the question of "how are they made?"
will always come up....

If you have to talk about it, the non-weird answer to this is that new money is issued to people who process payments. If they want to know who these people are, the answer is that anyone with a computer can start processing payments, and the system is designed to work even if some of those people are dishonest, but most people wouldn't want to bother.

The mining metaphor isn't actually a very good description of what's going on when miners mine. It may have been historically useful in attracting the initial goldbug types who were one of the first groups of early adopters, but it sounds a bit weird to Joe Sixpack, and makes the whole thing sound dodgy.

[prezbo]

Is there a way to encrypt something without doing it cryptographically?

More importantly, I don't think bitcoins are encrypted?  They are just an unencrypted value in the blockchain.

Correct, inputs are signed but not encrypted.

[Endgame]

In general I agree that newcomers don't need to know about mining. That being said, the best approach to explaining bitcoin takes into account who you are explaining it to. If you are explaining it to a random person who you don't know anything about, by all means skip over the mining part. If you're explaining it to a guy who loves tinkering with hardware, then absolutely you should tell him about mining. A ones-size-fits-all approach is not a good idea when pitching, no matter what the idea is.

[teknohog]

If you have to talk about it, the non-weird answer to this is that new money is issued to people who process payments. If they want to know who these people are, the answer is that anyone with a computer can start processing payments, and the system is designed to work even if some of those people are dishonest, but most people wouldn't want to bother.

The mining metaphor isn't actually a very good description of what's going on when miners mine. It may have been historically useful in attracting the initial goldbug types who were one of the first groups of early adopters, but it sounds a bit weird to Joe Sixpack, and makes the whole thing sound dodgy.

This. I also think "mining" is a stupid term that should never have been used. I like to tell people that somebody has to keep this wonderful network running, and it takes a little work, hardware and electricity; as a compensation, there are the block rewards. It's no more "free money" than any other work. Sure, it is heavily automatized, but the pay is not that great, so it's essentially a hobby for most participants.

[Gabi]

+1 to what TradeFortress  said!

and +1 to what subSTRATA  said too!

[monkee]

i adjust how i explain them based on who i'm talking to and what purposes they would find most useful. pc guys love the tech aspect of "mining" and care less about the economics while business owners are interested in completely different info

[Evolvex]

I tend to agree, mining is not something the average person needs to know about, it confuses what can already be a bit of a head f**k - some people struggle with the idea of digital currency (why I dont know, we've lived in a digital money world for a while now).

This harks back to something I've commented on before, that bitcoin is poorly branded for the average user to understand, let alone trust. That said, the question of "but how are they made" always comes up, I've taken just to saying the network rewards the transaction processors with new coins... its simpler.

[Quantus]

Be very careful when introducing someone to Bitcoin. Those who don't give a damn about how it works even a bit are
the same ones that will inevitably end up scammed, lose their wallet or something along those lines and than cry loud
and for years at social sites and elsewhere how Bitcoin sucks, and probably acuse you for everything that happened.

Save yourself and us - do not bring more stupid people here, thanks!

I could not agree with you more. We will have to wait for a younger and more tech savvy generation. Any one over the age of 40 is a lost cause.