Hello, everybody. I'm new to bitcoin and the forum

[sqyl]

Hi!

Been lurking here a bit, finally decided to sign up. There's some gap in my understanding of how bitoins work. I hope it's OK to ask here. Here it is:

1) In the real world, if I own $100 cash, I have one piece of paper with $100 written on it that proves this fact. In the bitcoin world, I don't have a piece of file that proves my ownership of some BTC, but rather there's a peer-to-peer network that traces all bitcoin transactions and tallying some of these transactions proves how much BTC I own. Is my understanding correct?

2) If I'm correct above, then would it take longer and longer to compute who owns how much BTC as more and more transactions have taken place?

Apologies if the above questions sound stupid. I've spent hours reading and even watching videos on how bitcoin works but alas I'm not a crypto or maths expert.

[nerFohanzo]

Hi!

Been lurking here a bit, finally decided to sign up. There's some gap in my understanding of how bitoins work. I hope it's OK to ask here. Here it is:

1) In the real world, if I own $100 cash, I have one piece of paper with $100 written on it that proves this fact. In the bitcoin world, I don't have a piece of file that proves my ownership of some BTC, but rather there's a peer-to-peer network that traces all bitcoin transactions and tallying some of these transactions proves how much BTC I own. Is my understanding correct?

2) If I'm correct above, then would it take longer and longer to compute who owns how much BTC as more and more transactions have taken place?

Apologies if the above questions sound stupid. I've spent hours reading and even watching videos on how bitcoin works but alas I'm not a crypto or maths expert.

Welcome.

In Bitcoin word, you can spend coins from address if you known private key, very similar, except you cant spend Bitcoins that doesnt exist.

[Laosai]

welcome to bitcoin family

[seanpin]

Welcome!!!
Stay away from alternative  currency tread

[marcotheminer]

Welcome, first of all!

And all BTC transactions are verified peer - peer by miners, so you cant double spend!

Enjoy your stay!

[viriat0]

Welcome

[xypos]

Hello and welcome in the bitcoin world.

[FlensGold]

Welcome :-)

[600watt]

Hi!

Been lurking here a bit, finally decided to sign up. There's some gap in my understanding of how bitoins work. I hope it's OK to ask here. Here it is:

1) In the real world, if I own $100 cash, I have one piece of paper with $100 written on it that proves this fact. In the bitcoin world, I don't have a piece of file that proves my ownership of some BTC, but rather there's a peer-to-peer network that traces all bitcoin transactions and tallying some of these transactions proves how much BTC I own. Is my understanding correct?

2) If I'm correct above, then would it take longer and longer to compute who owns how much BTC as more and more transactions have taken place?

Apologies if the above questions sound stupid. I've spent hours reading and even watching videos on how bitcoin works but alas I'm not a crypto or maths expert.

welcome 

1) in online wallets for example your current holdings are displayed like money that is on your online banking account. same with bitcoins you have on your exchange account. (please do not keep significant amounts of bitcoins on online wallets or exchanges, and always use 2f authentification)

2) all transactions are stored forever and publicly in the blockchain. this blockchain is indeed growing with every transaction. if you download a bitcoin client software like bitcoin-qt it indeed takes longer now to download all past transactions than it did a year ago. but it does not matter when you move/send your bitcoins to another bitcoin adress: the computing of the this transaction is not done by your computer but instead by bitcoin miners (which are getting rewarded for doing this)

a very nice analogy is the piggy bank analogy:

https://medium.com/bitcoins-digital-currency/a9a8c094feaf

[chaolang]

try inputs.io

[rossie]

Welcome to the forum! 

[Anon135246]

Welcome to the forums

[CEG5952]

it would take some time and analysis to tie your identity to an address, but i imagine it can be done after a given threshold of transactions/parties.

[sqyl]

Hi!

Been lurking here a bit, finally decided to sign up. There's some gap in my understanding of how bitoins work. I hope it's OK to ask here. Here it is:

1) In the real world, if I own $100 cash, I have one piece of paper with $100 written on it that proves this fact. In the bitcoin world, I don't have a piece of file that proves my ownership of some BTC, but rather there's a peer-to-peer network that traces all bitcoin transactions and tallying some of these transactions proves how much BTC I own. Is my understanding correct?

2) If I'm correct above, then would it take longer and longer to compute who owns how much BTC as more and more transactions have taken place?

Apologies if the above questions sound stupid. I've spent hours reading and even watching videos on how bitcoin works but alas I'm not a crypto or maths expert.

welcome 

1) in online wallets for example your current holdings are displayed like money that is on your online banking account. same with bitcoins you have on your exchange account. (please do not keep significant amounts of bitcoins on online wallets or exchanges, and always use 2f authentification)

2) all transactions are stored forever and publicly in the blockchain. this blockchain is indeed growing with every transaction. if you download a bitcoin client software like bitcoin-qt it indeed takes longer now to download all past transactions than it did a year ago. but it does not matter when you move/send your bitcoins to another bitcoin adress: the computing of the this transaction is not done by your computer but instead by bitcoin miners (which are getting rewarded for doing this)

a very nice analogy is the piggy bank analogy:

https://medium.com/bitcoins-digital-currency/a9a8c094feaf

Thanks for the explanation. It's clearer now

[vennali]

Welcome ~

[tearfereon]

1) In the real world, if I own $100 cash, I have one piece of paper with $100 written on it that proves this fact. In the bitcoin world, I don't have a piece of file that proves my ownership of some BTC, but rather there's a peer-to-peer network that traces all bitcoin transactions and tallying some of these transactions proves how much BTC I own. Is my understanding correct?

Yes, if you want to send some Bitcoins from some address, you have to prove you own these Bitcoins

[nahtnam]

Welcome to the forums! Watch out for scammers!

[600watt]

1) In the real world, if I own $100 cash, I have one piece of paper with $100 written on it that proves this fact. In the bitcoin world, I don't have a piece of file that proves my ownership of some BTC, but rather there's a peer-to-peer network that traces all bitcoin transactions and tallying some of these transactions proves how much BTC I own. Is my understanding correct?

Yes, if you want to send some Bitcoins from some address, you have to prove you own these Bitcoins

well, you simply cannot send bitcoins that do not belong to you and belonging means you have the private key. bitcoins can only be pushed, never pulled.

[danystatic]

heeey! Welcome and enjoy!

[sqyl]

Welcome to the forums! Watch out for scammers!

Excellent advice. A must read thread : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=199658.0;topicseen

Also don't click on any ones links in here, could be phishing and you might get a virus! Hovering over a link to see the url displayed at the bottom of your screen is helpful if you are considering clicking on the one I posted, or just search for 'rules to avoid being scammed'.

Thanks for the advice. Though new to bitcoin I've done quite a bit of online trading so I'm not the naive type (I hope so anyway).

By the way, I've seen a member who has 'untrustworthy' as his rank. What does it mean? I've checked this page https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=86580.0 but it doesn't mention it.