There are no real coins in bitcoin

[remotemass]

In reality, there are no coins in the blockchain, there are only transactions between bitcoin addresses.
The bitcoin transactions need to be signed using public-key cryptography, which means you sign them with a private key that is never revealed and broadcast the signed transaction in order for it to be validated and accepted chronologically so that you cannot double-spend coins at a time where the unspent transactions in the blockchain balance sheet are already spent.

In the blockchain there are only timestamped transactions between bitcoin addresses. Holding the private key of a bitcoin address allows you to spend its funds if they were not spent in previous transactions.

The coins are just the balances where the unit is BTC (with 8 decimal points) inferred from all previous unspent transactions to that bitcoin address.

When bitcoin reaches parity with gold in terms of "market cap", one BTC will be worth the same as 10 Kilograms of certified Gold.

You cannot split coins because there are no coins, only signed transactions with a minimum of one satoshi available plus fees.
There are no coins. Only balances associated with a bitcoin address inferred from transactions confirmed and part of the blockchain.

You need a race that is computationally expensive to generate consensus and bury transactions in the past irreversibly, otherwise, you would need a central authority (third-party), to tell the balance corresponding to each bitcoin address.

-remotemass

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[mk4]

Lol I'm going to bet that this technical fact is going to be misunderstood by a good number people, thinking that OP's post is a sort of anti-bitcoiner FUD argument or the "yes, bitcoin is digital so it's not real coins" responses.

But yea, bitcoin addresses technically don't have variables with values such as "bitcoin_wallet = 0.05;" like how bank accounts and centralized money services have.

[cryptoaddictchie]

Interesting analogy. But if we think about it. There is no real coins we are dealing with but a digital print of coin represent the figures and numbers which comprises the bitcoin quantity.

But this is a good arguement, cause possibly there is a reason why bitcoin coined as coin instead of something tangible right? Good statement, but wanted to hear some more deeper explanation about this.

[rhomelmabini]

Well, it doesn't exist in reality and it wasn't tangible unlike gold but isn't fiat do the same? There's no real fiat it's just a piece of paper and worst is, they can print more and more of it creating inflation, it wasn't the same to bitcoin. Bitcoin is a medium of exchange in the internet and as a store of value. We are heading digitally and I'm expecting and always optimistic that Bitcoin will be adopted by many.

[suzanne5223]

Technically there are real coins in Bitcoin but every transaction that has to do with electronic get be held and sending an online bank transfer to someone in Malaysia what you send to her is just some digit which she will collect as fiat and that's just the situation of Bitcoin.
Having said that, if you googling the word "crypto" it means “hidden" which the coin in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency is "hidden currency" (cant be physical touch/experience) that the ordinary human mind cannot understand which is the reason why some people will never understand the benefit of Bitcoin until it too late.

[Cnut237]

~

Interesting to see it expressed that way, but really I suppose it's just a definition of what a blockchain is, so any transaction can in theory be followed back to an initial point of origin.

You need a race that is computationally expensive to generate consensus

I don't know. There are alternatives to PoW. Proof of Capacity is an interesting one. Plus there is the DAG approach - but then I suppose that's getting away from blockchain a bit.

[The Cryptovator]

I am quite confused about what does exactly means real coin that OP mentioned above. Does it mean physical coin? If so then yes there is no physical coin. But it doesn't mean there is no real coin because there is a real algorithm to determine the coins or mean the coins. If you are familiar with mobile banking or internet banking, have you notice is there any real fiat? Aren't they just using an algorithm to determine the real amount which would be cashout from the bank or authorized party? Same Bitcoin working but with decentralized blockchain technology. You can still cash out here from ATMs or banks. So how are you cashing Bitcoin if there is no real coin?

[DapanasFruit]

Am not seeing this post as an anti bitcoin statement but an analysis and as the ops rightly said his point may be greatly misunderstood by a great number of people.

Of course, this is not anti-Bitcoin actually but just a statement of truth. In the real world we are living, it would be nearly impossible to be explaining Bitcoin the way it really is and so we are coming up with terms that can easily be understood even by a common man. The term coin is something we can easily relate and that is why the term Bitcoin as it would be so hard to be explaining to non-technical people if we tell them that there are not really coins but "there are only transactions between bitcoin addresses." And this is true in most industries especially those involving money, banking and finance.

[remotemass]

Some people do really think bitcoin coins are real digital coins. They think that bitcoin coins are very large random numbers with special proprieties that need to be mined and that you keep your coins safe and hidden in your bitcoin wallet. The truth is that the bitcoin wallet only protects and hides your private key of each bitcoin address.

[GideonGono]

This topic caught my interest at first I thought that it was an anti-BTC post but it was just a fact given to us by OP.
And at some point I really got interested on others reply just like this.

-TheNineClub
"And there is no real money on your bank account, only numbers someone wrote down on a computer."

I am quite confused about what does exactly means real coin that OP mentioned above. Does it mean physical coin? If so then yes there is no physical coin.

It was also one of the reply that I would say but you already stated it and explain it much more detailed that I could.

[testghijk]

The ancient bitcointalkers discussed it too 🙂

Isn't it an irony that bitcoins are not coins at all?
What are your thoughts on this?

[Ucy]

Ofcourse.
I guess the coin was used to relate it to money and make the idea easily understandable.

If you want your bitcoin in physical coin form, you could by safely printing any denomination of your Bitcoin private keys on a physical coin hidden or cryptic. Example, you print $1 worth of bitcoin, use that to buy coffee or give it to someone as gift. It can continually be distributed in this manner until the private key is exposed probably by scratching off a silver panel that hides it.   The material for the coin could be plastic.. and the silver panel could contain codes to prove whether it's from genuine source or whether it has been scratch before.    Just an idea by the way. Don't know if it has been tried before. I believe it is possible though.

[bL4nkcode]

Yes, that's bitcoin for you.

After all, balance in your bank is just a number. Fiat is just a paper.

[seoincorporation]

If we follow your point of view then we can say there are no coins in my bank account, there are no coins in my credit debit and there are no coins in the credits offered by the banks.

Is important to mention how the money is already virtual, if you think all the money in the world is back up by coins then you are wrong. It's easy for govs to print bills and create coins, but that doesn't represent the total amount of money that we have in the world.

[aysg76]

Yes you are right there are no coins in Bitcoin.This is how Bitcoin and other altcoins works as they have no physical indentities unlike fiat which is printed on paper.The funds are stored in your wallet in the form of database known as UTXO which means unspent transaction output and its the balance that a person has in his wallet which he can spend by providing digital signature and proof of ownership in the form of private and public keys stored in the wallet.The UTXO increases when you receive funds and decrease when you sign a transaction meaning when you spend your so called coins.Its just for simplification to normal people that Bitcoins are digital coins but in reality they don't have any physical existence but just funds stored in the form of UTXO in your wallets.

[pinggoki]

The misconception here is that the OP is talking about that there are no real coins in bitcoin or cryptocurrency and this is because bitcoin is a digital currency which is said by the OP that this is not real. Meaning if the money is not tangible then it is not a real coin so digital currency or digital coin are not considered as a real coins. Which is the concept is wrong. Bitcoin is a digital currency and compared to fiat, it would be hard to use on the stores as we know that the stores must accept first bitcoin in order to use it in transactions or you must convert your bitcoin into fiat currency in order to use it preferably.

[BrewMaster]

In reality, there are no coins in the blockchain,

There isn't anything "physical" in bitcoin if that's what you mean otherwise we refer to transaction outputs both commonly and in code as "coins". a coin or output can have a value between 0 to 2100000000000000 satoshis.

there are only transactions between bitcoin addresses.

this is wrong. transactions aren't between addresses. but a transaction is spending one or more UTXO to create one ore more new UTXOs. these outputs may not correspond to any address at all. for example a non standard scriptpub or OP_RETURN outputs are not addresses.

The bitcoin transactions need to be signed using public-key cryptography,

this is correct but technically incomplete.
to spend a "coin" or UTXO one has to provide the "unlocking script" that can spend that output. in standard transactions this will include providing one or more ECDSA signatures.

The coins are just the balances

this is wrong. coins as i said earlier are the outputs which contain both an amount (value of the output) and a script (the locking script).
in fact there is no "balance" defined in bitcoin protocol

where the unit is BTC

the unit is actually satoshi

When bitcoin reaches parity with gold in terms of "market cap",

bitcoin is not supposed to reach parity with anything least of which a precious metal mainly becaue it is a currency.

You cannot split coins because there are no coins,

technically wrong. you can split the amount of a "coin" between multiple new outputs.

Only balances associated with a bitcoin address

again there is no such thing as "address balance" in bitcoin. there are only coins some of which are unspent aka UTXOs that are kept in a database build by each node known as chainstate.

[remotemass]

The coins are just the balances where the unit is BTC (with 8 decimal places on the right) inferred from all previous unspent transactions to that bitcoin address.

[TribalBob]

in virtual money it is not real money. different from fiat which has its shape and type.
but bitcoin has a value like fiat money,
you are correct bitcoin is only a balance, but it is the same with fiat if you save you also only see the balance in the savings book
the point is bitcoin has no physical form because bitcoin is virtual money

[btcsmlcmnr]

But yea, bitcoin addresses technically don't have variables with values such as "bitcoin_wallet = 0.05;" like how bank accounts and centralized money services have.

One token developer thought of it.

One token address = 1 token. 1 is a default value of token for one address that ever created. It is fair default value but non sense and crazy. It is  bad than min balance in bank account to keep it alive. People have to make a min deposit when they open their bank account.

Here is an idea: create an ECHO token. Each new address gets exactly 1 token. In other words, you mine the token by opening a new address and by minting exactly one token per address, with a contract.