I love reading about bitcoin and the forum. But sometimes these articles contain information that are lengthy and somehow complicated and technical. I have always wanted a summarised and more simplified version but could not get. But one day, I read the footer of an Op, after the signature space. I discovered there's a write up there and that writeup is seen in same position in all Original Posters (OP). I understood that they are Bitcointalk factiods. I have enjoyed reading them for days now. Immediately I login, I'll start reading them before I'll make some posts. It's enlightening, entertaining and some are humorous. I decided to make a collection of it for learning purposes. I have searched and didn't see anything like that. I don't like making repetitive threads, if there's a similar thread I'll lock this.
This will be helpful to newbies and at same time it is forum related. I don't know if it best fits here or in the beginners and help. Moderators feel free to move the post if it is not appropriate here.
FACTOID ONE:
Make sure you back up your wallet regularly! Unlike a bank account, nobody can help you if you lose access to your BTC.
My Question or Input:Does this also imply to offline backup. Whereby I am needed to always go check by backup seed phrase?
FACTOID TWO:
How can the Bitcoin system be changed? My Question or Input:You need to read, this as music was used to differentiate between Hard fork and soft fork. It is purely satisfying to read if you understand music or song.
FACTOID THREE:
Remember that Bitcoin is still beta software. Don't put all of your money into BTC!
My Question or Input:I know that BTC is still in the beta software. I also know that it is not good to put all your money in BTC. But, will there ever be an upgrade from the beta version of BTC and when will this happen?
FACTOID FOUR:
"I'm sure that in 20 years there will either be very large transaction volume or no volume." -- Satoshi
My Question or Input:It is not upto 20 years yet but what Satoshi said is already happening. What exactly did Satoshi say? He made a statement of two faces. If there is large transaction volume, Satoshi is right, if no volume, he is also right
FACTOID FIVE:
With e-currency based on cryptographic proof, without the need to trust a third party middleman, money can be secure and transactions effortless." -- Satoshi
My Question or Input:Thanks Satoshi, many thought it was a joke but you and the early developers who believed your idea achieved this.
FACTOID SIX :
Unlike traditional banking where clients have only a few account numbers, with Bitcoin people can create an unlimited number of accounts (addresses). This can be used to easily track payments, and it improves anonymity.
My Question or Input:Which is why re-using of an address is not encouraged. If you keep using one address for all your transactions, you are not enjoying the full value of bitcoin in terms of anonymity.
FACTOID SEVEN:
Whoever mines the block which ends up containing your transaction will get its fee.
My Question or Input:So, miners are a way richer during this mempool congestion. No wonder it persisted.
FACTOID EIGHT :
Bitcoin addresses contain a checksum, so it is very unlikely that mistyping an address will cause you to lose money
My Question or Input:I wasn't told this when I was a newbie. I had to type the address and even count the alpha-num manually to be very sure my BTC is not going to a wrong destination
FACTOID NINE:
The Bitcoin network protocol was designed to be extremely flexible. It can be used to create timed transactions, escrow transactions, multi-signature transactions, etc. The current features of the client only hint at what will be possible in the future.
My Question or Input:If the network is as flexible as said above, why developers have misunderstanding leading to hard fork. Soft forking should have always been the solution for
improvements
FACTOID TEN:
If you want to be a moderator, report many posts with accuracy. You will be noticed.
My Question or Input:Theymos, is this the only criterion for being a moderator? I'll start my reporting job tomorrow
FACTOID ELEVEN:
Governments are good at cutting off the heads of a centrally controlled networks like Napster, but pure P2P networks like Gnutella and Tor seem to be holding their own." - Satoshi
My Question or Input:True statement, but it should also be a concern that the centralized p2p is becoming more popular than the original p2p proposed by Satoshi.
FACTOID TWELVE :
Transactions must be included in a block to be properly completed. When you send a transaction, it is broadcast to miners. Miners can then optionally include it in their next blocks. Miners will be more inclined to include your transaction if it has a higher transaction fee.
My Question or Input:Too late to be a miner? Those guys are enjoying.
FACTOID THIRTEEN :
Activity + Trust + Earned merit == The Most Recognized Users on Bitcointalk
My Question or Input:
Top 10 most recognised Users;
- theymos
- philipma1957
- OgNasty
- DaveF
- LoyceV
- yahoo62278
- cygan
- gmaxwell
- The Sceptical Chemist
- LFC_Bitcoin
Welldone heros, it takes determination and passion for bitcoin to be in this list.
FACTOID FOURTEEN :
"Your bitcoin is secured in a way that is physically impossible for others to access, no matter for what reason, no matter how good the excuse, no matter a majority of miners, no matter what." -- Greg Maxwell
My Question or Input:What does Gmaxwell mean by "physically impossible for others to access..." But bitcoin is not a physical currency or asset?
FACTOID FIFTEEN :
The trust scores you see are subjective; they will change depending on who you have in your trust list.
My Question or Input:Noted!
FACTOID SIXTEEN:
The network tries to produce one block per 10 minutes. It does this by automatically adjusting how difficult it is to produce blocks.
My Question or Input:I guess this means if the time is shorter to elapse, difficulty will be less and vice versa.
FACTOID SEVENTEEN :
No Gods or Kings. Only Bitcoin
My Question or Input:The shortest and most inspiring factoid without an author.
FACTOID EIGHTEEN :
Every time a block is mined, a certain amount of BTC (called the subsidy) is created out of thin air and given to the miner. The subsidy halves every four years and will reach 0 in about 130 years.
My Question or Input:If we say "created out of thin air..." It looks as if the subsidy is not among the 21 million bitcoin in existence.
FACTOID NINTEEN:
"There should not be any signed int. If you've found a signed int somewhere, please tell me (within the next 25 years please) and I'll change it to unsigned int." -- Satoshi
My Question or Input:hay! I have seen a signed integer, where is Satoshi, I want to tell him.
FACTOID TWENTY :
20. In order to achieve higher forum ranks, you need both activity points and merit points.
My Question or Input:Now that I have a higher activity points to go to senior member but my merit points are lower, what should I do?
Thanks for reading till the end. I have started enjoying this forum more than before.