Some Bitcoin questions I have for the OGs

[Vvang]

Here are 7 Bitcoin related questions that I have been thinking to ask the legendary and OG members of this forum.


1. What are people using address prefix finder for?

2. Can I lose my BTC if I don't upgrade the software always?

3. Can I make money running Bitcoin node?

4. Now that there is ongoing massive adoption for Bitcoin, if everyone holding including the government how will scarcity plays out without a price ceiling?

5. Can Bitcoin function offline without the Internet?

6. Can Bitcoin maintain it's full decentralisation and security while making more than 10 transactions?

7. If Bitcoin can't fully decentralized from the government haven't the decentralisation failed?

[Zaguru12]

1. What are people using address prefix finder for?

I don’t know what you mean by prefix finder but if you’re talking about prefixes on address like 1xxxx, 3xxx, bc1qxxxx, bc1pxxx they are address formats which designated a legacy, nested Segwit, Native Segwit and Taproot bitcoin addresses respectively. This address are just the forks of bitcoin network trying to solve transaction malleability and they use of them actually correspond to the weight of your UTXO during transaction and also contributes to how much you pay for transaction fees. Read on bitcoin transaction fee

2. Can I lose my BTC if I don't upgrade the software always?

What software are talking about, regardless your bitcoin is stored on bitcoin blockchain and that doesn’t need upgrading of any software, you will only lose your bitcoin and can’t access them again only if

1. You lose your seed phrase or private key and never finds them again
2. Some steals your keys or phrases and then moved the bitcoin out
3. You mistakenly send out the bitcoin to a valid wrong address and no way to trace the owner of that address

3. Can I make money running Bitcoin node?

No you can not make money by just running a node you will be supporting the network though but you can make money by been a bitcoin miner and all miners are node runners but not all node runners are miners, so you make money by mining bitcoin as the block you get to mine you own the block reward (currently at 3.125 bitcoin per block) and also get to keep the transaction fees of all transactions you added to that block

4. Now that there is ongoing massive adoption for Bitcoin, if everyone holding including the government how will scarcity plays out without a price ceiling?

Scarcity will play out because there can be approximately 21 million bitcoin that can ever exist so when there is high adoption rate which means scarcity as this total bitcoin is small for everyone to get to own then high demand will be there for this 21 million bitcoin. Mind you bitcoin has its smaller units as Satoshi too

5. Can Bitcoin function offline without the Internet?

.

This is a bit tricky question, I usually answer no because you need transactions to be communicated to other nodes for verification before you can say it is valid and the easiest way is through the internet. Although so many suggestions have been brought upon to do this without internet but seriously it is more inclined to been impossible to send or receive bitcoin offline than been possible without internet

6. Can Bitcoin maintain it's full decentralisation and security while making more than 10 transactions?

Decentralization is when the network or all node actually verify the transaction and checks it’s authenticity, this is done by thousands of nodes so that’s decentralization, mind you thousands of transactions are pushed averagely every 10 minutes using this model so 10 isn’t a thing

7. If Bitcoin can't fully decentralized from the government haven't the decentralisation failed?

As at now bitcoin is decentralized because the network is still the same, no censorship of transactions, everyone can run a node and also be a miner and lots more. Bitcoin on the other hand is pseudonymous it is your choice to use centralized platforms this doesn’t affects bitcoin decentralization

[Cryptohunterkill]

I have only three question to ask.
(1) can I purchase Bitcoin?
(2) can I store bitcoin for a particular wallet for future use?
(3) is it a good advice for me to store all my life saving on Bitcoin?

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

1. What are people using address prefix finder for?

Maybe you can read further here if I get what you're asking correctly, this is what the Google says concerning your question.

Prefix: The prefix is the first section of a Bitcoin address that consists of 26-35 alphanumeric characters and is used to identify the network and version. Payload: This component of the address contains the real data, including the public key hash, which is essential for transaction security.https://paybis.com/blog/glossary/what-is-a-public-address/#:~:text=Prefix%3A%20The%20prefix%20is%20the,is%20essential%20for%20transaction%20security.

2. Can I lose my BTC if I don't upgrade the software always?

I don't think so, you may only not get the latest updates and features that may comes with it, such as to enhance the user experience and not to serve a vulnerability to losing one's asset completely.

3. Can I make money running Bitcoin node?

Why not, it all depends on your proficiency, if you think you're capable of starting one, why not.

4. Now that there is ongoing massive adoption for Bitcoin, if everyone holding including the government how will scarcity plays out without a price ceiling?

Everyone cannot be holding at the same time, what makes the market more profitable is the way people have been buying and selling, the scarcity plays out here because of its increasing demand and value.

5. Can Bitcoin function offline without the Internet?

Bitcoin are stored on the blockchain, even if today there is no more Internet, our assets are safe on blockchain, as long as we don't use a custodial means, we have paper wallet and I can remember sometimes in South Africa whereby you can make bitcoin transaction without Internet on the mobile phones.

6. Can Bitcoin maintain it's full decentralisation and security while making more than 10 transactions?

Why not, is that not why it's called a decentralized digital currency, but many don't just know how they could maintain privacy in using bitcoin p2p.

7. If Bitcoin can't fully decentralized from the government haven't the decentralisation failed?

Never dream of this, because government cannot control a decentralized network.

[Merit.s]

1. What are people using address prefix finder for?

Maybe, you are talking about the types of bitcoin address format. Legacy address is an old bitcoin address but it's less efficient compared to the rest. The address starts with 1xxxx and uses P2PKH.
Nested Segwit prefix is next, this address format allows old wallet address to send bitcoin to a SegWit address using P2SH wrapper. The address prefix starts with 3xxx and uses P2WPHK
Native SegWit format is the best because it's more efficient and cheaper when using it for transactions which is why you need a wallet that supports Native SegWit. The address prefix starts with bc1pxxx. Lastly is the Taproot upgrade was done on bitcoin on November 14,2021. It's address prefix starts with bc1pxxx. It enhances privacy and security for complex transactions.

2. Can I lose my BTC if I don't upgrade the software always?

No but it might make your wallet more vulnerable since it will lack the new features that has been made in the new version in terms of security and privacy. This is why you are advised to always upgrade your wallet software to the lastest version.

3. Can I make money running Bitcoin node?

Only through mining and mining is very expensive. You must run a node as a miner. However, running your own personal node will help the network to be remain decentralized and give you more privacy.

4. Now that there is ongoing massive adoption for Bitcoin, if everyone holding including the government how will scarcity plays out without a price ceiling?

Demand and supply is what due trigger scarcity. Bitcoin is only 21 million in supply and in every four years, the halving event which reduce the miners reward into 1/2 will definitely trigger the price of bitcoin to shoot up overtime because more people are adopting and increasing their bitcoin stash overtime.

5. Can Bitcoin function offline without the Internet?

No, Bitcoin is a digital currency and needs the internet to keep the nodes running.

6. Can Bitcoin maintain it's full decentralisation and security while making more than 10 transactions?

Of course, provided that you are using a self custody wallet.

7. If Bitcoin can't fully decentralized from the government haven't the decentralisation failed?

Bitcoin is censorship resistance and beyond the power of government to control. It still maintain the decentralized nature despite all the effort that the government is putting to see how they can control bitcoin adopters and users through KYC but not the network.

[Kagaru]

1. What are people using address prefix finder for?

Many people use it to create vanity addresses such as custom addresses starting with 1BTC... for beauty and uniqueness  while maintaining security precautions.(Just googled and got this answer, not sure is it correct or not)

2. Can I lose my BTC if I don't upgrade the software always?

Not directly  but security and compatibility risks increase. Problems can arise if there are bugs in the old wallet or if you don't understand the new transaction format.

3. Can I make money running Bitcoin node?

Not directly  but running a full node provides privacy  freedom  and trustless verification. If you want income  Lightning routing nodes or other service options.

4. Now that there is ongoing massive adoption for Bitcoin, if everyone holding including the government how will scarcity plays out without a price ceiling?

The price drop is certain  but Bitcoin will not die. Its basis is technology and consensus   if there is panic in the market  the price will fall  but those who understand it can stay.

5. Can Bitcoin function offline without the Internet?

Yes  partially. Offline signing is possible  later online broadcast. In addition  the network can be connected via satellite  radio  or sneaknet.

6. Can Bitcoin maintain it's full decentralisation and security while making more than 10 transactions?

Sure. Bitcoin can handle thousands of transactions. The main obstacles are scaling fees and speed  but decentralization is OK because consensus is OK.

7. If Bitcoin can't fully decentralized from the government haven't the decentralisation failed?

Decentralization does not mean just freedom from government it also means censorship resistance  open access  and no one has control over the protocol. If the government uses it  it is not a failure but a proof of acceptance.

I tried to answer as much as I know...

[cr1776]

I have only three question to ask.
(1) can I purchase Bitcoin?
(2) can I store bitcoin for a particular wallet for future use?
(3) is it a good advice for me to store all my life saving on Bitcoin?

1. Yes.
2. Yes.
3.  That is up to you.  How soon do you need it?  How quickly can you earn it back if something happened? 

[Vvang]

I have only three question to ask.
(1) can I purchase Bitcoin?
(2) can I store bitcoin for a particular wallet for future use?
(3) is it a good advice for me to store all my life saving on Bitcoin?

1. You can purchase Bitcoin, unless something is stopping you from buying Bitcoin, my advice is don't punish yourself by buying Bitcoin with money that's intended for your school fees or house bills, make sure you invest what you can afford to invest.

2. You can't store Bitcoin on any wallet you come across, make sure you choose from the list of Non-custodial wallets available, like Electrum, Ledger, Tangem, also make sure they are open source wallets like these ones that I listed.

3. Just like what I said in the first place, buy Bitcoin when it is doable for you, if you can live without your life savings then Bitcoin is not bad as a retirement plan, if this is the route you want to choose it is wiser to store your life savings in a hardware wallet because they are more secured.

Since life savings is involved, make sure you keep your recovery seed very safe, it is obvious that your life will depend on it, there should be no room for leakage or losses.

[BitGoba]

Here are 7 Bitcoin related questions that I have been thinking to ask the legendary and OG members of this forum.


1. What are people using address prefix finder for?

2. Can I lose my BTC if I don't upgrade the software always?

3. Can I make money running Bitcoin node?

4. Now that there is ongoing massive adoption for Bitcoin, if everyone holding including the government how will scarcity plays out without a price ceiling?

5. Can Bitcoin function offline without the Internet?

6. Can Bitcoin maintain it's full decentralisation and security while making more than 10 transactions?

7. If Bitcoin can't fully decentralized from the government haven't the decentralisation failed?

I try answer some questions. Bitcoin is money. The easiest way to understand what Bitcoin is, is to first understand some earlier, more primitive forms of money, like Rai stones.On the island of Yap in Micronesia, the inhabitants used large stone discs  Rai stones  as money, which were never moved, instead, people remembered every transaction and who owned which stone.Its similar with Bitcoin, every person who runs a node is like an inhabitant of Yap Island, confirming, verifying, and remembering transactions , who owns which bitcoin.

You can also earn by running your own node and opening your Lightning channels. This is Bitcoins second layer, where transactions take place off the main chain, and when a channel is closed, the settlement occurs on Bitcoin. You earn from routing fees when transactions circulate through your channels.

Unfortunately, most people do not understand what Bitcoin is or what money is. They see Bitcoin as a stock or some kind of asset to trade in order to earn more fiat currency. Even those who understand Bitcoin mostly use it as a store of value, which is one of the functions of money, while it is still very rarely used as a medium of exchange for everyday transactions.

There are several factors why people use Bitcoin less as a medium of exchange. The first is that governments tax transactions and, in some cases, ban them, and the second is Greshams law  an economic principle that states that no one wants to spend a superior form of money if they can spend an inferior one.

[Dunamisx]

(1) can I purchase Bitcoin?

Yes, why not, this is a digital currency that is decentralized, anyone can have to use it as they may require, because it's used p2p.

(2) can I store for a particular wallet for future use?

Yes, after getting your bitcoin, try to have them on a non custodial wallet, this saves you from the fear or challenges with the centralized exchanges locking your asset and being hacked and went bankrupt together with your bitcoin.

(3) is it a good advice for me to store all my life saving on Bitcoin?

It's not bad, but I will advise you have 60-70% on bitcoin while the remaining should fall under diversified investments.

[d5000]

Most questions have been answered already in a reasonable way. I'll be limiting to three of them:

4. Now that there is ongoing massive adoption for Bitcoin, if everyone holding including the government how will scarcity plays out without a price ceiling?

The "endgame" of Bitcoin's price discovery, when many people already own it, is indeed an interesting topic. For me, it boils down to one question: how will Bitcoin be used?

If Bitcoin's main use case is still speculative, then it is possible that eventually supply by those selling their holdings (because they already made profit and want to take them) will be continuously higher than demand. That would result in a large crash, and even the halvings wouldn't be able to stop it. Bitcoin will probably not die, but it would take a long time to recover, and it is possible that the dream of a "Bitcoin standard" would then be gone.

If Bitcoin however circulates, i.e. is used more as a currency, even if it is only for relatively large purchases, then there will be probably enough liquidity even if the demand goes back and supply is on a relatively high level. We see this with fiat currencies: they are fairly stable despite of the supply being (mostly) inflationary, because there is constant demand and liquidity due to the circulation. In this scenario. Bitcoin's value would be relatively stable, and its price could fluctuate with economic growth -- i.e. if the economy grows, Bitcoin's price would tend to go up, and vice versa.

5. Can Bitcoin function offline without the Internet?

In theory, it can. You can for example use shortwave radio to broadcast transactions and blocks. However, there is a lot of bandwidth consumption, and I think "the Internet" (i.e. mainly fiber optics networks) are the only technology that really can manage the communication between a big number of Bitcoin full nodes.

7. If Bitcoin can't fully decentralized from the government haven't the decentralisation failed?

You refer to regulation here? In theory Bitcoin's incentives are "calibrated" in a way that government intervention should fail in nearly all cases. And in addition, there are many governments with different policies around the world. But there is one scenario I'm a bit wary of, its probability is low but if governments own too many Bitcoins, they could perhaps interfere with development decisions. See this thread.

[Zigabel]

Here are 7 Bitcoin related questions that I have been thinking to ask the legendary and OG members of this forum.

5. Can Bitcoin function offline without the Internet?

6. Can Bitcoin maintain it's full decentralization and security while making more than 10 transactions?

7. If Bitcoin can't fully decentralized from the government haven't the decentralization failed?

Bitcoin can be stored in cold wallets which are not often online, you will only need internet when you are making the transfer after the storage has received the coin you may not need the internet to keep the coin there so yes partly and no partly Bitcoin can work off and online. even in you online wallets, you do not have to be online always to have your Bitcoin stored, you make the deposit of which that is the only time you will be needing the internet and after which your coin stays there even if the wallet is offline.

Bitcoin maintains its decentralization at all times even when you have more than that amount of transactions running simultaneously it will still maintain the decentralized nature, there are millions of Bitcoin transactions that are been carried out at a time daily and never has it affected the decentralized nature of Bitcoin and lastly Bitcoin is completely decentralized even from the government, they only control through regulations around their jurisdictions and not completely.

[bhadz]

4. Now that there is ongoing massive adoption for Bitcoin, if everyone holding including the government how will scarcity plays out without a price ceiling?

I think you've answered it already. Because of the massive adoption, the scarcity makes the price no ceiling at all. We'll continue to see it going up further and sky is the limit, there's no ceiling if we're talking about it continuously because it will going to continue to skyrocket. But the thing is, it won't be like that at all times so we'd see corrections left and right but if you zoom out the charts, it's only one direction.

I have only three question to ask.
(1) can I purchase Bitcoin?
(2) can I store bitcoin for a particular wallet for future use?
(3) is it a good advice for me to store all my life saving on Bitcoin?

1. Yes.
2. Yes, this is what all of us have been doing. We call this holding.
3. As a Bitcoin investor, I'd say it a yes because it worked and keeps on working for me. But as you, a beginner, it's best only to invest what you can afford to lose.

[DannyHamilton]

1. What are people using address prefix finder for?

Prefix finder? I don't know what that is.  Ask someone that uses it. I don't use it for anything.

2. Can I lose my BTC if I don't upgrade the software always?

No. But you can lose your bitcoin if you use insecure software to generate your keys or if you use insecure software to store your keys.

3. Can I make money running Bitcoin node?

I suppose you can, if you find someone willing to pay you to do so.  Generally though, it costs money to run a node.

4. Now that there is ongoing massive adoption for Bitcoin, if everyone holding including the government how will scarcity plays out without a price ceiling?

Yes. I think that is probably correct.  The scarcity will play out without a price ceiling.

5. Can Bitcoin function offline without the Internet?

Yes, but not very well. What you need is a way for all participants to communicate and share data.  That could be done by mailing USB drives, or carrier pidgeon, or by using shortwave radio broadcasts, but all of those options would be slow and inefficient.

6. Can Bitcoin maintain it's full decentralisation and security while making more than 10 transactions?

It has already made MUCH more than 10 transactions.  There have been more than 1 Billion transactions already on the blockchain and many additional transactions on second layer systems such as lightning network. It is still decentralized and secure, so, it looks like the answer to your question is, yes.

7. If Bitcoin can't fully decentralized from the government haven't the decentralisation failed?

If something isn't decentralized, then, yes, that thing isn't decentralized.  However, since Bitcoin is decentralized, that means that it is decentralized.

[MarjorieZimmermanGinger]

5. Can Bitcoin function offline without the Internet?

I'm interested in discussing point five because many laypeople may not understand the fundamentals of this issue. Most assume that Bitcoin won't function without the internet. Most people believe this is impossible because transactions need to be confirmed with other nodes for verification before they can be considered valid, so it's impossible without the internet. However, there are alternative methods that might work using radio waves and satellites. The problem is, not many people use this because it can be a bit complicated, compared to the easier way to do it using the internet. But most importantly, there is a solution to this question, even if the process is a bit more complicated for those who have never used it including myself.

[pooya87]

2. Can I lose my BTC if I don't upgrade the software always?

Generally speaking it is a good idea to upgrade to the latest version since the developers are always fixing various bugs and improving features of what they'd released. But it depends on the the update. Is the update adding new features, fixing stuff that doesn't concern you? Or is the update fixing critical bugs that should concern you?

Lets take one of the most popular and safe wallets out there called Electrum. I think version 2.0.1 is the best example here. As you can see in the change-log it fixes  a critical bug regarding Trezor address derivation. If you were using Trezor and Electrum version 2.0.0, then you must have updated to the latest version to fix that critical bug. But if you didn't even own a Trezor, you could have simply ignored this update.

[UchihaSarada]

Generally speaking it is a good idea to upgrade to the latest version since the developers are always fixing various bugs and improving features of what they'd released. But it depends on the the update. Is the update adding new features, fixing stuff that doesn't concern you? Or is the update fixing critical bugs that should concern you?

It's critical to update a wallet software rightly. Update is not harmful but if people don't know how to update wallet software rightly and be careful in practice like don't verify the wallet before using, it turns to be harmful and terrible.

For example, Electrum wallet had critical issues years ago.
Critical Electrum vulnerability
Electrum vulnerability allows arbitrary messages, phishing

To use Electrum wallet, from initial download to later updates, I recommend these topics to OP.
[GUIDE] How to Safely Download and Verify Electrum.
The paranoid user's security guide for using Electrum safely.

Same guides with importance of wallet verification with Bitcoin Core wallet software.
https://bitcoincore.org/en/download/

[KiaKia]

5. Can Bitcoin function offline without the Internet?

I'm interested in discussing point five because many laypeople may not understand the fundamentals of this issue. Most assume that Bitcoin won't function without the internet. Most people believe this is impossible because transactions need to be confirmed with other nodes for verification before they can be considered valid, so it's impossible without the internet. However, there are alternative methods that might work using radio waves and satellites. The problem is, not many people use this because it can be a bit complicated, compared to the easier way to do it using the internet. But most importantly, there is a solution to this question, even if the process is a bit more complicated for those who have never used it including myself.

Using Internet blackout as a disadvantage for Bitcoin is exaggerated.

Bitcoin remains a secured blockchain even if you can't transact at the exact moment that the Internet is down, and also today there are many options to get a Internet connection running.

We have satellite Internet and cloud Internet like the esim style that can work on your phone even if you are not present in the same country of the service provider, even if a world war 3 starts now some countries will still have Internet access.

Internet access is not going to extinction in this world anymore unless the whole world comes to an end due to a rapture event.

[MarjorieZimmermanGinger]

We have satellite Internet and cloud Internet like the esim style that can work on your phone even if you are not present in the same country of the service provider, even if a world war 3 starts now some countries will still have Internet access.

Internet access is not going to extinction in this world anymore unless the whole world comes to an end due to a rapture event.

You are correct in overstating the discussion of a complete internet extinction is an impossible thing and this is impossible without a crucial cause. The internet has become a necessity in this world, so a massive outage would be quite detrimental to many things, making it impossible. But whatever the reason, there are solutions if it happens, as we discussed earlier, so it wouldn't be a problem if it happened. The problem so far is that we haven't taken an approach regarding involvement in Bitcoin investment, so we haven't achieved any benefits after Bitcoin has experienced such rapid progress as it has.