Soon to be college grad in need of advice- what's the deal with Bitcoin?

[Beliathon]

Brainwallets are the least secure of all. Never go for it. I am seeing too many threads here in Bitcointalk about Brainwallets being hacked in to, and the Bitcoins in them stolen by the hackers.

This argument is fallicious. Brain wallets are being hacked not because brain wallets are not secure, but because people are morons. I have six brain wallets. They are as secure as the laws of the universe.

Do your homework thoroughly before using ANY kind of cryptocurrency wallet!

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[TaunSew]

The comparison with the internet is a very flawed argument.  The internet has this proprietary infrastructure which can't be easily replicated unless one is willing to lay down an entirely new telecommunications network.  There is no associated proprietary infrastructure with Bitcoin and anyone can make a Bitclone.

Furthermore - the velocity of money and contractions in real money supply would prohibit Bitcoin from ever seeing a market capitalization of $20 trillion (unless the US has hyperinflation and a loaf of bread costs $5 million).

[freedomno1]

The comparison with the internet is a very flawed argument.  The internet has this proprietary infrastructure which can't be easily replicated unless one is willing to lay down an entirely new telecommunications network.  There is no associated proprietary infrastructure with Bitcoin and anyone can make a Bitclone.

Furthermore - the velocity of money and contractions in real money supply would prohibit Bitcoin from ever seeing a market capitalization of $20 trillion (unless the US has hyperinflation and a loaf of bread costs $5 million).

Not necessarily if Bitcoin is considered TCP/IP that doesn't mean that 2.0 protocols that act as different functions of the same ecosystem cannot be created for it, the Bitcoin 2.0 architectures at this stage does make for a comparable analogy, the innovation of a decentralized ledger compounded with secure cryptography does make a strong argument for a new form of payment system.

The second point is valid enough as usage is always measure of the utility it provides and what people are willing to exchange goods and services for.
That said it should not be affected by any one states rules of restriction except for at exchanges.

[jonald_fyookball]

The comparison with the internet is a very flawed argument.  The internet has this proprietary infrastructure which can't be easily replicated unless one is willing to lay down an entirely new telecommunications network.  There is no associated proprietary infrastructure with Bitcoin and anyone can make a Bitclone. 

I think you're contradicting yourself.

Anyone can make a bitclone, as you pointed out.  (Just as anyone could make a TCP/IP clone.)

But, for the same reason that it would be hard to create an entirely new network for the
web, it is hard to create new networks for cryptocurrencies, because you need miners,
merchants, investors, etc. 

This is why most of the altcoins die a quick death after being pumped and dumped.

[Zooey]

Here's my pick for the best Bitcoin exposition/lecture:

'The Role of Bitcoin as Money' — By Erik Voorhees [Conference, 2013]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2YllvbJo6g

[jonald_fyookball]

I read a lot before posting on these forums, as far as i can understand, bitcoin can't be forked if people actively mine it, but i also read on some forums that today, quite a lot of miners / pools don't find it attractive enough so they turn mercenaries and fork coins, i mean, if people  already think like that... btc is not even 6 years old it can't be good for its future ?
what will happen in a decade or even 5 years if people just stop mining it and switch to whatever can make them money ?

People can mine altcoins but unless a truly superior coin arises, they will be less profitable than bitcoin because you can't spend altcoins anywhere.. You can only trade it for bitcoins.

[zolace]

if you research a couple of things, you will see that you dont need money to make bitcoins, there are many options to make bitcoin fro free and can help you pay stuff off.  do research

[cryptoanarchist]

The deal with Bitcoin is when you work hard for your money, you can save it as bitcoin and the government and IRS can't steal it from you.

Sure, it will rise against the dollar over time, but so does just about everything. Its more about keeping your finances private and de-funding this corrupt fiat empire of shitheads.

[jonald_fyookball]

if you research a couple of things, you will see that you dont need money to make bitcoins, there are many options to make bitcoin fro free and can help you pay stuff off.  do research

You're speaking foolishness.  There is no such thing as a free lunch.

[2tights]

The deal with Bitcoin is when you work hard for your money, you can save it as bitcoin and the government and IRS can't steal it from you.

Sure, it will rise against the dollar over time, but so does just about everything. Its more about keeping your finances private and de-funding this corrupt fiat empire of shitheads.

I like your style and logic.

[serenitys]

The deal with Bitcoin is when you work hard for your money, you can save it as bitcoin and the government and IRS can't steal it from you.

Sure, it will rise against the dollar over time, but so does just about everything. Its more about keeping your finances private and de-funding this corrupt fiat empire of shitheads.

I like your style and logic.

+1 here

[Beliathon]

the velocity of money and contractions in real money supply would prohibit Bitcoin from ever seeing a market capitalization of $20 trillion
(unless the US has hyperinflation and a loaf of bread costs $5 million).

Related viewing:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQdmsL147j0
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZU3wfjtIJY
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOP2V_np2c0
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpAMbpQ8J7g

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Hi all,

A friend introduced me to Bitcoin the other day and it sparked my interest. Is this the real thing? Should I treat it as more of an investment or will it actually be useful to my everyday life? What would cause Bitcoin to lose much of its value? Can governments actually stop it/regulate it? What's the best way for me to understand the concept?

I'm a soon to be college graduate with about 15k in debt that I need to pay off (should be able to do it within a year), should I stay away from Bitcoin for now? Also, I plan on traveling around the world for a while after my debts are paid off, will Bitcoin be used for this?

Also, how secure is it if someone tried to steal my money?

Thanks!

Once, when I was a kid, I asked my mother to help me with my homework because I was having trouble hunting down the answers. She wasn't versed in the subject, nor knew what chapter of the book we were currently studying in school.

She looked at the question, then I saw her go to the index of the book and hunt down a keyword in the first question, whereupon she arrived at the chapter I was currently studying in school, and pointed out the answer. I saw her do this a second time, whereupon I stopped her halfway through the process, informing her I can take it from there, for all the answers would be within only 3-4 pages, and with the help of the index I could narrow it down further sans rereading the entire chapter.

In today's day and age, we have Google, of which the answers to all your basic questions can me found, unless the college you went to taught that it's best to have others hunt down answers for you, in which case you're...

Trust me, I'm not trying to be cynical or an ass, and we all love to have you aboard, but clearly it seems to me you didn't do any research on the subject prior to coming here, opting to take the easy route and have the info hand-spooned to you while you may be playing video games, coming back later to read the answers.

Hope I'm wrong, bud.

~Bruno Kucinskas

[jonald_fyookball]

Hi all,

A friend introduced me to Bitcoin the other day and it sparked my interest. Is this the real thing? Should I treat it as more of an investment or will it actually be useful to my everyday life? What would cause Bitcoin to lose much of its value? Can governments actually stop it/regulate it? What's the best way for me to understand the concept?

I'm a soon to be college graduate with about 15k in debt that I need to pay off (should be able to do it within a year), should I stay away from Bitcoin for now? Also, I plan on traveling around the world for a while after my debts are paid off, will Bitcoin be used for this?

Also, how secure is it if someone tried to steal my money?

Thanks!

Once, when I was a kid, I asked my mother to help me with my homework because I was having trouble hunting down the answers. She wasn't versed in the subject, nor knew what chapter of the book we were currently studying in school.

She looked at the question, then I saw her go to the index of the book and hunt down a keyword in the first question, whereupon she arrived at the chapter I was currently studying in school, and pointed out the answer. I saw her do this a second time, whereupon I stopped her halfway through the process, informing her I can take it from there, for all the answers would be within only 3-4 pages, and with the help of the index I could narrow it down further sans rereading the entire chapter.

In today's day and age, we have Google, of which the answers to all your basic questions can me found, unless the college you went to taught that it's best to have others hunt down answers for you, in which case you're...

Trust me, I'm not trying to be cynical or an ass, and we all love to have you aboard, but clearly it seems to me you didn't do any research on the subject prior to coming here, opting to take the easy route and have the info hand-spooned to you while you may be playing video games, coming back later to read the answers.

Hope I'm wrong, bud.

~Bruno Kucinskas

Good post.  One problem though is there is a lot of MISinformation out there.  I wouldnt trust google to give this kid the truth about bitcoin.

[ensarwyckven]

Start off with an amount of Bitcoin in USD that you can easily afford to put aside for a long term investment and then hope for the best. If Bitcoin starts to go up, you can decide whether it's going to keep going in that direction and trend, and buy some more Bitcoin for further investing.

[Bit_Happy]

Start off with an amount of Bitcoin in USD that you can easily afford to put aside for a long term investment and then hope for the best. If Bitcoin starts to go up, you can decide whether it's going to keep going in that direction and trend, and buy some more Bitcoin for further investing.

Good advice to "Start off with an amount of Bitcoin in USD that you can easily afford"
If it goes down, buy even more.