every 4 years halving

[boconniff40]

1st 4 years = 50 coins
2nd = 25
3rd = 12.5
4= 6.25
5= 3.12.5
6= 1.55
7= 0.775
8= 0.3875
9= 0.19375
10= 0.096875
11=0.0484375
12=0.0484375
13=0.012109375
14=0.012109375
15=0.0060546875
16=0.00302734375
17=0.001513671875
18=0.0007568359375
19=0.0007568359375
20=0.000189208984375

SO BASICALLY AFTER 24 YEARS, we won't even be mining 1 bitcoin per block, does anybody else find this ridiculous. I mean if 1 bitcoin still amounted to $4.7 by then and then it takes X amount of time to mine a block using X amount of energy, will it still be profitable to mine bitcoins?

[boconniff40]

The wikis are pretty vague. I bet you can't even quote the proper answer directly.

[BlueCorp]

You don't know if the value goes up after all those years

[boconniff40]

TRUE... I mean just a couple of months ago 1 BTC = 30 USD, but now it's only 4.8. Online news actually refers to it as the "rise and fall" of bitcoin.

[muyuu]

So don't mine. LOL.

Go read about difficulty adjustment and about the effect of deflation in currencies.

[DeathAndTaxes]

Your right mining is stupid.  Don't mine.

The goal of Bitcoin is for miners to be paid with transaction fees.

Obviously when the network is young and the value of annual transactions is tiny charging fees is non-productive.  For example today for miners to get 50 BTC per block from fees only would require about 5% fees.  Who would use Bitcoin w/ 5% fees.  However if transaction volume was 10x as high to generate 50 BTC per block in transaction fees would only require 0.5% fee.  At 50x higher it would be 0.1% fee.

Satoshi used the block subsidy to solve two problems:
a) subsidize the network to make it strong enough to avoid attack while young
b) provide initial distribution of currency

As the network gets older and larger fees will make up a larger % of revenue.  Once all 21M coins have been mined all coinbases will have 0 BTC subsidy and the network will operate on fees only.

[edd]

The wikis are pretty vague. I bet you can't even quote the proper answer directly.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/FAQ#If_no_more_coins_are_going_to_be_generated.2C_will_more_blocks_be_created.3F

[boconniff40]

Right... well let's just wait and see just how popular bitcoin transactions are lol right now they are not popular at all, out of 1000 people, only about 2 that i know have heard of bitcoin

[muyuu]

Right... well let's just wait and see just how popular bitcoin transactions are lol right now they are not popular at all, out of 1000 people, only about 2 that i know have heard of bitcoin

And it's worth 4.5~5 US$ nonetheless. You make your numbers (if you can).

[boconniff40]

lol im not complaining about the current BTC to USD conversion rate, I would have preferred it at 30 though haha

[Kettenmonster]

Right... well let's just wait and see ...

Correct and complete in all perspectives ... uhm almost ... but anyhow a good plan to start with.
So go ahead and let no one get in your way to stop you. 

[dcc4e]

out of 1000 people, only about 2 that i know have heard of bitcoin

Well since we can only assume you took the time to actually ask those 1000 people if they heard of bitcoin (because how else would you know ) then at least they got some exposure their.

You are right that they are not commonly used right now, but that is pretty typical of new technology.

[boconniff40]

yessss i asked through email

[RDarke]

yessss i asked through email

You should of told them you were a nigerian prince. Much more productive than mining.

[grue]

The wikis are pretty vague. I bet you can't even quote the proper answer directly.

The wikis are pretty specific. I bet you don't have the reading abilities to comprehend it correctly.

yessss i asked through email

seems legit

[boconniff40]

yessss i asked through email

You should of told them you were a nigerian prince. Much more productive than mining.

I'm not sure that means much to North Americans lol

[RodeoX]

Supply - demand
That is all you need to know. If the supply is less and demand remains the same, then the price increases. The value of a bitcoin is irrelevant just as the price of an ounce of gold does not matter. That's why people buy gold in amounts smaller than 1 oz. now that prices are high.
If demand continues to go up there may come a day when people say; "You own a whole bitcoin!!!"

[awigaxeh-443]

lol more like "that's all you know"

[truckingeek]

In a similar vein, and maybe I'm totally ignorant here, but it seems that the end game for bitcoin will be kind of a mess.  When the day comes that mining a block only gives the transaction fees, miners won't be actually creating anything.  We'll (okay I use "we" very loosely, as I'm only CPU mining for about 3Mhash/S right now) just be shuffling around coins, and unless the price of a coin goes back up drastically and/or the energy cost to mine a block drops drastically, it won't be economically feasible to mine anymore.

So what am I missing?

[RodeoX]

lol more like "that's all you know"

  That's quite funny.