2021-06-05 16:37:47
transactions to include in a block; different miners probably do different things.
Q: What are some techniques for storing my personal bitcoins, in particular the private keys needed to spend my bitcoins? I've heard of people printing out the keys, replicating them on USB, etc. Does a secure online repository exist?
A: Any scheme that keeps the private keys on a computer attached to the Internet is a tempting target for thieves. On the other hand, it's a pain to use your bitcoins if the private keys are on a sheet of paper. So my guess is that careful people store the private keys for small amounts on their computer, but for large balances they store the keys offline.
Q: What other kinds of virtual currency were there before and after Bitcoin (I know the paper mentioned hashcash)? What was different about Bitcoin that led it to have more success than its predecessors?
A: There were many previous proposals for digital cash systems, none with any noticeable success. It's tempting to think that Bitcoin has succeeded because its design is more clever than others: that it has just the right blend of incentives and decentralization and ease of use. But there are too many failed yet apparently well-designed technologies out there for me to believe that.
Q: What happens when more (or fewer) people mine Bitcoin?
A: Bitcoin adjusts the difficulty to match the measured compute power devoted to mining. So if more and more computers mine, the mining difficulty will get harder, but only hard enough to maintain the inter-block interval at 10 minutes. If lots of people stop mining, the difficulty will decrease. This mechanism won't prevent new blocks from being created, it will just ensure that it takes about 10 minutes to create each one.
Q: Is there any way to make Bitcoin completely anonymous?
A: Have a look here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zerocoin
Q: If I lose the private key(s) associated with the bitcoins I own, how can I get my money back?
A: You can't.
Q: What do people buy and sell with bitcoins?
A: There seems to be a fair amount of illegal activity that exploits Bitcoin's relative anonymity (buying illegal drugs, demanding ransom). You can buy some ordinary (legal) stuff on the Internet with Bitcoin too; have a look here: http://www.coindesk.com/information/what-can-you-buy-with-bitcoins/ It's a bit of a pain, though, so I don't imagine many non-enthusiasts would use bitcoin in preference to a credit card, given the choice.
Q: Why is bitcoin illegal in some countries?
A: Here are some guesses. Many governments adjust the supply of money in order to achieve certain economic goals, such as low inflation, high employment, and stable exchange rates. Widespread use of bitcoin may make that harder. Many governments regulate banks (and things that function as banks) in order to prevent problems, e.g. banks going out of business and thereby causing their customers to lose deposits. This has happened to some bitcoin exchanges. Since bitcoin can't easily be regulated, maybe the next best thing is to outlaw it. Bitcoin seems particularly suited to certain illegal transactions because it is fairly anonymous. Governments regulate big transfers of conventional money (banks must report big transfers) in order to track illegal activity; but you can't easily do this with bitcoin.
Q: Why do bitcoins have any value at all? Why do people accept it as money? Because other people are willing to sell things in return for bitcoins, and are willing to exchange bitcoins for ordinary currency such as dollars. This is a circular argument, but has worked many times in the past; consider why people view baseball trading cards as having value, or why they think paper money has value. Q: How is the price of Bitcoin determined?
A: The price of Bitcoin in other currencies (e.g. euros or dollars) is determined by supply and demand. If more people want to buy Bitcoins than sell them, the price will go up. If the opposite,
17 views13:37