Bitcoin sellers remorse.... how many people are kicking themselves for cashing out>?

[MrColin]

Well to be fair, I made the thread to talk about people like myself who sold their bitcoins for jack shit and now look @ the $70+ per coin price and need a stiff drink after work.

Didn't intend it to be a forum for people to talk about economics..

More of a forum to for people to cry on eachother's shoulder and contemplate how if you still had the btc you sold you could be debt free, pay off mortgage, etc.

Hey, well at least we didn't lose money huh? But damn.

 

[drebo]

Well to be fair, I made the thread to talk about people like myself who sold their bitcoins for jack shit and now look @ the $70+ per coin price and need a stiff drink after work.

Didn't intend it to be a forum for people to talk about economics..

More of a forum to for people to cry on eachother's shoulder and contemplate how if you still had the btc you sold you could be debt free, pay off mortgage, etc.

Oh I understand.

I just think it's hilarious that some people will knock the gold standard like crazy while also being a huge proponent of bitcoins, using the same logic they lambaste when it comes to gold.

For the record, I'm more pragmatic...anything can be valuable to anyone and nothing has any intrinsic value...therefore, anything can be currency as long as the parties involved recognize some common value of that which is being traded.

 

[darkewaffle]

Damn... that's a good chunk of change.

It makes me wonder though - if people have bitcoins in a digital wallet, and the PC that stores it completely crashes out, assuming no backup for that PC, are those bitcoins lost in the big bit bucket forever, with nobody to claim them?

Yea, if you lose your wallet, it's gone gone afaik.

 

[zinfamous]

Oh I understand.

I just think it's hilarious that some people will knock the gold standard like crazy while also being a huge proponent of bitcoins, using the same logic they lambaste when it comes to gold.

For the record, I'm more pragmatic...anything can be valuable to anyone and nothing has any intrinsic value...therefore, anything can be currency as long as the parties involved recognize some common value of that which is being traded.

...just don't buy into tulip trading these days.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Damn... that's a good chunk of change.

It makes me wonder though - if people have bitcoins in a digital wallet, and the PC that stores it completely crashes out, assuming no backup for that PC, are those bitcoins lost in the big bit bucket forever, with nobody to claim them?[/QUOTE]

correct. the equivalent of hiding your salary in a jar burried in the bottom of the ocean.

 

[airdata]

Damn... that's a good chunk of change.

It makes me wonder though - if people have bitcoins in a digital wallet, and the PC that stores it completely crashes out, assuming no backup for that PC, are those bitcoins lost in the big bit bucket forever, with nobody to claim them?

yep... they'd be gone.

 

[Juddog]

ok the only thing I cant wrap my head around is what are people computing.

Like someone else asked, folding at home is computing protein structures and is doing it for medical research

What is bitcoin a reward for? Did this guy who created them just make up a bunch of algorithms for people to crack and when they do they get a coin like some type of Easter egg?

Do the cracks they make actually provide anything? Are they cracking programs, databases, passwords? Are they computing previously unknown problems and fixing them?

Is it just a game?

They aren't "cracking" per se, but rather discovering blocks.

The way that bitcoins are created are via a "proof-of-work" system. There is a hash value (via SHA 256), and the computer slowly crawls through a series of values to try and find which value matches against the HASH. Once that proof-of-work value is found, the node broadcasts that value to the rest of the attached nodes. After that, other nodes will start to build upon the work performed by the first node, so the proof-of-work chain continues to build.

Think of it like you're building scaffolding, where each layer of the scaffold depends on the previous layer for structural support. Mining is the process of finding the next chain up in the scaffold. Each layer becomes more and more computationally difficult to find, because it's no longer solving the hash at an easier value, but rather has to depend on the previously established values in the chain for proof-of-work.

The wikipedia diagram explains it pretty nicely; each block in the main chain is black, with the green block being the genesis block, and the purple blocks being orphans.

 

[WelshBloke]

lolno.

That's not lost money, that's just money you didn't gain. There is a distinct difference.

The only way you lost money is if your cost to gain those bitcoins cost you over $35/coin. You didn't LOSE money by cashing out early, you just didn't gain as much as you could have. It's a gamble though with how much the prices change.

But someone earlier said that the cost of things in bitcoins changes with the value of bitcoins.

 

[lxskllr]

But someone earlier said that the cost of things in bitcoins changes with the value of bitcoins.

What are we talking about here? If you gambled on bitcoin, bought at $70, then sold at $35, you lost money.

If you mined at $20(energy cost), sold at $35, and the price jumped to $70, you made money.

AFAIK, Cost of items is usually tied to world market currency. Dollar, Euro, or whatever. If you could buy one year of VPN service with a bitcoin, if the bitcoin valued doubled, you'd get two years instead.

 

[MonKENy]

They aren't "cracking" per se, but rather discovering blocks.

The way that bitcoins are created are via a "proof-of-work" system. There is a hash value (via SHA 256), and the computer slowly crawls through a series of values to try and find which value matches against the HASH. Once that proof-of-work value is found, the node broadcasts that value to the rest of the attached nodes. After that, other nodes will start to build upon the work performed by the first node, so the proof-of-work chain continues to build.

Think of it like you're building scaffolding, where each layer of the scaffold depends on the previous layer for structural support. Mining is the process of finding the next chain up in the scaffold. Each layer becomes more and more computationally difficult to find, because it's no longer solving the hash at an easier value, but rather has to depend on the previously established values in the chain for proof-of-work.

The wikipedia diagram explains it pretty nicely; each block in the main chain is black, with the green block being the genesis block, and the purple blocks being orphans.

ok but again..why?

does it serve a purpose or is it just for "just because"?

 

[lxskllr]

ok but again..why?

does it serve a purpose or is it just for "just because"?

Security. By making the work difficult it virtually prevents the counterfeiting of bitcoins.

 

[MonKENy]

Security. By making the work difficult it virtually prevents the counterfeiting of bitcoins.

no what I mean is what is the point to begin with. Like I said is it accomplishing anything?

is it like Folding at home or is it like gem miner?

One has a reason the other is a game

when they discover a block is it used for anything or just discarded and the next gets worked on.

I guess is it equivalent to real world mining. You just dig through dirt for valuables and then discard the rest cause its worthless

 

[Sloper]

no what I mean is what is the point to begin with. Like I said is it accomplishing anything?

It accomplishes the goal of creating an incentive to amass as much computing power as possible for the miners. This adds to the security of the network and prevents it from being hijacked. The calculations themselves are pointless as you say.

It's a case where inefficiency adds to the beauty of it.

 

[MonKENy]

gotcha so it is just a "game"

 

[Juddog]

gotcha so it is just a "game"

It's not just a game - it's a country-neutral made-up currency AND transaction-tracing that a bunch of people sunk money into in order to trade outside of the current rules governing currency.

Think of it this way. You go to the arcade to play video games, you put your $5 in the coin machine, you get a bunch of coins that are only good to use in that arcade. Once inside the arcade, you can play any game you want, but when you go home, you can't do anything with the arcade tokens. Let's say there was a game at this arcade where you could win real prizes, by using your tokens, such as a stuffed animal. You now have traded money into a custom currency to get a real-world item from it.

It's pretty much the same thing here. You're trading dollars for a cryptographically secure currency, which is peer-to-peer and close to impossible for people to counterfeit, to then go out and buy a real-world item. Other people that want to use the system buy into it to get products out of it, and people paid in these tokens can cash them out to other people trying to get in.

 

[Kev]

Every single day.

I was one of the early GPU miners. I peaked at 30+ GPUs and 11 Ghash/s running from February to September of 2011. I believed it was too good to be true so I didn't hoard very many. I sold the last of my "reserves" when they were $16 a piece a month or so ago.

I made about $10k profit after all the GPUs and hardware were sold off and coins sold.

The worst is when you do the math. If I had sold all my coins that I had generated over the length of my mining operation, today, I would have nearly 2 million dollars.

man just reading this made my heart sink... can't imagine how you must feel

 

[MonKENy]

It's not just a game - it's a country-neutral made-up currency AND transaction-tracing that a bunch of people sunk money into in order to trade outside of the current rules governing currency.

Think of it this way. You go to the arcade to play video games, you put your $5 in the coin machine, you get a bunch of coins that are only good to use in that arcade. Once inside the arcade, you can play any game you want, but when you go home, you can't do anything with the arcade tokens. Let's say there was a game at this arcade where you could win real prizes, by using your tokens, such as a stuffed animal. You now have traded money into a custom currency to get a real-world item from it.

It's pretty much the same thing here. You're trading dollars for a cryptographically secure currency, which is peer-to-peer and close to impossible for people to counterfeit, to then go out and buy a real-world item. Other people that want to use the system buy into it to get products out of it, and people paid in these tokens can cash them out to other people trying to get in.

yes but essentially the WAY you earn the currency is still a game. Its an endeavor which only results in one product-the currency. Other than that it serves no useful function what so ever.

At least with real world mining the ore can be used for several thousand applications. Here the ore is good for one thing only-to spend.

I get why people do it im not arguing the value of it, just what the other result is.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

man just reading this made my heart sink... can't imagine how you must feel

It was an "expensive" lesson. In reality, to reach that 2 million dollars, I would have had to have PERFECT foresight. No one has that. It is similar to those who bought Apple stock or gold in the 90s and didn't hold it until now.

What I learned from it was that I needed reconsider my career goal of going into finance. I don't handle the stress of investing very well at all. That lesson was worth learning before I invested heavily in the wrong career path for me.

That is the silver lining I took away from this.

It was cool to have 30+ GPUs running and having boxes of more hardware pretty much constantly showing up for a few months. Kind of a cool nerd heaven

 

[gorobei]

i was wondering why slush sent an email saying they were going to close my account for inactivity and all remaining btc rewards would be considered donations to server. i figured i only had maybe 0.1 btc in there. turns out i had 0.94 btc yet to be claimed. free $70 for me.

i kept some coins in my wallet so im really stuck trying to figure out whether to cash out if it hits $100/btc or do a staggered selloff.

 

[FelixDeCat]

Ok, Ive decided to create a competing currency. They are called MeowCoins. There will be a total of 10,000,000.00 MeowCoins available for purchase (from me) at an initial price of .50 cents each.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I don't even get how a something that can easily be farmed with zero effort can be worth any money. Has anyone actually made money through this? Is it like F@H, except they pay you for it?

 

[Train]

I don't even get how a something that can easily be farmed with zero effort can be worth any money. Has anyone actually made money through this? Is it like F@H, except they pay you for it?

It's not easy, and it requires much more than zero effort.

 

[Juddog]

Ok, Ive decided to create a competing currency. They are called MeowCoins. There will be a total of 10,000,000.00 MeowCoins available for purchase (from me) at an initial price of .50 cents each.

To help foster a market in MeowCoins, I will offer my old CD collection for sale. There are 100 CDs and each will be numbered and signed by me somewhere on it. The first CD will be available for 1 MeowCoin shipped (Ill take a loss for a while). The second CD will cost 2 MeowCoins shipped, and so on.

Eventually, the final CD will be worth 10,000,000 MeowCoins! D:

404 math not found.

 

[Juddog]

I don't even get how a something that can easily be farmed with zero effort can be worth any money. Has anyone actually made money through this? Is it like F@H, except they pay you for it?

If you had read through the thread, you would have seen there are posters that made money from it.

 

[darkewaffle]

It's not easy, and it requires much more than zero effort.

By the card, yes. Not by the operator