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Bitcoin

Launched Q&A site for Bitcoin crypto-currency enthusiasts.

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3  
<announcements removed> Announcements are for announcements, not *discussion. – HedgeMage Jul 11 '11 at 2:53

47
votes
7
answers

Enlarge the scope to “cryptocurrency”, not just Bitcoin.

oct 28 '12 at 2:36 New Alexandria 423
5
votes
1
answer

Why is Gavin listed twice on the “Top Beta Users” list?

feb 15 '12 at 19:53 Community♦ 1
12
votes
4
answers

How to promote the Bitcoin & Crypto-currency proposal to high-reputation users?

dec 8 '11 at 3:40 Community♦ 1
6
votes
3
answers

Business or Technology

aug 12 '11 at 22:01 John 151
22
votes
9
answers

Is Bitcoin big enough for a Stack Exchange site?

aug 12 '11 at 21:30 Community♦ 1

discuss this proposal

51 Example Questions (9 closed)

active newest votes
up vote 23 down vote
Won't the limited quantity and people losing their wallets result in runaway deflation, destroying Bitcoin?
added by eMansipater, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Apr 6 '11 at 17:45
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Since we've answered it hundreds of times in the forums :) – eMansipater Mar 30 '11 at 2:04
up vote 22 down vote
How can I accept Bitcoin donations on my website?
added by gavinandresen, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Apr 25 '11 at 16:31
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up vote 22 down vote
How can I secure my Bitcoin wallet?
added by eMansipater, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Apr 6 '11 at 17:46
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Thanks WikiSpeedia--that's a better example! – eMansipater Apr 14 '11 at 1:42
up vote 20 down vote
Where do bitcoins come from?
added by eMansipater, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Apr 6 '11 at 17:46
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Hint: "They're created by computers" is the wrong answer. – eMansipater Mar 29 '11 at 16:47
2  
ironically, it's the right answer. – Chris Drappier Apr 8 '11 at 14:09
2  
They're created by the community and awarded to bitcoin "miners" in exchange for processing transactions and securing the network. It's a common misconception that has led to the idea that bitcoins are worthless when in fact they function on the same economics as any "local currency" accepted by a specific community. It also leads to people not realising that the total supply of bitcoins is limited and not infinite. – eMansipater Apr 8 '11 at 15:26
up vote 18 down vote
How was the number 21,000,000 chosen as the asymptotic amount of bitcoins?
added by ripper234, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Apr 6 '11 at 17:46
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1  
I would love to know this too, but is there an answer to this? – eMansipater Apr 6 '11 at 13:59
@eMansipator - Ask Satoshi :) – ripper234 Apr 6 '11 at 16:09
1  
@ripper234 Still, we probably don't want this as an example question given that it's unlikely to be answered. – eMansipater Apr 14 '11 at 1:43
up vote 13 down vote
Can I trust the mybitcoin.com website with my bitcoins?
added by gavinandresen Mar 29 '11 at 14:33
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I think this is off-topic simply for the reason that you could say this about any website which is accepting Bitcoins. It's more of a trust thing and would eventually fill up the Q&A site. – John Apr 23 '11 at 1:55
On the other hand, if a high-reputation user can explain that a site is well-known and legitimate, that is a useful type of information to be able to have. Maybe "Is the mybitcoin.com website considered reputable in the BitCoin community" would be better. – eMansipater Apr 23 '11 at 22:38
up vote 10 down vote
How can I find how much is one bitcoin worth in US dollars?
added by ripper234 Mar 29 '11 at 12:16
link
5  
Daily quotes via Q&A format? – Tadeusz A. Kadłubowski Mar 29 '11 at 13:21
1  
@Tadeusz - Google this today, and you can't find any up to date information. The proper answer to this question is a link to BitCoin Charts. bitcoincharts.com/markets – ripper234 Mar 29 '11 at 13:26
Here's a currency exchange widget: from BTC to USD: bitcoin.1t2l.net/widget/?from=BTC – Stephen Gornick Mar 29 '11 at 19:20
Perhaps the question should be changed to "How can I find out what one bitcoin is worth in US dollars?" – eMansipater Apr 13 '11 at 16:07
@eMansipater - done. – ripper234 Apr 14 '11 at 10:22
up vote 9 down vote
How do I integrate Bitcoin into my e-commerce site?
added by devrandom, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Apr 6 '11 at 17:44
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up vote 8 down vote
If Bitcoin experienced prolonged deflation due to the coin limit, how would that affect buyers and sellers?
added by Graham, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Apr 6 '11 at 17:44
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up vote 7 down vote
Could the US government shut down Bitcoin?
added by Graham, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Apr 6 '11 at 17:45
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Would be nice to clarify this question--as a technical question it is very answerable but not specific to the US government, while as a nontechnical question this is purely speculative. – eMansipater Apr 13 '11 at 16:12
up vote 7 down vote
Why do I have to pay a transaction fee?
added by J-16 SDiZ, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Apr 16 '11 at 11:59
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1  
Right now, you typically don't. – eMansipater Apr 13 '11 at 11:55
up vote 6 down vote
Is there a top-down explanation of Bitcoin? Start at the very high level (vid at bitcoin.org), and work "all the way down".
added by ripper234, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Apr 6 '11 at 17:45
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3  
Currently I understand the top level of bitcoin, but I still have to blindly trust others to accept and start using bitcoin. I would like to build a "chain of trust" in bitcoin that will make it similar to Einstein's theory of relativity - the basic ideas are simple, but in order to fully understand you can go as deep as you want, down to mathematic proofs. – ripper234 Mar 30 '11 at 9:10
up vote 6 down vote
How vulnerable is Bitcoin Pool to cheating by rogue clients?
added by Graham Apr 1 '11 at 14:04
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grammar--"a Bitcoin Pool" or even better "how vulnerable are Bitcoin Pools" – eMansipater Apr 13 '11 at 16:09
up vote 5 down vote
How would a Bitcoin-denominated fractional-reserve bank work in practice?
added by Graham, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Apr 6 '11 at 17:44
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Too advanced IMHO to be an example, – ripper234 Apr 4 '11 at 18:19
Wouldn't an advanced question be exactly the kind to attract experts? – DJClayworth Apr 7 '11 at 13:57
2  
We need advanced questions too. My biggest concern with this site is that the majority of Bitcoin questions can be answered by a FAQ; they tend to all be variations on the one theme. I would like to see some more expert-level questions as examples. – mgiuca Apr 8 '11 at 11:39
True enough. Off-topic vote retracted. – eMansipater Apr 8 '11 at 15:32
up vote 5 down vote
Where do the lost coins go? Are they lost forever?
added by J-16 SDiZ, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Apr 16 '11 at 11:59
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up vote 4 down vote
How can I buy/sell bitcoins?
added by J-16 SDiZ, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Apr 16 '11 at 12:00
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up vote 4 down vote
How long does a transaction typically take?
added by Judy Apr 18 '11 at 4:28
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up vote 3 down vote
Are Bitcoin transactions anonymous? How can someone link my identity to information in the block chain?
added by BitterTea May 3 '11 at 21:42
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up vote 3 down vote
Doesn't Bitcoin favor early adopters, since they were able to spend comparatively fewer resources to gain a significantly larger reward?
added by BitterTea May 3 '11 at 21:49
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up vote 3 down vote
Is Bitcoin a pyramid or ponzi scheme?
added by BitterTea May 3 '11 at 21:55
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up vote 3 down vote
Will Bitcoin's current requirement of all nodes storing all transactions prevent the service from scaling to widespread use?
added by Allen May 4 '11 at 7:25
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up vote 2 down vote
How could a Bitcoin implementation discourage money laundering and tax evasion?
added by Jader Dias, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Apr 16 '11 at 12:00
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up vote 2 down vote
Should I invest my savings in Bitcoin?
added by bgeron Apr 19 '11 at 10:59
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I think this is on-topic as it is relevant to know whether the currency is reliable or not. – David May 10 '11 at 22:08
up vote 2 down vote
How real is the threat of improved technology someday breaking the cryptography that underpins Bitcoin?
added by Travis Apr 26 '11 at 8:24
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up vote 2 down vote
Why is the exchange rate so volatile? Will prices in Bitcoin ever stabilize?
added by BitterTea May 3 '11 at 21:45
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up vote 2 down vote
What's the easiest way to get bitcoins?
added by Riley May 4 '11 at 19:17
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up vote 1 down vote
Should I use urllib, urllib2, or something else to communicate with bitcoind from Python? [closed]
added by gavinandresen, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Apr 25 '11 at 16:30
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closed as off topic by ripper234, eMansipater, oydjukjaq, mithrandi, BitterTea Apr 13 '11 at 18:40

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

6  
... or would this be more appropriate for stackoverflow? – gavinandresen Mar 29 '11 at 17:34
up vote 1 down vote
Would terrorists be able to launder money through Bitcoin? [closed]
added by WikiSpeedia hang-around Mar 29 '11 at 23:20
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closed as off topic by oydjukjaq, mgiuca, mithrandi, qGOjjuUM, sandos Apr 12 '11 at 7:31

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

"Purely subjective discussion" means it's not a good example. – Dori Apr 14 '11 at 2:35
1  
the answer is: terrorist organization can take advantage of bitcoin just like any other organization --- so why offtopic? – J-16 SDiZ Apr 14 '11 at 4:59
@J-16 for the same reason that "In what way can terrorist organisations take advantage of computers" would be off-topic on SU. – eMansipater Apr 19 '11 at 13:44
How about "In what way can I take advantage of bitcoin"? Does the "terrorist" bit matter? – J-16 SDiZ Apr 22 '11 at 14:55
"take advantage of" is very vague. However, perhaps the community here should make a decision on whether "Would terrorists be able to launder money through BitCoin?" is on-topic. The answer will probably change over time, though. – eMansipater Apr 23 '11 at 22:35
show 4 more improvement suggestions
up vote 1 down vote
What kind of legal challenges is Bitcoin likely to face?
added by qGOjjuUM Apr 20 '11 at 22:05
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up vote 1 down vote
Is there a rationale behind the discontinuously exponentially-decaying linear growth rate of Bitcoin generation?
added by Travis Apr 26 '11 at 8:32
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up vote 1 down vote
How can I set up a web shop accepting VISA? [closed]
added by David Apr 29 '11 at 12:13
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closed as off topic by JoeHobbit, static_rtti, devrandom, Dori, justmoon May 15 '11 at 16:25

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

In case you are in doubt, I aim for off-topic. – David Apr 29 '11 at 12:13
up vote 1 down vote
How is Bitcoin better than gold? (besides ease of transfer/storage)
added by JoeHobbit, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around May 14 '11 at 15:27
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up vote 1 down vote
How do I exchange traditional currency (USD, GBP, EUR) for bitcoins?
added by SeanOC, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around May 14 '11 at 15:26
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up vote 1 down vote
How can I use bitcoins over my video games? I am not sure whether I could use bitcoins directly as a currency in some games or create dummy currency?
added by hhh, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around May 15 '11 at 18:03
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I've thought about doing something like that myself. Perhaps with my own chain, and my own replacement for hashing.. (calculating physics?) – Evil Spork May 18 '11 at 20:24
up vote 1 down vote
Where can I find datadumps about Bitcoin transactions to do analysis about the market?
added by hhh, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around May 15 '11 at 18:02
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up vote 0 down vote
When do you estimate the cost of stopping Bitcoin by a malicious party will exceed $100,000,000?
added by ripper234, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Apr 6 '11 at 17:46
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As stated, quite subjective. A better question would be "How high would difficulty or exchange value have to rise to make the cost of stopping/exploiting BitCoin exceed $100,000,000?" – eMansipater Apr 13 '11 at 16:15
@eMansipater - difficulty level says nothing to people who aren't in the technical details. However, if we assume current growth rate of difficulty level remains, then this is no longer subjective. – ripper234 Apr 14 '11 at 10:24
up vote 0 down vote
How can I make a budget for my startup company?
added by David May 1 '11 at 21:54
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Aiming for off-topic – David May 1 '11 at 21:54
up vote 0 down vote
When will the Bitcoin faucet be in the apt-get?
added by hhh, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around May 15 '11 at 18:00
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up vote 0 down vote
Why did you choose "MIT/X11 software license" in the Bitcoin 0.3.21? I think the FreeBSD expat license would be much appropriate, being more liberal.
added by hhh, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around May 15 '11 at 18:00
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up vote 0 down vote
What is the best video card to use when mining?
added by Evil Spork May 18 '11 at 20:22
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shooting for off-topic... really this kinda question is answered best by just linking to the wiki containing all the video cards and hash rates. – Evil Spork May 18 '11 at 20:24
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