Cryptocurrency thread (Bitcoin, Litecoin, Quark, PPC, etc...)

It doesn't require that much bandwidth, but it does require powerful dedicated hardware known as ASICs. They are expensive, but if you have those set up and free electricity then you can make a lot of money until the mining difficulty jumps up even higher.

Hello.

Just some food for thought if your in the US then crypto currencys like bitcoin, litecoin could be very bad idea as you might be violating the AML (Anti-Money Laundering) laws. If I remember correctly it said that participate in any way any transaction/digital transaction that can not be traced from source to recipient is agenst the AML an can be up to 20 years in prision.

Hi Guys
I have been doing a lot of research into Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

There are plenty out there at the moment and it will be some time before the concept is fully accepted by the masses and governments. In the meantime more and more businesses are beginning to accept Bitcoin for a couple of reasons
1) It gets them publicity - overstock is an example
2) It allows them to take micro payments as the processing fees are next to nothing or free compared to credit and debit card fees. This allows them to sell say an item for a $1 and not have to pay 2.5 - 5 % processing fees which might be a very large chunk of their margins.
3) It makes them look up to date and trendy

The major downside for accepting bitcoins (or any other crypocurrency) is the volatility.

This will reduce as Bitcoin settles down and there is technology now being developed such as smart price tags that constantly monitor the Bitcoin value/price and automatically adjust accordingly.

One of the other major downsides at the moment is the exchanges. As Gary experienced these new exchanges can be problematic and sometimes illiquid so you cant easily convert Bitcoin to $ or £

As I write this MTgox has frozen all withdrawals until Monday, leaving a huge number of people stuck in their system with no way out. As MTgox (although not the biggest exchange) is the most well known exchange if it goes down this will be a big news story and may send the value of Bitcoin down in the short term. But this may be a good thing. Just like the Silk road saga after this was shut down the value rocketed.

People need to be reassured that their $/£/Bitcoins are safe and shaking out dodgy exchanges and nefarious scammers is in the long run a good thing.

Cryptocurrencies are here to stay. The genie is out of the bottle and the governments and regulators will have to find a way to be involved. The banks and credit card companies will have to get involved as they will lose billions in transaction and processing fees - why would anyone pay 5% to make an international transfer when you can transfer millions for free with Bitcoin?

This is not what the Bitcoin community wants though, they want a free and libertarian system without any government intervention or regulation. But if you think about it logically whats the true worth of Fiat money? Its the fact that governments can tax it. Without tax revenues society as we know it would be unworkable. Who would build the roads, who would pay for the Police etc.

The next two years will be very interesting for this sphere. Whether its Bitcoin or Litecoin or Dogecoin or Anycoin that eventually wins is any ones guess.
I am personally buying a little of each of the more established ones and just sitting on them

There are ways to all of them for free.

So get yourself some wallets (where you store your coins) and start grabbing some free coins. Imagine if you had grabbed yourself a few 100 Bitcoins for free when they were valued at $0.14 even after the last few days mini crash you could get $700+ per Bitcoin - not bad for free stuff.

-Just on a personal note-

I am a fan of cryptocurrencies. I think the banks and financiers have been stealing from the masses for too long and governments and central bankers cant just keep printing money to get themselves out of the hole.

I am also buying Gold and Silver as I do see a dollar collapse on the horizon and if that happens there will be carnage out there.