Can anyone tell me more about Bitcoins

[KG Living Legend]

 I'm fascinated by the concept and am very surprised that they somehow got around the banking cartels to make this work.

 Does anyone have experience using them. Do you trust the system. How big is it now. Does the future look bright for them. Any Information will be greatly TP's for your thoughts.

[eddietours]

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[Interceptor]

Well, "made it work" is up for debate. Bitcoin is interesting to me from a technology perspective, but it has some rather serious flaws as a monetary system. I think the history of it would be recommended reading for anyone who thinks that the gold standard is a good idea (has a lot of the same issues).

I usually like reading the slashdot articles on it when they come up; the /. guys have some strange attachment to it, even after Taco left.

[byennie]

 I'm fascinated by the concept and am very surprised that they somehow got around the banking cartels to make this work.

 Does anyone have experience using them. Do you trust the system. How big is it now. Does the future look bright for them. Any Information will be greatly TP's for your thoughts.

Here's the gist as I see it. There is a decent Wikipedia article if you want more gory details, but here's my off the cusp summary:

* Bitcoins are a virtual currency based on a "mining" system where anyone can solve known-to-be-hard cryptographic problems on their own computer and be rewarded with Bitcoins.

* The difficulty of the problems increases over time, and there is a fixed supply which will eventually be exhausted.

* Today competition for mining is extremely stiff. You can't come close to profitable by mining unless you buy expensive hardware just for that purpose. Your home computer would literally use more electricity $ than generate Bitcoins, by a large margin. Years ago the early adopters could make money on "ordinary" machines, but that ship has sailed.

* Because mining is basically out of the question, your only option is to invest in Bitcoins by buying them on an exchange. A limited (but growing) number of businesses accept them as payment, mostly Internet or techie-run operations.

It's a very interesting subject, but if you are looking at them as a way to make money I would liken it to day trading or worse. They fluctuate wildly, aren't subject to regulations, and have some major spooky stuff hanging over them such as: 1) Government shutdown could happen at any time; 2) The original creator remains anonymous; 3) There are some hypothetical attacks on the system that could reek havoc

Proponents may argue that many of the problems with Bitcoin also exist with "real" currency, the stock market, etc. - and they have valid arguments - but I would just say that it's much too late to jump in unless you REALLY know what you are doing, or aren't doing it for profit.

That said, if you just wanna try it out, or own some coins for fun, go for it =)

[Fafnir]

Interesting idea, though having a "fixed and constantly scarcer" supply of a currency means that you pretty much need to get in early otherwise no point in mining them.

Currently used mostly to buy drugs and goods online as a novelty payment option, and to speculate on.

If they ever get big then the government will care about making sure you're reporting sales, income, and money laundering. Till then its being left mostly alone.

Oh and electronic "bank robberies" have happened, which is pretty funny.

[EDWARDO]

Do yourself a favor and steer clear of this. There's a very high chance you will lose a ton of money speculating on this over the long haul.