Bay 12 Games Forum

I launched a thread about bitcoins and got quite a bit of reactions about them. Originally I asked wether or not toady should accept bitcoins donations. I got a lot of answers and now I'm doubting...
As MrWiggles pointed out bitcoins might not be whatever I wanted them to be (not a real quote, I think there was "fable" in it but cant recall correctly). I wont hide that I am a big TOR and Bitcoin fan, because the former gives anonimity and the latter is the electronic equivalent of cash. But eh, IT is not my field (just a hobbie) and there are much more knowledgeable people around here, so I ask them this question, and humbly ask to anyone in the community with any experience with bitcoins to share about it.

from my point of view, new bitcoins are mined by using a trial and error function until it returns a hash having precise specifications, these specifications determines how hard it is to mine new bitcoins. Since it's trial and error some may be lucky but most miners would just have to spend a lot of electricity and CPU cycles to mine new bitcoins (hence miner pools wich appeared when one couldnt make a profit mining bitcoins without a big investment or a specific botnet).

so CPU cycles AND electricity are what gives bitcoins values. Someone said toady could use BJS (what's that?) or wow gold.

from my point of view (again, so if anyone want some good nub bashing time they can knock themselves out) BJS (whatever they are, correct me if they are some kind of shells used as a currency) or WoW gold arent "real" currency : nothing guarantee their values.

To put it that way : governments mint currencies, what keep citizen from going to the government and asking a "refund" (give me gold for this coins I dont trust anymore) is the trust they put in it. that's why they call it Fiat Money.

so here you have a government making money out of thin air (printing paper money I mean, not fiddling with  interest rates to make money more valuable)
there you have a lot of people making money

in the first case the government decide when and how they are going to feed the money to the system without breaking it
in the second case a mathematical formula decide how much money will be made until miners "run out" of bitcoins...

I've seen a fair share of corrupt governments but never saw a corrupt mathematical formula. But, again, I dont know much about mathematics.

so, Bitcoins, e-currency or just fancy crap? (or anything between)

I foresee this situation : you are preparing the meeting with the goblin diplomat when he gets his nose broken in a barfight...
"A diplomat has left unhappy"
then a year later he gets back with five thugs, wreak havoc in the tavern, beat bloody the guy who broke his nose then set the tavern on fire...

Pray, why are bitcoins "dying"

They do not need any legal oversight, from my point of view the more bitcoins are mined the more stable it gets...

I'm not sure of that, do you have any proof of that over a significant time frame or is it just "common sense"?

Ok guys, that just made my day, good game...I scared an old lady in the bus because of you, now she seems to think I was laughing at her.

I'm thanful too and I DID giggle...

finally, the moutain home will find buyers for their barrels of fly ichor and one humped camel bloodI picture some kind of aristocratic freak with horns and lizard like scales bathing every day in a pool of imported badger blood sold to her with a "fair dwarf maid blood" label on it