Bitcoin

[Ken M]

There has been some wild news stories about this young company. Makes me wonder if they are an epic failure or epic success at this point.
As someone who travels a ton, this could be amazing if adopted worldwide.
Thoughts?

[Brandon Mccaghren]

I'm normally not a late adopter, but I have a lot of reservations about BitCoin. Granted, I'm not as educated about it as I should be, but this isn't like other technology.

I guess it needs to be thought of more as part of an investment portfolio. I was thinking about it more and more recently until they had that crash with the online BitCoin treasury. Now I'm thinking I'll just get in the game late if it becomes necessary in a few years.

Money is weird.

[Chad Lott]

Well, first, Bitcoin isn't a company, it's a protocol. Kind of like Email isn't a company, but there are companies that handle email.

The company that's most in the news now is the one that went under, MT GoX. Think of it this way, if Yahoo mail shit the bed, it wouldn't take out email. People might get spooked for a minute, but it won't stop people from using it because it's useful.

The example of traveling you mention is exactly the kind of thing that makes it useful.

To know more than you ever wanted to know about it, I recommend listening to a podcast called "Let's Talk Bitcoin" and checking out the bit coin.org forums.

[Royce Kim]

Speaking of Mt. Gox

http://www.zdnet.com/mt-gox-rediscov...in-7000027563/

[DanConway]

I am involved with several bitcoin related startups, projects, and I myself mine bitcoins in addition to other cryptocurrencies/altcoins, and a majority of my time not training is currently focused around them. I am a very strong believer in them and can answer any questions anyone might have. As chad said, Bitcoin is not a company, it is a technology. One with possibilities and potential that are very vast in scope. Some (myself included) are of the opinion it is the level of invention comparable in impact to the world as the Web was..

If theres anything in specific anyone would like to know about Bitcoin or Cryptocurrencies in general, just ask, as you will find myself and any other bitcoin enthusiast more than happy to provide an overly elaborate answer ;D

[Aaron Gustaveson]

Nice post chad

[BrettChance]

Well, first, Bitcoin isn't a company, it's a protocol. Kind of like Email isn't a company, but there are companies that handle email.

Bingo. MtGox was an unfortunate experience for a lot of people. Many people lost a lot of money but that's the risk you run when you keep your money on an exchange. I'm digging cryptocurrency though. I've been mining ltc for a bit and it's looking alright. I still wish I would've got in earlier on btc.

[Martin Harris]

I am involved with several bitcoin related startups, projects, and I myself mine bitcoins in addition to other cryptocurrencies/altcoins, and a majority of my time not training is currently focused around them. I am a very strong believer in them and can answer any questions anyone might have. As chad said, Bitcoin is not a company, it is a technology. One with possibilities and potential that are very vast in scope. Some (myself included) are of the opinion it is the level of invention comparable in impact to the world as the Web was..

If theres anything in specific anyone would like to know about Bitcoin or Cryptocurrencies in general, just ask, as you will find myself and any other bitcoin enthusiast more than happy to provide an overly elaborate answer ;D

Can bitcoin ever be a secure investment without a large government backing? Seems like it would not only be a target for hackers but also government ops from USA, Russia, China etc.

[Chad Lott]

Can bitcoin ever be a secure investment without a large government backing? Seems like it would not only be a target for hackers but also government ops from USA, Russia, China etc.

Some would say it's more secure without the governments' backing/meddling.

There are really two points of insecurity: if someone jacks your stash, and if the currency itself gets horribly devalued.

Educating yourself on safe storage is one of the best things to do first. Reading the forums will give you an idea of how deep people go. Some people rock it like money in a bank account and others have digital Fort Knox level security.

Devaluation of the currency is trickier. The genie's kind of out of the bottle and the protocol has utility, so I don't think it'll ever crash to zero, but there are some shady agents acting against it and while it's still relatively small, even small waves can rock the bitcoin boat.

Basic investing rules apply: don't invest more than you can affordably lose.

[Ken M]

Do you ever think it will be a currency that can be used on a regular basis worldwide? or do you think it will be contained to smaller communities?