Bitcoin Commercial

Just read a funny headline from today's news:

"Bitcoin conference stops accepting bitcoin payments"
 
I still don’t understand how bitcoins are “mined”? Why does it take so much electricity and what happens if the supply of bitcoins increases rapidly? Is it really just a big computer game that creates bitcoins? What about the other crypto Currencies? Are they created in a similar way? I apologize for my obvious ignorance on this, especially if it’s been explained before.
 
Danmar said:
I still don’t understand how bitcoins are “mined”? Why does it take so much electricity and what happens if the supply of bitcoins increases rapidly? Is it really just a big computer game that creates bitcoins? What about the other crypto Currencies? Are they created in a similar way? I apologize for my obvious ignorance on this, especially if it’s been explained before.
Click to expand...
It is basically a lottery.
SHA256 is a hash algo that returns a string of characters for an input.
For example sha256(Input) = "cbf7cf14b8ad3050785fa1d5e037edc60c8793502d344484eee56635d6f7f98e"

Now if you can find the input that returns leading zeros then you are rewarded with new Bitcoins.
For example sha256(f80dd094d06bf06139c1b95) = "0000000000003050785fa1d5e037edc60c8793502d344484eee56635d6f7f98e"

The proof is the calculation. The number of leading zeros required increases with time and so does the difficulty.
 
I am always impressed by those stacks of gold Bitcoins in those commercials that I see on TV. I'll bet that a large percentage of folks that respond (invest?) to those ads are disappointed when they do not actually receive those golden "coins."
 
jim584672 said:
It is basically a lottery.
SHA256 is a hash algo that returns a string of characters for an input.
For example sha256(Input) = "cbf7cf14b8ad3050785fa1d5e037edc60c8793502d344484eee56635d6f7f98e"

Now if you can find the input that returns leading zeros then you are rewarded with new Bitcoins.
For example sha256(f80dd094d06bf06139c1b95) = "0000000000003050785fa1d5e037edc60c8793502d344484eee56635d6f7f98e"

The proof is the calculation. The number of leading zeros required increases with time and so does the difficulty.
Click to expand...


And the point of this exercise is ?

Never understood bitcoins and probably never will.
 
Apparently solving a useless problem becomes worth something, pure magic.
 
jim584672 said:
Apparently solving a useless problem becomes worth something, pure magic.
Click to expand...

I suspect the “invention” of bitcoins was a way to utilize block chain technology. There are several other “crypto currencies” in use. Really not sure where this is going but I certainly wouldn’t buy any of these “things”.

On the other hand I think the concept of block chain may turn out quite useful as a way to keep track of balances and transactions. But what do I know?
 
Danmar said:
On the other hand I think the concept of block chain may turn out quite useful as a way to keep track of balances and transactions. But what do I know?
Click to expand...
Yes I think it will be worth attention when a real application gets commercialized. I suspect it will be in an arena that most of us do not understand nor compete in.

(Meanwhile Long Blockchain continues to be a money maker for Long Island Iced Tea)
Long Island Iced Tea Corp. shares rose as much as 289 percent after the unprofitable Hicksville, New York-based company rebranded itself Long Blockchain Corp.
Click to expand...
 
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