Oh dear - £4 million lost in land fill

[Deleted member 49549]

Full story here:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/27/hard-drive-bitcoin-landfill-site

Short story - guy did a week of bitcoin mining 4 years ago, forgot about them, binned his old hard drive which contained the codes needed this summer, then remembered some months later. Hard drive is now about 5 foot deep in a landfill in Newport. Bitcoins have increased 8 fold in the meantime...

 

[MWHCVT]

Okay someone explain it to me, what the hell is a bitcoin (simple language please) and how the hell are they worth anything?

 

[BRASH]

Nae idea:shrug:

 

[lostsoulal2]

Okay someone explain it to me, what the hell is a bitcoin (simple language please) and how the hell are they worth anything?

It's a "virtual" currency that can be traded and recently has been gaining credence with financial institutions - have a read here

 

[Deleted member 49549]

Can somebody explain the mining part?

What are the problems /algorithms being solved?

 

[MWHCVT]

It's a "virtual" currency that can be traded and recently has been gaining credence with financial institutions - have a read here

But how is it assigned a value?

 

[lostsoulal2]

But how is it assigned a value?

Like the value of any "commodity" is based on willing buyer / seller - market sentiment and acceptance etc

 

[MWHCVT]

I'll be honest I don't like the sound of it, it reminds me of the concept of company money, where in the past companies would pay in tokens they produced that could only be spent on company shops it's not something that appeals to me if I'm honest

 

[big soft moose]

theres a thorough explanation here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin_protocol#Bitcoin_mining

 

[Deleted member 49549]

theres a thorough explanation here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin_protocol#Bitcoin_mining

whoosh!