Bitcoin tagged posts

November 2, 2013 / Posted in  Bitcoin

So who runs Bitcoin anyway? Bitcoin is decentralized, no single person, country, or entity manages the Bitcoin infrastructure. The important parts of the Bitcoin infrastructure are:

1. The publicly shared ledger which tracks every single wallet containing every single Bitcoin there is (wallets are tracked but not their owner info). This isn’t on any one computer, it’s shared across all Bitcoin computers all over the world.
2. The Bitcoin clients like Bitcoin-qt and Blockchain.info where all Bitcoins are securely stored by their owners.
3. The miners or volunteers that run the Bitcoin software. The Bitcoin program no longer needs an admin or central authority. Without getting into too much detail, Bitcoin manages itself and is stable and reliable.

These entities all work together via the In...

November 2, 2013 / Posted in  Bitcoin

I’ve seen pictures of coins that say Bitcoin and notes that say Bitcoin, but are Bitcoins real? It depends.

A Bitcoin promissory note or coin is digital cryptocurrency you can send on the Bitcoin network. It is only good if it has a valid wallet address and password for the amount it claims to be. More importantly, when you take custody of that Bitcoin wallet address, it’s important nobody has seen the wallet password before you, and you trust the source providing the note. It’s also important to know the current exchange rate for Bitcoin to $US.

Think of it this way, let’s say I owe you some money. To pay with Bitcoin, I can either send a certain amount of Bitcoin to a wallet ID you created, or I can give you access to a Bitcoin wallet with the money I owe you.

You can get $10 in free BTC...

October 25, 2013 / Posted in  Bitcoin

I noticed a few page views of my other Bitcoin mining article, so I thought I’d do a follow up this week. I’ll talk about how to mine for Bitcoins on Windows and how to configure a mining rig with more than one device. Currently I have a 2 USB ASIC block erupter configuration mining for the BTC Guild (now closed). Below I’ll talk more about my performance and approximate BTC earn rate.

Previously I had a single USB ASIC block erupter mining off my work MacBook Pro laptop, but I couldn’t mine 24/7 and was wasting time constantly starting and stopping my mining rig. I decided to get a second USB ASIC block erupter and setup a permanent mining rig.

Pages: 1 2

October 16, 2013 / Posted in  Bitcoin

There is a lot of information on the Internet about where and how you can buy Bitcoins. The problem is, a lot of that information isn’t up to date. It also isn’t obvious that the current markets for exchanging Bitcoin are less convenient and subject to more fees than traditional domestic banking markets. There are tradeoffs in how you proceed, but the good news is market friction is constantly being reduced.

Update for 2014:

A lot has changed in six months, today the best place to get Bitcoins in the US is from Coinbase in my opinion. Converting currency is a flat 1% service fee. Continue reading to see the landscape from a few short months ago.

Cryptxchange no longer exists…

If you want Bitcoin fast, you can use Crypto X Change...