

Bitcoin has hit 12 USD - jasonlingx
http://bitcoincharts.com/markets/

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Kelliot
Where will it stop?

Am i right in thinking the majority of bitcoins that will enter circulation
are now accounted for?

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harshpotatoes
My understanding of bitcoins is that there is some maximum limit of 21million
and that there are currently 9.7million mined. So there are a little less than
half of the bitcoins mined.

<http://blockexplorer.com/q/totalbc>

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adrianwaj
That's one thing I really like about bitcoin: it can't be printed on a whim.
Also, possibly a reason why its price is rising.. that the currencies
purchasing it are losing purchasing power.

~~~
tzs
> That's one thing I really like about bitcoin: it can't be printed on a whim

However, someone can start Bitcoin2, which would have substantially the same
effect.

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sgornick
To be a proof-of-work based cryptocurrency, it would need to make it through
the phase where it is vulnerable to external attack.

Bitcoin made it through because nobody knew that a proof-of-work based
cryptocurrency would ever end up being worth several hundred million dollars
or more.

Now that bitcoin exists, any competitor risks getting spanked down. Even
bitcoin is at risk of getting spanked due to a 51% attack, except that it will
cost more than $10 million in hardware to do that.

One alternative is using scrypt instead of sha256(), and thus GPUs aren't as
effective and the one crypto currency doing that has avoided attack thus far.
That currency is worth under half a million dollars of valuation at the
current exchange rate and there are hardly any exchanges where it is traded so
there's little financial gain from attacking it sooner rather than later. But
it is still very vulnerable, in comparison to bitcoin.

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adrianwaj
A bitcoin2 should be a swap currency. 21 million coins pre-issued, and sold
for 1 btc each. Like when a fiat note is upgraded, the old note is eventually
taken out of circulation and destroyed. But how do you trust the issuer of
bitcoin2 to destroy the bitcoins they receive, and that they won't issue more
bitcoin2s for themselves later secretly?

(or they can just lock the bitcoins they receive for guaranteed swap-back at
any point later - the bitcoin2 issuer is a bitcoin bank too: how do you trust
they can effectively lock them up with the possibility of return later?)

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sgornick
Up 155% in 2012.

Up 80% in the third quarter so far.

Up nearly 30% in two weeks.

Ya, crazy stuff.

~~~
sgornick
Even though the exchange rate is just slightly up versus a year ago on this
day, it is way down from the 2011 high yet ($32.40). That is more than 60%
below the June 2011 high.

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adrianwaj
if there's one thing I've learnt from bitcoin trading, and a good life lesson
in general, is just before buying (or selling) I think "hey wait a minute,
should I actually be selling (or buying.)"

And finding this power has helped me find myself.

