[PLUG-TALK] [PLUG] Bitcoin, banks, and government

[John Jason Jordan]

On Mon, 31 Dec 2012 11:07:45 -0800
Michael Rasmussen <michael at jamhome.us> dijo:

>On Sun, Dec 30, 2012 at 03:53:56PM -0800, John Jason Jordan wrote:
>> I have to admit that the thought of dispensing with banks and
>> government currencies has appeal.
>
>You store your bitcoins somewhere, exchange them somewhere.  How is
>that materially different from using banks?
>
>What benefit do you perceive to gain by moving from government
>sponsored currencies to bitcoin?

1) No inflation ever.

2) They are stored on my computer or a web server.(*)

3) They are transferred directly from payor to payee, therefore

	3a) No fees for moving money, and

	3b) No restrictions on moving money, and

	3c) Transfers are pretty much instantaneous.

4) Cannot be frozen. 

(*) My understanding of this is pretty hazy. You create a bitcoin
wallet, using a client on your own computer or a web-based client. I
tried to install a client on my Fedora laptop, but there are dependency
issues that make it presently impossible, although apparently it can be
done on Ubuntu computers. There are also a ton of bitcoin apps for
Android, but I didn't install any of them yet due to not understanding
how they differ and which one to choose.

I read without completely understanding a PDF of the academic article
Bitcoin: A Peer to Peer Electronic Cash System, by Satoshi Nakamoto.
You can get it at bitcoin.org. It was apparently the first proposal
and outlines how the system works, including the security aspects.