Bitcoins

Flatlander · 2013-10-14, 10:08

What's the best way of getting a bitcoin or three totally anonymously.

I'll pretend I know how it all works.

Thanks

LaurV · 2013-10-14, 12:46

Freelancing. Many people are in need of (for example) software developers for simple things, and pay bitcoins. You deliver a demo, take the coin, deliver the sources. It can be anonymously up to tracing the email address, which is easy to hide deep, with anon proxies and public mail servers.

Easiest way is to buy that coin, but that is not anonymously, once you pay real money for it, you are traceable.

Mining it can be totally anonymously (unless you convert that coin for real goods or real money), but that is the hardest way, especially if you don't have hardware (asics, gpu's).

Asking a friend to help is another way, which would be as anonymously as that friend will not disclose it.

Uncwilly · 2013-11-21, 06:39

Bitcoin meet political campaign finances: http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolit...r-transparency

E_tron · 2013-11-23, 22:52

Too bad we never thought about adding a concurrency component to the GIMPS platform. There might be a way to force to force the FFT algorithm to generate interesting digests to drive a cryptocurrency. We could have discovered M120 by now handing out Mersenne Coins

.

I'd hate to know how much computer resources have been squandered finding SHA1 and scrypt hashes for the bitcoin and litecoin networks.

f1pokerspeed · 2013-11-23, 23:23

$22 Bitcoin investment brings Norwegian man fortune

Who cares? If you bought or mined Bitcoins early, you are a nigh-on millionaire if you have access to the wallet. Nowadays, people will mine other alternate cryptocurrencies and trade them for Bitcoins - which in some cases actually provides a BETTER return than mining straight Bitcoins.

Bitcoincharts

From a calculation point of view...

Current market is running at $800+ per coin. One block is 25 coins, so one block is $20,000. One block is found every 523 seconds (8m 43s). So, that's... $138k per hour (to $1k). The next EFF prize is $150k - and that could take DECADES to find! Not to diss GIMPS, but why bother looking for a prime that size (which would take weeks, requires dedicated hardware and is RARE as anything) or get some hardware and get some guaranteed money?

(note: I do get that it is important from a mathematics standpoint - new discoveries, all of that - but it isn't necessarily cost-effective from my viewpoint. Others do this for fun or whatever, and that's fine.)

Admittedly, the difficulty is rising by 10% every 2,016 blocks (currently 12 days) and you're not gonna find it easy to find blocks - but hey, it's not like running thousands of tests on numbers that have a 1 in 10^8 chance (check: correct - and also, did I use the PNT correctly?) of being prime is going to make you less money than throwing ~$1-2k on a machine that can make it back in 3 months or less (source: http://www.bitcoinx.com/profit/)

Mini-Geek · 2013-11-24, 00:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by f1pokerspeed

The next EFF prize is $150k - and that could take DECADES to find! Not to diss GIMPS, but why bother looking for a prime that size (which would take weeks, requires dedicated hardware and is RARE as anything) or get some hardware and get some guaranteed money?

(note: I do get that it is important from a mathematics standpoint - new discoveries, all of that - but it isn't necessarily cost-effective from my viewpoint. Others do this for fun or whatever, and that's fine.)

From a cost-efficiency standpoint, GIMPS has always been a losing bet, even compared to the (famously bad return from the) lottery. This isn't news to any of us, though the idea of comparing it to using your computer to mine virtual currency is certainly an interesting new twist.

The bounty is what got me first interested in it, but I've long known that monetarily speaking, it's a bad gamble. We do it for the math, for the love of discovery, etc. not primarily for the money.

chalsall · 2013-11-24, 00:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mini-Geek

We do it for the math, for the love of discovery, etc. not primarily for the money.

Wait...

You're telling me we can make money doing this king of thing?

Who knew....

LaurV · 2013-11-24, 07:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by chalsall

this king of thing?

I knew for long time, hunting for mersenne primes is the king of all things!

Ralf Recker · 2013-11-24, 12:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by f1pokerspeed

or get some hardware and get some guaranteed money?

Sounds like one of Baldrick's cunning plans...

ewmayer · 2013-11-24, 21:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mini-Geek

From a cost-efficiency standpoint, GIMPS has always been a losing bet, even compared to the (famously bad return from the) lottery. This isn't news to any of us, though the idea of comparing it to using your computer to mine virtual currency is certainly an interesting new twist.

The bounty is what got me first interested in it, but I've long known that monetarily speaking, it's a bad gamble. We do it for the math, for the love of discovery, etc. not primarily for the money.

The love of discovery will be around long after the Bitcoin fad runs its course and the "money" vanishes, leaving another set of bagholders crying "what happened?". Complete waste of electricity, IMO. But the "early adopters" who were able to "mine" their Bitcoins at near-zero cost encourage you to hop onto the "using expensive GPUs and many KWH to mine" bandwagon and help keep the Ponzi going just a bit longer.

At least with tulip bulbs, once the mania popped, you still could get some nice tulips from those bulbs you blew your life's savings on. :)

chalsall · 2013-11-25, 00:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by ewmayer

At least with tulip bulbs, once the mania popped, you still could get some nice tulips from those bulbs you blew your life's savings on. :)

Actually, no... The ship with the "bulbs" never sailed....

2013-10-14, 10:08	#1
Flatlander I quite division it "Chris" Feb 2005 England 31·67 Posts	Bitcoins What's the best way of getting a bitcoin or three totally anonymously. I'll pretend I know how it all works. Thanks

2013-11-23, 22:52	#4
E_tron Sep 2002 Austin, TX 3·11·17 Posts	Too bad we never thought about adding a concurrency component to the GIMPS platform. There might be a way to force to force the FFT algorithm to generate interesting digests to drive a cryptocurrency. We could have discovered M120 by now handing out Mersenne Coins . I'd hate to know how much computer resources have been squandered finding SHA1 and scrypt hashes for the bitcoin and litecoin networks. Last fiddled with by E_tron on 2013-11-23 at 22:53

2013-11-23, 23:23	#5
f1pokerspeed Jun 2012 6A₁₆ Posts	$22 Bitcoin investment brings Norwegian man fortune Who cares? If you bought or mined Bitcoins early, you are a nigh-on millionaire if you have access to the wallet. Nowadays, people will mine other alternate cryptocurrencies and trade them for Bitcoins - which in some cases actually provides a BETTER return than mining straight Bitcoins. Bitcoincharts From a calculation point of view... Current market is running at $800+ per coin. One block is 25 coins, so one block is $20,000. One block is found every 523 seconds (8m 43s). So, that's... $138k per hour (to $1k). The next EFF prize is $150k - and that could take DECADES to find! Not to diss GIMPS, but why bother looking for a prime that size (which would take weeks, requires dedicated hardware and is RARE as anything) or get some hardware and get some guaranteed money? (note: I do get that it is important from a mathematics standpoint - new discoveries, all of that - but it isn't necessarily cost-effective from my viewpoint. Others do this for fun or whatever, and that's fine.) Admittedly, the difficulty is rising by 10% every 2,016 blocks (currently 12 days) and you're not gonna find it easy to find blocks - but hey, it's not like running thousands of tests on numbers that have a 1 in 10^8 chance (check: correct - and also, did I use the PNT correctly?) of being prime is going to make you less money than throwing ~$1-2k on a machine that can make it back in 3 months or less (source: http://www.bitcoinx.com/profit/) Last fiddled with by f1pokerspeed on 2013-11-23 at 23:27 Reason: Emphasizing personal opinion, not generally hating on GIMPS - also, fact check on 1 in 10^8 calc

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2013-10-14, 12:46	#2
LaurV Romulan Interpreter Jun 2011 Thailand 5²·7·53 Posts	Freelancing. Many people are in need of (for example) software developers for simple things, and pay bitcoins. You deliver a demo, take the coin, deliver the sources. It can be anonymously up to tracing the email address, which is easy to hide deep, with anon proxies and public mail servers. Easiest way is to buy that coin, but that is not anonymously, once you pay real money for it, you are traceable. Mining it can be totally anonymously (unless you convert that coin for real goods or real money), but that is the hardest way, especially if you don't have hardware (asics, gpu's). Asking a friend to help is another way, which would be as anonymously as that friend will not disclose it.

2013-11-21, 06:39	#3
Uncwilly 6809 > 6502 """"""""""""""""""" Aug 2003 101×103 Posts 2²·3·11·71 Posts	Bitcoin meet political campaign finances: http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolit...r-transparency