Tomasz Sawicki - 2015-11-20 11:59:31 -
In reply to message 2 from Dave Smith> Add in the notion that bitcoin is only used by criminals
It certainly is not.
> how it can be converted to cash
Just like anything else - you find someone that is willing to give you some cash in exchange for some bitcoin. You can do it in person or use an online exchange. You can also directly buy prodcuts or services with bitcoin - more and more every day.
> I have wondered in the past what happens with bitcoins that are lost? I have read that they can't be recovered.
Technically, bitcoins can't be lost. You can lose the private key which is used to control your bitcoins. And yes, a private key can't be guessed - there are 1,461,501,637,330,902,918,203,684,832,716,283,019,655,932,542,976 of them...
> If I find a flash drive with a bitcoin wallet on it, is there some additional authentication I need to provide or can I redeem them?
It depends on the wallet software (or hardware for that matter - see Trezor) and the owner's actions.
> Anyway, I keep thinking that bitcoin is about to fold, but it never seems to.
That would mean that either Internet (or its open nature) collapsed or cryptography was totally compromised. Not something I would be keen to see.
Dave Smith - 2015-11-04 22:42:39 - In reply to 
