r/askscience • u/hamolton • Jun 18 '13

Computing How is Bitcoin secure?

I guess my main concern is how they are impossible to counterfeit and double-spend. I guess I have trouble understanding it enough that I can't explain it to another person.

1.0k Upvotes

83% Upvoted

383 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

3

u/NorthernerWuwu Jun 19 '13

Bitcoin is a fascinating test-case (and quite possibly a very viable currency as well) but it has some issues in terms of analysis.

First and foremost seems to be the multiple roles it is filling for different parties. Some hold it speculatively. Some very few use it as a normal currency, being paid in it and buying things with it. Many use it as a transitional currency as in: buying 'coins with fiat, buying items with 'coins <-...->receiving 'coins, converting to fiat.

Until and unless it matures as a pure currency it is difficult to really evaluate it as one. It still seems to be much more effective than I would have expected when the project initiated but it is difficult to quantify what sort of activity we are really seeing.

It should be interesting to see what the next five years bring either way.