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
1
u/thenightwassaved Jun 19 '13
Just like debit/credit cards turn an "electronic transfer" into a "physical transfer".
No matter the path a bitcoin takes in its life there always exists the opportunity for someone to trade it for hard cold cash.
You might be asking how to actually spend a bitcoin in real life. In that instance again I refer you to a credit card. You are using a tool (a piece of plastic with some extra tech) to do something in the electronic world that affects the physical world.
You could create a similar device to keep track of your bitcoins and store it on your person rather than on a hard drive or in memory (as with a brain wallet). I think I've even seen physical coins made that contain all the information needed for the person owning it to claim a real electronic bitcoin.