Maand: augustus 2011

I’d like to make small payments for business purposes through Bitcoin, so would like to know what the easiest method of getting setup to accept a Bitcoin payment is for a regular person, so that I can recommend it to those I want to pay.

Some options I see are:

• Standard Bitcoin client

• BitcoinJ

• Instawallet

• Flexcoin

These people will only be holding a few Bitcoin at most in their wallet, so security is not as high a priority as in other cases, but I would still like to avoid a Mybitcoin type fiasco where every one I pay loses their money.

Which method has the best combination of convenience in getting setup and security?

When I receive bitcoins I see a certain number of “confirmations” in the client. What do these mean? Why do most sites make me wait for 6 “confirmations” before a purchase will go through?

Will there ever be a need to create a unit of Bitcoin smaller than a Satoshi?

See also: What is a ‘Satoshi’?

You run bitcoin as a service on your local computer. What happens if this computer is compromised? A corrupt/failed hard drive or theft leads to the machine being lost and unrecoverable, and my bitcoin details (addresses etc) are gone. Do my bitcoins disappear into the ether?

i.e. What happens to my bitcoins if my wallet file is compromised/lost?

This is a question many people ask when they’re introduced to Bitcoin.

Bitcoin sounds interesting, but if I want to use this system I will need to get some coins, otherwise, there’s no way I can spend them! How can I start?

Some services, such as bitcoinlaundry.com, claim that they can launder your bitcoins.

Since all bitcoin transactions are publicly logged, how is this done? Wouldn’t it be possible to trace back the transactions and find out the initial address?

With the limited total quantity of bitcoins, and people losing their wallets constantly decreasing that number, won’t rampant deflation destroy Bitcoin?