7 ms·

Banks store money, right? Does bitcoin store money? Banks have accounts, right? Does bitcoin have accounts?

amalcon 4y ago
> Banks store money, right? Does bitcoin store money? You mean physically? Plenty of banks (especially online banks and investment banks) don't physically store any more cash than something like a jewelry store. Physical storage is hardly a core characteristic of banking; I've never been to a branch of any of my current banks. If you don't mean physically, I can't see how this is different than "have accounts"... > Banks have accounts, right? Does bitcoin have accounts? An account is just a ledger of credits and debits coupled with some form of access control. How is a bitcoin address meaningfully different from an account? Keep in mind that not all accounts are interest bearing, and it's very possible (even common) for one individual to have multiple accounts.
- mr_spothawk 4y ago
  > Does bitcoin store money? still waiting. > How is a bitcoin address meaningfully different from an account? Well, for one, it's only an address. Not a ledger. Bitcoin transactions point money at one or more address. Transactions, you might argue, are one-off ledgers. But then bitcoin is just a collection of those transactions & relevant/necessary data to support them them, compiled & validated using a variety of mathematic calculations.
  - salawat 4y ago
    Bitcoin is a Convertible Virtual Currency. It is money. End of story. FINCEN has spoken.
    - TEP_Kim_Il_Sung 4y ago
      Feds jail Doctor Bitcoin for selling on localbitcoins, even though he was registered with FINCEN https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/doctor-bitcoin-jailed-for-selling https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/doctor-bitcoin-jailed-fo... You just can't win with these people.
  - amalcon 4y ago
    > still waiting. My answer is still "no (but many banks don't either)", as I said in my previous reply. Unless you mean digitally, but that's just "having accounts". If you mean digitally, then my answer is "obviously yes". > Well, for one, it's only an address. Not a ledger. What? The entire mechanical basis of Bitcoin (the blockchain) is a ledger (big database of timestamped transactions) with a somewhat unusual timestamping and tamper proofing mechanism. Each transaction has a set of associated addresses. I was going to say that this is not meaningfully different from individual account ledgers, but actually, this is literally how transaction history would be stored in an RDBMS. It's not different at all. The existence of this (public) ledger is what creates the demand for things like Tornado Cash in the first place. > Bitcoin transactions point money at one or more address. Banks can facilitate transactions between arbitrary whole numbers of accounts also (off the top of my head: 1- paying interest; 2- payment; 3+- escrow) > bitcoin is just a collection of those transactions & relevant/necessary data to support them them, compiled & validated using a variety of mathematic calculations. Yes. Functionally, that results in a (limited) bank. Or at least, it's closer to that than it is to cash.
    - mr_spothawk 4y ago
      > Unless you mean digitally, but that's just "having accounts". But you must open an account with a bank, and deposit money before they can process transactions for you. There's no way to deposit money *into* bitcoin. Bitcoin is money. > Each transaction has a set of associated addresses. Yes, and you suggested addresses are the equivalent of accounts. They are not. > Banks can facilitate transactions between arbitrary whole numbers of accounts also (off the top of my head: 1- paying interest; 2- payment; 3+- escrow) Accounts, which hold money, are a tool of banks[0]. Bitcoin doesn't have accounts. Bitcoin is not a (limited) bank. It is a distributed digital cash system. "Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority or banks; managing transactions and the issuing of bitcoins is carried out collectively by the network."[1] 0 - https://www.fdic.gov/about/learn/learning/banks.html https://www.fdic.gov/about/learn/learning/banks.html 1 - https://bitcoin.org/en/ https://bitcoin.org/en/
      - amalcon 4y ago

> Banks store money, right? Does bitcoin store money? You mean physically? Plenty of banks (especially online banks and investment banks) don't physically store any more cash than something like a jewelry store. Physical storage is hardly a core characteristic of banking; I've never been to a branch of any of my current banks. If you don't mean physically, I can't see how this is different than "have accounts"... > Banks have accounts, right? Does bitcoin have accounts? An account is just a ledger of credits and debits coupled with some form of access control. How is a bitcoin address meaningfully different from an account? Keep in mind that not all accounts are interest bearing, and it's very possible (even common) for one individual to have multiple accounts.

mr_spothawk 4y ago
> Does bitcoin store money? still waiting. > How is a bitcoin address meaningfully different from an account? Well, for one, it's only an address. Not a ledger. Bitcoin transactions point money at one or more address. Transactions, you might argue, are one-off ledgers. But then bitcoin is just a collection of those transactions & relevant/necessary data to support them them, compiled & validated using a variety of mathematic calculations.
- salawat 4y ago
  Bitcoin is a Convertible Virtual Currency. It is money. End of story. FINCEN has spoken.
  - TEP_Kim_Il_Sung 4y ago
    Feds jail Doctor Bitcoin for selling on localbitcoins, even though he was registered with FINCEN https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/doctor-bitcoin-jailed-for-selling https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/doctor-bitcoin-jailed-fo... You just can't win with these people.
- amalcon 4y ago
  > still waiting. My answer is still "no (but many banks don't either)", as I said in my previous reply. Unless you mean digitally, but that's just "having accounts". If you mean digitally, then my answer is "obviously yes". > Well, for one, it's only an address. Not a ledger. What? The entire mechanical basis of Bitcoin (the blockchain) is a ledger (big database of timestamped transactions) with a somewhat unusual timestamping and tamper proofing mechanism. Each transaction has a set of associated addresses. I was going to say that this is not meaningfully different from individual account ledgers, but actually, this is literally how transaction history would be stored in an RDBMS. It's not different at all. The existence of this (public) ledger is what creates the demand for things like Tornado Cash in the first place. > Bitcoin transactions point money at one or more address. Banks can facilitate transactions between arbitrary whole numbers of accounts also (off the top of my head: 1- paying interest; 2- payment; 3+- escrow) > bitcoin is just a collection of those transactions & relevant/necessary data to support them them, compiled & validated using a variety of mathematic calculations. Yes. Functionally, that results in a (limited) bank. Or at least, it's closer to that than it is to cash.
  - mr_spothawk 4y ago
    > Unless you mean digitally, but that's just "having accounts". But you must open an account with a bank, and deposit money before they can process transactions for you. There's no way to deposit money *into* bitcoin. Bitcoin is money. > Each transaction has a set of associated addresses. Yes, and you suggested addresses are the equivalent of accounts. They are not. > Banks can facilitate transactions between arbitrary whole numbers of accounts also (off the top of my head: 1- paying interest; 2- payment; 3+- escrow) Accounts, which hold money, are a tool of banks[0]. Bitcoin doesn't have accounts. Bitcoin is not a (limited) bank. It is a distributed digital cash system. "Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority or banks; managing transactions and the issuing of bitcoins is carried out collectively by the network."[1] 0 - https://www.fdic.gov/about/learn/learning/banks.html https://www.fdic.gov/about/learn/learning/banks.html 1 - https://bitcoin.org/en/ https://bitcoin.org/en/
    - amalcon 4y ago