You Really Should Be Buying

Full list of UK Bitcoin traders:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0AqR4ICE3b15v dDdmTFZMd2l6dGxWUTNXcVlqZ3RVcXc

Why should you buy Bitcoins?

Be an early adopter Speculate on the market Help set the trend Never worry about banks going bust

The only way to get involved is to carry the currency!

David Gilson
Freelance Technology Journalist
Web Email Twitter davidgilson.me david@davidgilson.co.uk @davidgilson
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Notes
Slide 1 You Really Should Be Buying Bitcoin Slide 2
Who, When, Why, What, Where?
Who is Satoshi? 2009 banking crisis We needed a better financial system Decentralised digital currency The Internet

Slide 4
How does mining create and distribute new wealth?
Central banks print money and control how it is distributed Mining provides a fairer way of distributing new bitcoins Verifying a transaction is a complex mathematical puzzle the PROOF OF WORK which is rewarded with new bitcoins to the first miner to solve it. Bitcoin pay outs are diminishing, it started at 50 BTC Drops by half every 210,000 blocks, now 25 BTC. Expected to drop to 12.5 BTC in 2017 There is hard limit of 21 million bitcoins ever created we're half way.

But what does it mean to own a bitcoin?

Proof of transaction

Slide 5
Is Bitcoin anonymous?
No, there is a public ledger called the blockchain Bitcoin addresses do not require your identity If your identity is linked to your address, everyone can see your transactions

What Backs bitcoin?

Nothing - Commodity vs belief

Slide 3 How does it work?

Transactions are processed in blocks Miners process these blocks and receive transaction fees +coin rewards Bitcoin creation isn't magical it requires difficult calculations to process bitcoin transactions. It's important to verify transactions to prevent double spends. It's said that processing a block costs $1000 in electricity and another $1000 in equipment. Difficulty increases the more processing power is added to the network.

So how can I protect my privacy with Bitcoin?

There's no limit to the amount of addresses you can use There are "bitcoin mixing" services that scramble transactions laundering your money

So does that mean bitcoin is just used by criminals?

Again, no. Bitcoin certainly has advantages for criminals, just as it does for the rest of us. Bitcoin is no less anonymous than physical cash

Slide 6 Can I speculate on Bitcoin?

Yes! The price of Bitcoin against "fiat currencies" varies a lot, so there's the potential to make great profits and losses. o In cryptocurrency parlance, "Fiat" refers to state-backed currencies like USD, GBP. There are several Bitcoin exchanges. o Some are USA only, but Mt. Gox and BTC-e are available to anyone. There are also more direct ways to sell Bitcoins to people. o Local Bitcoins can involve meeting in person and trading via smartphones and cash o BitBargain UK and Bittylicious are more for ordering Bitcoin from your laptop and paying by bank transfer A safer way to profit from Bitcoin trading is to engage in arbitrage. o Here you take advantage of stable differences between certain markets. o For example, BTC-e is generally than other markets. So buy Bitcoin there, sell elsewhere for a higher price.

Where can I spend Bitcoins?

There are quite a few places. Most of which are online businesses. You can order, chocolates, clothes, heating equipment, web hosting and video games. In Cambridge and London there are pubs where you can buy beer for Bitcoins. There's a full list I'll link to in the notes which you can download at the end.

Slide 8 So, why should I buy Bitcoins?

Most of the people here are early adopters so there's the fun of trying something new. You can speculate and create some wealth for yourself. You can lead the way and educate other people on a new area of technology. You can make your money as safe as your computer files no worries about banks going bust. Lastly, I believe we need Bitcoin, but none of us are going to engage with it if we don't carry the currency.

Slide 7
How would I buy something with Bitcoin?
It can be as easy as scanning a QR code. There are plenty of wallet apps on Android o Some on iOS and WP8. QR codes can be created that not only show address but include an amount request o Those can be scanned from a screen or printed on a till roll. If you're paying on the web, you can put the amount and merchant address into your wallet. o In addition to smartphones, you can have desktop wallets and web-based wallets.

Slide 9 Finish