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WikiTiger 
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| re: Iranian's discover bitcoin (Posted on 11/30/12 at 2:05 pm to HubbaBubba)
quote:
targeted denial of service
would essentially have to shut down the internet
not saying they wouldn't do that. hell, didn't syria do it yesterday?
which is why people are working on a decentralized, peer-to-peer internet, so that governments can't shut it down
quote:
possibly even military action
against who?
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HubbaBubba 
USA Fan
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| re: Iranian's discover bitcoin (Posted on 11/30/12 at 2:14 pm to WikiTiger)
quote:
against who?
Maybe they'll start with...... you.  
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joshnorris14 
Florida Fan
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| re: Iranian's discover bitcoin (Posted on 11/30/12 at 2:19 pm to WikiTiger)
quote:
which is why people are working on a decentralized, peer-to-peer internet, so that governments can't shut it down
I believe the cypherpunks were working on this back in the late 80's. Needless to say, the technology is there.
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C
LSU Fan
The Woodlands, TX
Member since Dec 2007
17525 posts
| re: Iranian's discover bitcoin (Posted on 11/30/12 at 2:19 pm to WikiTiger)
quote:
"how long in bytes the private key is"
Is a private key tied to a user name or is it the user name?
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WikiTiger
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| re: Iranian's discover bitcoin (Posted on 11/30/12 at 2:28 pm to C)
quote:
Is a private key tied to a user name or is it the user name?
No. There are no user names necessary.
And you definitely don't want to treat the private key as a user name because you want to keep that private. It is what allows you to control the bitcoins.
Private keys can be generated instantly, and in great number. For instance, if you wanted a million private keys, you could have them. When people talk about a bitcoin "wallet" they are essentially talking about the private key.
Now, there are corresponding public keys mathematically associated with each private key. And you can generate a large number of public keys for each private key (I think there is a limit, but I don't remember what it is, but it's a pretty large amount).
So, for instance, you could have "wallets" like this (note: these are illustrations, this is not what the keys actually look like):
Private key: 12erhjfh30847y50234jrqhewfi23g49fgerugf29374t982734gfqhf982348rtg234r
Corresponding public keys:
1rhfbw85hf45hgjrtngo85h60356uhutjh
1f89vus09e8y9h65jngtrhjjirus09w8u5
1sdfv0wq938u4u6jhgje56hiojsg98wyer
1rt098h56u2354bfiurhfos8e7yr87345t
1sda83u4j6gjdrt98guw45jedfj9w8u55t
If you send bitcoins to any of those public keys, they will arrive in the wallet of that private key.
And so on and so on...
So you can generate as many wallets as you want....
and within those wallets, you can generate numerous public keys
All with NO registration
NO user accounts
NO identification
This post was edited on 11/30 at 2:29 pm
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C
LSU Fan
The Woodlands, TX
Member since Dec 2007
17525 posts
| re: Iranian's discover bitcoin (Posted on 11/30/12 at 2:35 pm to WikiTiger)
So you have to link the public key to the private key to make the transaction, right?
BTW, I know you've sent numerous links helping to explain this and we seem to be ignoring them but it's easier to understand through this Q&A session. I hope you aren't getting frustrated. 
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WikiTiger
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| re: Iranian's discover bitcoin (Posted on 11/30/12 at 2:38 pm to C)
quote:
So you have to link the public key to the private key to make the transaction, right?
Say I want you to send me some money....I would send you my public key. You would then take that key, put it in your bitcoin software and say, "send 1 bitcoin to 1489ruwerojnf023897y345ugh59t54"
Thing is, let's say I don't really know you or trust you but I still want you to send me money, I could just generate a brand new, one-time use public key, send that to you....you send the bitcoins to it, and then I never use that key again.
Also, that's just the basics....there are other things being built to allow all this to happen easier, for instance, the use of QR codes to send bitcoins. i.e. you just scan the QR code with your phone and away it goes!
ETA: I don't mind the questions at all. I enjoy talking about this stuff. And you are asking good ones and seem to be making a genuine effort to understand it all. FWIW, I have a significant tech background, and it still took me about 6 months of research before I felt comfortable with it all, and there are still some things I may not fully comprehend
This post was edited on 11/30 at 2:40 pm
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C
LSU Fan
The Woodlands, TX
Member since Dec 2007
17525 posts
| re: Iranian's discover bitcoin (Posted on 11/30/12 at 2:46 pm to WikiTiger)
So for someone to steal your bitcoins they only need your private key, load that into bitcoin software, and then send your bitcoins to another private key?
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Poodlebrain
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| re: Iranian's discover bitcoin (Posted on 11/30/12 at 2:51 pm to WikiTiger)
Of the 21,000,000 possible bitcoins how many have been discovered? How do you know the system wasn't rigged at inception for the creator to more easily mine 1,000,000 bitcoins and capture approximately 5% of the wealth to be created? Somewhere, someone had to initiate the system, and that someone would have a reference point for starting his search that would put him one step ahead of the competition.
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SlowFlowPro 
Stanford Fan
Equality is a circle, not a =
Member since Jan 2004
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| re: Iranian's discover bitcoin (Posted on 11/30/12 at 2:56 pm to Poodlebrain)
quote:
Somewhere, someone had to initiate the system, and that someone would have a reference point for starting his search that would put him one step ahead of the competition.
this applies to any computer system
somebody designed that banking software and network system, too
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WikiTiger
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| re: Iranian's discover bitcoin (Posted on 11/30/12 at 2:57 pm to Poodlebrain)
quote:
Of the 21,000,000 possible bitcoins how many have been discovered?
We actually just reached the first halving milestone last week. So in other words: 10,500,000 bitcoins have been mined thus far. Here is the inflation graph:
quote:
How do you know the system wasn't rigged at inception for the creator to more easily mine 1,000,000 bitcoins and capture approximately 5% of the wealth to be created?
Not possible. The mathematical calculations would be rejected by the network. The network is open source and all algorithms are published. You are free to go do your own research if you fear that possibility.
quote:
Somewhere, someone had to initiate the system, and that someone would have a reference point for starting his search that would put him one step ahead of the competition.
This page is a good read too:
Bitcoin Myths
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WikiTiger
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| re: Iranian's discover bitcoin (Posted on 11/30/12 at 2:58 pm to C)
quote:
So for someone to steal your bitcoins they only need your private key
yes
quote:
load that into bitcoin software
yep
quote:
and then send your bitcoins to another private key?
well, it would be sent to a public key, that is controlled by a private key, but yes, you are essentially right on the concept
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C
LSU Fan
The Woodlands, TX
Member since Dec 2007
17525 posts
| re: Iranian's discover bitcoin (Posted on 11/30/12 at 3:56 pm to WikiTiger)
So a private key doesn't have to be matched with anything to have access to the bitcoins? I've gotta be missing something.
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WikiTiger
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| re: Iranian's discover bitcoin (Posted on 11/30/12 at 4:06 pm to C)
quote:
So a private key doesn't have to be matched with anything to have access to the bitcoins? I've gotta be missing something.
It's math.
The public key mathematically relates to the private key.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public-key_cryptography
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C
LSU Fan
The Woodlands, TX
Member since Dec 2007
17525 posts
| re: Iranian's discover bitcoin (Posted on 11/30/12 at 4:19 pm to WikiTiger)
No I get how transactions work, I'm back on wallet security. Lets say I'm extremely lucky and guess a random private key and put that into the program. what verifies that it wasn't just a random guess and it's actually the owner of the private key? I know you said the private key isn't a user ID, but it seems like it is. Is the private key not how the wallet IDs itself?
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WikiTiger
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| re: Iranian's discover bitcoin (Posted on 11/30/12 at 4:25 pm to C)
quote:
Lets say I'm extremely lucky and guess a random private key and put that into the program
So I actually saw someone calculate the odds of actually doing this, and if you think winning the powerballs odds are slim, then you should see these odds.
of course, i can't remember where i saw it
quote:
Is the private key not how the wallet IDs itself?
yes, it is.
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C
LSU Fan
The Woodlands, TX
Member since Dec 2007
17525 posts
| re: Iranian's discover bitcoin (Posted on 11/30/12 at 4:32 pm to WikiTiger)
quote:
So I actually saw someone calculate the odds of actually doing this, and if you think winning the powerballs odds are slim, then you should see these odds.
Are those the odds for a single private key or the millions and billions that will be generated? Also does the bitcoin program know the difference between a private key and a public key? or are they essentially the same except for one being at the top of the chain?
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LSURussian
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| re: Iranian's discover bitcoin (Posted on 11/30/12 at 5:09 pm to WikiTiger)
quote:
So a private key doesn't have to be matched with anything to have access to the bitcoins? I've gotta be missing something.
It's math.
The public key mathematically relates to the private key.
So if someone cracks the code which ties a private key to potential public keys, that person would hold the keys to everyone's bitcoin wallets, right?
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rumproast
Member since Dec 2003
6959 posts
| re: Iranian's discover bitcoin (Posted on 11/30/12 at 5:26 pm to LSURussian)
As I appreciate it, bitcoins aren't user identified, so if they are stolen, you are kind of screwed, eh? I guess there would be the trail of what computer accessed the bitcoins.....but hell, the level of user that's into this sort of stuff probably would be smart enough to be impossible to find.
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LSURussian
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| re: Iranian's discover bitcoin (Posted on 11/30/12 at 8:13 pm to WikiTiger)
I just re-read the OP and it hit me that the Iranians use of bitcoins is a tribute to the power of the U.S. dollar more than any endorsement of bitcoins.
They can't own dollars legally so they have found a dollar substitute, bitcoins, which is valued in dollars.
Them Persians be smart! 
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