Google Engineer Releases Open Source Bitcoin Client 280
Posted
by
timothy
from the gold-standard-in-non-gold dept.
from the gold-standard-in-non-gold dept.
angry tapir writes "A Google engineer has released an open source Java client for the Bitcoin peer-to-peer currency system, simply called BitcoinJ. Bitcoin is an Internet currency that uses a P2P architecture for processing transactions, avoiding the need for a central bank or payment system. Cio.com.au also has an interview with Gavin Andresen, the technical lead of the Bitcoin virtual currency system." Update: 03/23 16:22 GMT by T : Confused? BitcoinJ author Mike Hearn points out this video explanation of how Bitcoin works.
Anybody can answer this one Bitcoin flaw? (Score:2, Insightful)
I don't see a problem with bitcoin in theory... but throughout history no currency has been stable without an army to enforce its existence. Disband the USA police/Army and the dollar would collapse. Gold and other universally liked-by-all-humans minerals retains its value for the new owners if someone steals it. Cant say the same about BC.
That's why this will never go anywhere... look at e-gold, it was doing millions of dollars a day in transactions and then as soon as the owners ran into legal trouble (which could happen in any country) and had no means to defend themselves it collapsed overnight.
Having said that it's a nice hobby and probably someone is enjoying programming it, just don't see it ever gaining traction anywhere. Maybe this would be proved wrong if they found an island somewhere, established their own DNS servers and farms/militia which could be paid in BC etc...
Re:Sounds risky (Score:2, Insightful)
I think you missed the point behind releasing it as open source.
It needs no central authority, a manager, owner or anything like this. So it does not depend on the party it comes from. Once it's in the wild it's completely independent.
The open source is a prerequisite for proof that the above is true - no hidden hooks, no backdoors and killswitches. Many eyes can prove this is legit.