Bitcoin nodes surged to 200k
getaddr.bitnodes.ioThis is _highly_ misleading. The actual number of nodes that they're measuring is 11,664, which is a sudden increase from a slowly declining level of about 4,400 as of a month ago.
The 196,123 number is a count of the number of distinct IP addresses being rumored between nodes. Most of them are never working garbage sent into the network by confused software, misguided would-be DOS attackers, etc.
If the actual number is still doubling rapidly from a recent nadir, isn't the implication the same?
Also, for people who don't see this as natural (and I agree that it looks almost mechanical), is this a misguided "51%" attack? (Seems unlikely given that if you have the resources for that, you also probably understand how it works.) Just curious what people see this sudden change as representing.
> Also, for people who don't see this as natural (and I agree that it looks almost mechanical), is this a misguided "51%" attack?
No. The whole point of the POW mechanism is to frustrate cheap easy Sybil attacks where someone sets up a few thousand IPs and dictates what the network says.
> a sudden increase from a slowly declining level
That's worrying. I'm much more concerned about a Sybil attack or similar attack on the P2P network than an attack on the cryptography. Given the current size of the ledger, the average person will not want to run a node. I guess one mitigating factor is that the mining pool operators can take steps to ensure they are well connected to each other.
People keep asking me "What is the best way to convert my bitcoins to cash?"... anyone know a good answer that you know works (first hand)?
If they're in the UK or USA they can contact me and I'm pretty happy to convert. (Shanee753@gmail.com). We can trade face-to-face if you're near the south of the UK. I have a number of good reviews on independent which I can provide. Generally I use the bitcoin-otc chat on freenode which seems pretty good.
Buy amazon.com giftcards and buy stuff on amazon, gyft.com and gc4btc.com sell them
It depends heavily on where you are, which bank you're with, with whom you're a citizen of, and a myriad of other factors.
Canadians may have an easier time than Americans, but Britons will be SOL.
> Britons will be SOL
Is it that hard to set up on BitBargain?
It is not smooth at all: https://bitbargain.co.uk/trade-bitcoins-app
Not to mention the 0.4XBT non refundable seller application fee.
For a one-off "I want to cash out" use case this is completely unworkable.
VAT applies to BTC<->GBP, so that really dampens adoption in the UK.
One relatively easy route is to setup a coinbase account, link it to your bank account, and have your coins converted and deposited from there.
Coinbase handled the recent surge in traffic pretty poorly. When prices tanked / fluctuated heavily, they turned off the ability to buy citing "a lack of bitcoin" and told users they could put in buy orders now for the market price on Friday or Monday. Two days later when the price is back up to ~$700 you can mysteriously buy again.
I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but USD liquidity has been extraordinarily frustrating over the past several days since most exchanges are foreign (and US bank wires take days to weeks).
I thought we were talking about converting to cash, not buying. I agree that the hard stop on buying is extremely annoying, and that makes coinbase a bad choice for playing the market. If you want to do fast transactional orders, CampBx is probably a better choice.
I have successfully used localbitcoins.com, using National Bank Transfer. Use their escrow service. Note that you probably do not want to sell to people through paypal (they can easily reverse the transaction), nor to people though other easily reversible payment services.
Sell them to people for cash. I used to use MtGox to get a couple grand out here or there, but now it's too much of a pain. It depends where you are though. There are some decent Canadian options, and Coinbase is supposed to be good for Americans.
localbitcoins.com or bitcoin-otc.com (irc). Buy peer to peer and then sell to your non-technical friends or friends of friends with a 5-10% markup. It is best to not look at it as a "problem" but rather as a entrepreneurial opportunity.
I use an exchange, it's been the best way for me so far.
If in Europe - Bitstamp.net? Just remind them of tax issues if they earned money on speculation.
I was watching this through the year, wondering if the decline was due to people moving over to web wallets. Clearly not. I bet this is a good indication of price. The more there is online, the more natural interest there is. I think over time it will start meaning less and less as people do INDEED move over to other wallets.
The problem is that this doesn't quite look like natural growth. Maybe it is, but it's pretty quick, constant, and unnatural looking. People don't generally behave that way.
First the surge in Tor nodes, now this? I bet the Feds did this.
how generous of them
Was thinking same exact thing, brotha.
yes, can't help but see the parallels...
I think that perhaps a large portion of Bitcoin nodes are "dormant," i.e. offline until the owner feels like updating in order to make a transaction.