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Is there a crypto coin that doesn't need to be mined ? Say, one coin = $1 USD and would still benefit from anonymity those coins provide ? edit: for those who

Is there a crypto coin that doesn't need to be mined ? Say, one coin = $1 USD and would still benefit from anonymity those coins provide ? edit: for those who reply with 'the 1 dollar coin is worth 1 dollar', well, actually you can't buy online anonymously with it, like on the silkroad. You don't benefit from internet payements like you do have with bitcoins. The question would be : is that possible to have a virtual currency indexed on a fiat currency that would have the same benefits of the cryto ones we are using ?

khuey 14y ago
Many of the proponents of these currencies believe that a currency governed by mathematics is better than a currency governed by fiat. Since the government can print as many USD as it wants there's no way to fix an exchange range unless the cryptocurrency allows unlimited money supply increase, which clearly has to be controlled by some central authority.
Liongadev 14y ago
If it is not mined, who gets the starting coins?
- solox3 14y ago
  The inventor.
jmorton 14y ago
There is a coin worth $1 USD that doesn't require mining and can be exchanged anonymously. Is the cryptographic aspect a hard requirement? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_coin_(United_States) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_coin_(United_States)
- gabipurcaru 14y ago
  I think it is a hard requirement; nobody keeps tight track of $1 coins because it's hard to trade a few million dollars using just that. A cryptographic currency wouldn't have this issue.
meepmorp 14y ago
Is there a crypto coin where the mining work isn't a useless waste of energy? Bitcoin mining (and maybe litecoin, dunno) doesn't do anything useful in the process of using all those hardware and electrical resources. No protein folding, no SETI, no looking for mersenne primes - just a bunch of crypto work that gets you bitcoins. It'd be nice if you actually had to produce some knowledge to get the coins.
- gabipurcaru 14y ago
  How is finding the digits of 2^57,885,161 - 1 useful?
- dchest 14y ago
  This the common mistake. Mining does useful work: validating transactions.
anywhichway 14y ago
To index to a fiat currency it requires a market maker. Some person or group that will guarantee that if you have $1 they'll give you a unit of currency and if you have a unit of currency they'll give you $1. To meet the demand for this currency it would require the market maker would need to be able to print money, otherwise the price could naturally increase without a way to stop it. Also, to be able to survive a run on the bank, for every unit of currency they issue and take in $1 they would have to keep that $1 in reserve in case everyone tries to cash out at once. Letting a central authority print money that had no obligations to the general public is dangerous. Also the market maker would likely spend some of the money they take in. If there was ever a run on the bank they would just shut down the currency and keep the money that was paid in, which would make a run on the bank more likely. This is very similar to online casinos that let you buy chips, but instead of offering gambling services, they would offer annonomous transaction services. Some casinos have just shut down and kept all the money or if it becomes a legal problem (as any solid fully annonomous currency would) could be shut down by their local government. There is just no good reason to trust a currency that requires a central authority that can print money and that you don't trust and there is no reason to trust that they'll use the printing power responsibly.

khuey 14y ago

Many of the proponents of these currencies believe that a currency governed by mathematics is better than a currency governed by fiat. Since the government can print as many USD as it wants there's no way to fix an exchange range unless the cryptocurrency allows unlimited money supply increase, which clearly has to be controlled by some central authority.

Liongadev 14y ago

If it is not mined, who gets the starting coins?

solox3 14y ago
The inventor.

jmorton 14y ago

There is a coin worth $1 USD that doesn't require mining and can be exchanged anonymously. Is the cryptographic aspect a hard requirement? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_coin_(United_States) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_coin_(United_States)

gabipurcaru 14y ago
I think it is a hard requirement; nobody keeps tight track of $1 coins because it's hard to trade a few million dollars using just that. A cryptographic currency wouldn't have this issue.

meepmorp 14y ago

Is there a crypto coin where the mining work isn't a useless waste of energy? Bitcoin mining (and maybe litecoin, dunno) doesn't do anything useful in the process of using all those hardware and electrical resources. No protein folding, no SETI, no looking for mersenne primes - just a bunch of crypto work that gets you bitcoins. It'd be nice if you actually had to produce some knowledge to get the coins.

gabipurcaru 14y ago
How is finding the digits of 2^57,885,161 - 1 useful?
dchest 14y ago
This the common mistake. Mining does useful work: validating transactions.

anywhichway 14y ago

To index to a fiat currency it requires a market maker. Some person or group that will guarantee that if you have $1 they'll give you a unit of currency and if you have a unit of currency they'll give you $1. To meet the demand for this currency it would require the market maker would need to be able to print money, otherwise the price could naturally increase without a way to stop it. Also, to be able to survive a run on the bank, for every unit of currency they issue and take in $1 they would have to keep that $1 in reserve in case everyone tries to cash out at once. Letting a central authority print money that had no obligations to the general public is dangerous. Also the market maker would likely spend some of the money they take in. If there was ever a run on the bank they would just shut down the currency and keep the money that was paid in, which would make a run on the bank more likely. This is very similar to online casinos that let you buy chips, but instead of offering gambling services, they would offer annonomous transaction services. Some casinos have just shut down and kept all the money or if it becomes a legal problem (as any solid fully annonomous currency would) could be shut down by their local government. There is just no good reason to trust a currency that requires a central authority that can print money and that you don't trust and there is no reason to trust that they'll use the printing power responsibly.