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>Isn't this value derived from the system as a whole rather than Bitcoins themselves?

Capital B Bitcoin (never plural) refers to the system as a whole. Lowercase b bitcoins refers to the units of currency.

And yes, this value is derived from Bitcoin, not bitcoins- which is what the article says.

>If the monetary value of Bitcoin dropped to zero for some reason you wouldn't be able to use your existing Bitcoin for these purposes.

Yes, you would. All of these uses would still apply if bitcoins were worthless.

Namecoins are essentially free, yet they can be used to do all of these as well. In fact, Namecoin is the third item on the list in the article.




All of these uses would still apply if bitcoins were worthless.

No, because if bitcoins were worthless, there would be no incentive to mine, and if there is no incentive to mine, there is no security for the blockchain.


I don't understand. Namecoin uses an entirely separate block chain from the currency. How will my 50 BTC be useful if the currency fails?




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