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3056624 No.3056624 [Reply] [Original]

Can someone explain how "fractions" of a bitcoin are possible?

Let's say there are 3 Bitcoins with the hashes CAT, DOG and PENIS

Person A buys 1/3 BTC, and gets 1/3 of CAT.
Person B buys 1/3 BTC and gets 1/3 of DOG.
Person C buys 1/3 BTC and gets 1/3 of PENIS.

A, B, and C put their holdings on the exchange and I buy 1 BTC. Do I always own an entire hash, or does the blockchain record my wallet as having 1/3 of each and worth the equivalent of a full coin?

Then if I spend 3/5 coin, do those get further distributed?

Is there any way to own a "whole" bitcoin besides mining?

>> No.3056649

>>3056624
There is no representation for a bitcoin, so there is no no "CAT" bitcoin, only representation for the transaction. so instead there is "CAT" and "DOG's" transaction of X% or bitcoin.

>> No.3056673

Remember that transactions on an exchange aren't going to appear on the block chain.

>> No.3056708

>>3056624
Mr. PICKLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES
GOOOOOOD BOYYYYYYYY

>> No.3056764
File: 11 KB, 220x285, Hey+i+just+found+this+picture+of+you+_60d43fa7a5a1e3ef615aa1daadc6f393.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3056764

>>3056624
>a hash of a bitcoin

Bitcoins don't have hashes. They're just numbers associated with your address in a big database known as the blockchain.

Having said that, all bitcoins (or fractions of bitcoins) can be traced back to some genesis block where they were first created by the mining process.

Currently that's 12.5 coins every new block. If I mined 12.5 coins and then sent you 1 you could thing of that as being a "full coin". Conversely I could mine 12.5 coins, send you .25 and then wait until I mine another 12.5 coins and send you .75 of those 12.5. In both instances you'd have 1 bitcoin but in the first those coins could be traced to a single genesis block where in the second your coin comes from two unique sources. Inspection of the blockchain could uncover this information but nobody actually cares.

You're basically questioning whether someone who has 4 quarters really owns 1 dollar or not. The answer is yes.

>> No.3056774

One satoshi is (at the moment) the actual indivisible unit of bitcoin, it would be easier to think of 1 btc as just a shorthand for a billion (or whatever) satoshi's.

>> No.3056795

bitcoin are not discrete units with serial numbers

the amount of btc an address owns is the sum of btc transacted toward that address. So if someone mines a block they get a reward (currently 12.5 btc) which they direct towards an address that they own. At that point if they send you 1 btc, it's not some specific btc out of the 12.5. They just make a transaction which says that they are relinquishing 1 btc to your address.

So btc do not have 'hashes'; they are associated with addresses. In your example, if we say CAT, DOG, and PENIS are actually unique addresses, and we imagine that all of these transactions are carried out on the blockchain instead of over a third party exchange, your bitcoin would be 'whole' in that you own exactly 1 btc but no, it would not be 'whole' in that in the only way to even know how much btc you own is to refer to and add up to each of those transactions (from Cat/dog/penis to a/b/c, from a/b/c to you, AND from wherever cat/dog/penis got their btc from all the way back to when it was mined.)

TL;DR If you get a reward from mining you don't have to look up the blockchain, otherwise you do

>> No.3056807

>>3056624
> own an entire hash
> Is there any way to own a "whole" bitcoin besides mining?

Not sure if troll or actually retarded

>> No.3056825

>>3056764
pic unrelated, good post

>> No.3056878

>>3056624
the satoshi is the integer which actually represents your bitcoins.

that is to say bitcoins are integers not fractional values, fractional systems require holding the numerator and the denominator due to repeating numbers.

a satoshi is 0.00000001 BTC this is the smallest bitcoin you can have today, if everyone agreed to it in the network people could decide to put more zeros in there.