@CK
Transactions are public and more or less anonymous. You'll probably understand the Wikipedia explanation better then I do, but as far as I understand it, every wallet stores a sequenial transaction number in chronological order. Actually I shouldn't even try to pretend I understand, it's just the bitcoin initiative that has me excited.
@Jim
The article mentioned the Mt Gox crash, it says the value of the bitcoin only plummeted on the MtGox exchange while it's value remained stable on other markets, just repeating the article here. The fact that it was hacked is troubling but the article also mentioned that the more transactions are being done with bitcoins, the cryptography increases in complexity.
I think the initiative of a completely free currency is extremely interesting, because the whole blurry government/bank blend is a little disturbing IMO. Private institutions (central bank) are providing the government with the money that civilisation is built on. In such a construction where do you think the power resides? (
QED @ 0:35?). Personally, I wouldn't put any money on "we the people".
Now imagine a currency that can not be artificially influenced and is only determined by their relative value. The government/bank wouldn't have any direct control over it, and we might one day stand a real chance against these unfair control structures. Peacefully and from the ground up.
A recent example:
Mastercard/visa et all which controll about 90% of all internet transactions stopped tranferring donations to Wikileaks on request of the government (legal action wasn't even needed). Nobody owns bitcoins so nobody can be requested or forced to stop donations to {insert any random organisation here}.
