Page 6 - 31 October 2025

PAGE 6 · THE REPORTER 31 OCTOBER 2025

every four years. Miners, the amounts back and forth
people and companies who quickly and cheaply without
r u n t h e s p e c i a l i s e d clogging the main chain.
computers that validate Think of the blockchain as
t r a n s a c t i o n s , c o l l e c t the big monthly settlement
pending transactions and book, while Lightning is the
race to solve the hard math quick chit-system for daily
puzzle that lets them add the chores.
next block. Miners range A couple of practical
from hobbyists with a box at wrinkles I'll mention: lost
home to organised “pools” coins tighten the supply; if
and large industrial farms someone loses their private
with rows of purpose-built
“Bitcoin for the Bewildered” will be published in a hardware. The winner gets to key, those bitcoins become
series of 4 articles. This is a less of a laugh-out-loud add the block and collect the inaccessible forever, which
piece, aimed to give readers a clearer sense of what effectively reduces the
Ons wens die volgende tagtigjariges van harte geluk this whole Bitcoin business really means, not just the reward. That slow drip is why usable supply. Other
met hul verjaarsdae en wens hulle alles van die beste currency itself, but the ideas behind it.... miners keep the network cryptocurrencies don't dilute
honest today; they are paid
vir die toekoms toe: Bitcoin in new coins plus transaction Bitcoin, they are separate
systems with their own
We congratulate the following octogenarians on their fees. Eventually, around supplies. And while software
birthdays and wish them everything of the best for the 2140, the last bitcoin is can technically be altered by
future: for the Bewildered expected to be mined. After consensus, changing
that, miners will rely entirely Bitcoin's supply cap would
Stephanus Vorster, 85 op 26 Oktober Part 2 - If There Are Only on fees to pay for the require broad agreement
Betsie Sciocatti, 83 op 30 Oktober electricity and hardware that f r o m m i n e r s , n o d e
Miemie Brummer, 90 op 16 November 21 Million, Won't We Run Out? keep confirmations running. operators, and users
In plain terms, the printing worldwide; it's politically and
So last week we met the 21,000,000 × 100,000,000 press stops, but the tills keep practically very unlikely. The
ledger and the maths. Now, = 2,100,000,000,000,000, ringing for those who secure cap is part of Bitcoin's
the sensible question: if individual sats. That's 2.1 the network. identity.
there are only 21 million quadrillion tiny units. In
Bitcoins, won't we run out? practice, you can buy a loaf Even though the total supply Scarcity, combined with
Short answer: no, and here's of bread with a handful of is fixed, bitcoins are divisibility, is what gives
why that worry is kinder to sats even if a whole bitcoin constantly changing hands. Bitcoin one of its key
the curious than it first someday costs the price of a Most everyday volume appeals: a limited supply
sounds. house. happens on exchanges, that can still be used in the
marketplaces where buyers smallest, everyday ways. If
The Bitcoin network has a If local prices go up and the and sellers agree on a price. you prefer steady money for
hard cap written into its fiat price of goods rises, Many transactions on those paying wages or buying
code: 21,000,000 bitcoins then, all else equal, you'll platforms are off-chain groceries, fiat (rands) does
will ever exist. That's part of need more bitcoin to pay for internal ledger entries; the the job. If you're curious
the design, a deliberate limit the same thing if Bitcoin's exchange updates its own about a scarce, global digital
to stop anyone from printing price in fiat stays the same. database without writing asset where you control the
more at will. But that 21 In practice, Bitcoin's price every little move to the public keys, Bitcoin offers that
million doesn't mean the usually moves against fiat blockchain. This is efficient option, with rewards and
economy needs 21 million currencies, so whether you and cheap, but it's also why headaches of its own.
shiny coins on every shop end up needing more or the “Bitcoin balance” people
counter. Bitcoin was built fewer satoshis depends on Next time I'll do the sensible,
from the start to be highly how Bitcoin itself is trading see in an app is sometimes slightly dull but necessary
divisible. at the time. The key point is just a number in that part, the real risks and
this: splitting Bitcoin into company's books until it's sensible rules. Think of it as
The smallest piece of a withdrawn to a personal the barn-yard version of
bitcoin is a satoshi (named satoshis doesn't create more wallet. “how to not lose your shirt”,
a f t e r t h e i n v e n t o r ' s coins, it simply gives you scams, volatility and the
pseudonym). One bitcoin finer pieces to use when For small or instant thing everyone forgets about
e q u a l s 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 values move. payments, there are second- backups. See you then.
satoshis — that's a one New bitcoin appears layer systems, like Lightning,
followed by eight zeroes. So through mining rewards, that let people pass tiny By Logan Lamont
d o t h e a r i t h m e t i c : which are halved roughly

The Reporter which is registered at the Post Office as
a newspaper is printed and published by the
proprietors, Barkly East Reporter cc (Reg No.
2002/024771/23) at 28 Greyvenstein Street, Barkly
East.
Copyright on all materials in The Reporter reserved
by the proprietors.

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NOVEMBER 2025
1 Golf Day (Barkly East)
2 Steak Lunch: Barkly East Community Church
15 Plymer Clay Earring Making Course
22 AGS Shalom 4x4 Mannedag
DECEMBER 2025
6 Barkly East SUMMER FESTIVAL
13 MOSHESH Classic: Tennis, Pickleball, Social
Paddle, MTN Biking