What is Bitcoin?
Introduction to Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a digital asset and a payment system invented by Satoshi Nakamoto who published the invention in 2008 and released it as open-source software in 2009. Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency. Bitcoin is an ingenious payment network and is a new type of money. It is the first invented cryptocurreny- a digital asset. It is protected with the help of cryptography and can be exchanged as currency. Bitcoin implements and utilizes P2P technology and is operated without any primary banks or central authority. It manages the transactions and issues Bitcoin through the network. When sending or receiving Bitcoin, you can disclose your address to your friends or colleagues so they can pay you. In fact, it's pretty similar to how we use email, except that Bitcoin addresses should only be used one time. It is currently being accepted worldwide. Bitcoin is an open-source that is designed for the public. No single person owns or governs Bitcoin. Transactions are verified by network nodes and recorded in a public distributed ledger called the block-chain. Everybody can participate and invest in these transactions. Through many of it's own unique properties, Bitcoin allows exciting uses that could not be covered by any previous payment system. Bitcoin blossomed in public consciousness after it's price-per-coin rose above $13,000 in early 2018. Bitcoin could take off and become the wallet of the future.
What does Bitcoin do?
Bitcoins are long hashes of random numbers and letters that computers try to guess. These computers are called miners. Miners will guess hashes to mine blocks of Bitcoins. Blocks consist of 50 Bitcoins, as well as recent transactions that occur between wallets. The blocks are collectively known as the block-chain. The block-chain contains the entire, detailed history of every transaction that has occurred in the Bitcoin network between wallets since it's creation. Wallets send and receive Bitcoins. The entire network of Bitcoin miners set the difficulty, or how hard it is for a miner to guess a hash correctly, to ensure that blocks are created predictably (about every 10 minutes). Each subsequent creation of blocks confirms the last block, so as to prevent double spending. A transaction of Bitcoins between wallets needs 6 confirmations in order to be considered valid. A block of 50 Bitcoins needs 120 confirmations in order to be considered valid. They have value just like anything else would. In terms of Bitcoin mining, it refers to the process through which new Bitcoins are created and given to computers helping to maintain the network. The computers involved in Bitcoin mining are in a sort of computational race to process new transactions coming onto the network. The winner (generally the person with the fastest computers) gets a chunk of new Bitcoins, 12.5 of them right now and the reward is halved every four years. The price of Bitcoin fluctuates constantly and is determined by open-market bidding on Bitcoin exchanges, similar to the way that stock and gold prices are determined by bidding on exchanges. The record of all Bitcoin transactions that these computers are constantly updating is known as the block-chain. Fundamentally, Bitcoins derive their value just as anything else does; because people want them. Like any other currency, Bitcoin follows the basic rules of supply and demand. Currencies have always been useful tools to make trade easier, enabling holders to convert goods into a widely tradable commodity through sale, then use the proceeds of that sale to purchase nearly anything they wish. Bitcoin was designed to create a “new electronic cash system”. It is absolutely decentralized without a server or central authority. Bitcoin is rapidly exploring in the universe and people are simultaneously investing in the same.
Bitcoin also has equity-like characteristics in that the value seems to grow as the whole Bitcoin ecosystem grows.
Will Bitcoin possibly be the money of the future?
Over the past year and a half, Bitcoin has been on a spectacular run, rising in value north of 140% in 2016 and now an additional 40% in just the past couple months. This surge in value has invigorated people all across the globe to research into it's potential to help change the way we use money. Bitcoin the currency was the first of its kind: a global, decentralized crypto-currency. While this sounds strange, it actually makes sense. As the world becomes less dependent on states and borders, the internet is a shared space where anyone in the world can communicate or create a business. A universal currency not dependent on any single country. Some specific advantages Bitcoin offers as a currency, besides the fact that it's global is being able to provide results in a digital world. With Bitcoin it's possible to send money from anywhere in the world, to anywhere in the world, all in a matter of seconds. A few great features that promote both safety and peace of mind is Bitcoin is more private than existing payment systems. For example to show how Bitcoin is more private that existing systems, imagine you have a Bitcoin wallet and need to send someone $10 worth of Bitcoin. The recipient provides you with an address that looks something like this: 18759vDaPK789eeMade. Anyone could provide you with a receiving address Imagine you found an anonymous person online, and were provided with the address above. You'd be able to send this person money without knowing their name or location. Before Bitcoin this was not possible. Bitcoin is always great for merchants because it's simpler and offers a secure network. There are a few key ways that Bitcoin and block-chain can change our lives and how we use money. Firstly, the block-chain has an opportunity to revolutionize record keeping across ownership of property, health care records and even voting systems- among others. If we are able to keep trustworthy records of real and intellectual property, the potential for fraud diminishes and the cost of both buying and selling property significantly drops. It leaves less room for fraud and illegal activities. It could also empower millions of people in the developing world who still can't prove the ownership of their property, something that we take for granted in the developed world. How we monetize our intellectual property globally, and how it's protected could improve as well. Block-chain has the potential to revolutionize our currency. Regardless of the development of crypto-currency, block-chain could dramatically improve e-commerce, payments, peer-to-peer transfers and lending. New businesses would be created, and some traditional institutions might be in danger if they don't readily adapt. In this ever-evolving world, you can buy anything from medicine to guns in an anonymous manner, with the help of virtual online currency- Bitcoins. Speculators have been stressing on it as online gold, and even the world's principal bankers believe this concept to likely be a strong rival in the near future. So now it's your turn to judge – will Bitcoin be the currency of the future?
Bitcoin is the first digital asset that does not need a trusted party to verify transactions. The Bitcoin's supply is controlled by a computer algorithm, and transactions are secured and verified with cryptography. There are a couple of things which the internet has needed but was always missing. A “native' form of money and an immutable way to store data. Bitcoin is both of these things. It's also possible to use block-chains without relying on any website or even the domain name system. This means they are difficult if not impossible to shut down. Any technology that can do all this qualifies as “next generation” in terms of possibilities of what Bitcoin can do for the internet. People should be excited about block-chain technology because the internet enabled a more free exchange of information and ideas. It empowered the individual by removing the need for someone to go through a TV, book or magazine publisher to share their ideas. Block-chain technologies push this frontier further by allowing a more free exchange of monetary value and data. Bitcoin is made for the internet-generation. We are quickly moving past the days of carrying around paper cash or pulling out your credit card. Bitcoin goes several steps further than the convenience of credit cards by equipping users with a payment option that is significantly lower in fees, provides virtually instantaneous transaction times and is accessible through the dozens of Bitcoin wallets. Bitcoin was made for our generation, plus it's fast, secure and global. These are some exciting reasons to look into the future of Bitcoin and what it can do for us. It was also designed with your privacy in mind and is not subject to inflation.
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