The world is becoming ever more contingent on the internet. So it’s no surprise that Bitcoin, a globally secured online version of cash has claimed the interest of investors, but not many shops accept Bitcoin yet and some countries have banned it altogether.
Bitcoin is a valuable crypto coin because people are ready to exchange them for real goods and services, it can be bought by using both fiat and altcoins, or can also be generated by using a computer which is called mining.
What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is the earliest cryptocurrency that started in January 2009, which inspires other projects in the blockchain space. The person who created Bitcoin and its identity is still a mystery. Bitcoin is commonly abbreviated as “BTC”. The word “Bitcoin” is capitalized in the context refers to an entity or concept, whereas “bitcoin” is in lower case refers to a quantity of the currency or the units.
It has been created, distributed, traded, and stored with a decentralized ledger system which is known as a blockchain. It has skyrocketed approximately $20,000 in 2017, but after two years its price has been reduced to half of that value.
Who Invented Bitcoin?
Bitcoin was invented in the year 2008 by a group of people named Satoshi Nakamoto. It was started in 2009 when he implemented the bitcoin software as open-source code.
How Bitcoin began?
Bitcoins are generally created as a reward for a process known as mining. The bitcoin network was created when Nakamoto mined the first block of the chain, called genesis block on Jan 2009.
According to the Blockchain Analysts estimation, Nakamoto has mined about 1million bitcoins before disappearing in 2010, when he handed Gavin Andresen the network alert key and control of the code repository. Andresen became lead developer at the Bitcoin Foundation later.
Key highlights
- August 18, 2008: Domain name “bitcoin.org” was registered
- October 31, 2008: Anonymous Satoshi Nakamoto published Bitcoin whitepaper
- January 3, 2009: Mined the Genesis Block or block number one.
- January 12, 2009: The first Bitcoin transaction.
- December 16, 2009: Released version 0.2
- November 6, 2010: The value of Market cap exceeds $1 Million.
- October 2011: Litecoin was created by Bitcoin forks for the first time
- June 19, 2011: Security breach of the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange which caused the nominal price of a bitcoin to fraudulently drop to one cent.
- June 3, 2012: Largest block 181919 created with 1322 transactions
- June 2012: Launches coinbase
- September 27, 2012: Formed bitcoin Foundation.
- December 7,2013: Price falls to around $760.
- June 2015: One of the most significant cryptocurrency regulations BitLicense gets established.
- August 1, 2017: Bitcoin forks Bitcoin Cash again.
- August 23, 2017: SegWit or Segregated Witness gets activated which is a soft fork on the Bitcoin Network that aims to solve scalability issues
- September 2017: BTC trading was banned by China
- December 2017: Launched first bitcoin futures contracts by CBOE Global Markets (CBOE) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).
- December 2017: Bitcoin price reaches its all-time high of $20,000.
- January 2018: Price drops as a result of the 2018 cryptocurrency market crash.
- November 15, 2018: Bitcoin’s market cap value fell below $100 billion for the first time since October 2017.
- October 31, 2018: 10 year anniversary of Bitcoin
- May 11, 2020: 3rd Bitcoin halving
How bitcoin works
Bitcoin is a decentralized system, in which transactions are recorded in a distributed ledger called a blockchain. Bitcoin is not linked to any kind of central banking system, that’s one of the major parts of its appeal.
Users can get bitcoin by installing the bitcoin wallet on a computer or mobile phone, you can see the bitcoin address has been created and more addresses can also be created whenever it’s required. You can send the address to your friends to make them pay you or vice versa.
All the transactions which are confirmed will be on the blockchain, which allows the Bitcoin wallets to calculate their spendable balance, to verify the new transactions, ensuring they were actually owned by the spender. Bitcoin wallets will have a secret piece of data called a private key or seed, used to verify that they are from the owner of the wallet
Bitcoin mining
Mining is generally a process of adding records of transactions to the public ledger called the Blockchain. Through mining, users can earn Bitcoin without paying for it. Bitcoin can be received by miners as a reward for completing “Blocks” of verified transactions added to the blockchain.
Miners who find a solution for a complex hashing puzzle first will get rewards. Nowadays mining bitcoin was not easy as before, it has become a big deal, there is a chance that the cost of the equipment and the electricity alone can take your profits quickly.
How to store bitcoin?
Bitcoin can be stored by keeping it safe on the exchanges or wallets. There are many exchanges in which you can store your bitcoins. Users can also sell or buy bitcoin for altcoins or fiat coins. To know more about the listing pairs and trading click:
Bitcoin can be lost by crypto users due to theft, computer failure, losing access keys, etc. In order to avoid Bitcoin loss, users can store bitcoin using wallets. Some of the wallets are Cold storage or offline wallets, Desktop wallet, Hardware wallet, Paper wallet, etc.
Cold storage wallets are generally not accessible via the internet and it is one of the safest methods for holding bitcoins safely. Desktop wallets are similar to cold storage, these can only be accessible in our private desktops. Hardware wallets are safer and secure, in this type bitcoins can be stored using the device like USB sticks which we can carry with us around. Paper wallets usually contain the Bitcoin seed written on a piece of paper, these wallets can be stored easily because they don’t take up more space.
How much Is Bitcoin Worth?
The total value of all the bitcoin in the world was $171.2 Billion as of June 20, 2020.
| Ticker | BTC |
| Current Price | $11,800 |
| Market Cap | 18,479,580 |
| 24-hour Volume | 2,233,402 |
| Circulating Supply | 18,469,575 |
| Max Supply | 21,000,000 |
Bitcoin Exchanges
A bitcoin exchange generally acts as the intermediate between a buyer and seller, we can also say it is between a “maker” and a “taker”. Users can deposit bitcoin via a bank transfer, wire, and other means of deposit, with the service charges.
Decentralized Exchanges
Decentralized exchanges are exchanges, they are operated without a central authority. These crypto exchanges generally allow peer-to-peer trading of cryptocurrencies. There are lots of benefits in the decentralized exchanges.
Decentralized exchanges maintain a fundamental level of user interest in the form of liquidity and trading volume. Users of a decentralized exchange may have less recourse than the exchanges with the centralized authorities.
Special consideration
- Fees
Depending on the buy and sell order carried out within the exchange, all the bitcoin exchanges have transaction fees.
Making deposits and withdrawals comes at a price, which depends on the payment method used to transfer funds. Other than the transaction fees and funds transfer fees, traders may also have currency conversion fees, depending on the currencies accepted by the exchange.
- Bitcoin wallets
Bitcoin exchange is generally different from a bitcoin wallet. Through the bitcoin wallet, users can store their coins. They can also store private keys that are used to authorize the transaction and to access the bitcoin address.
- Makers and takers
The buyer or seller can place the limit order, the exchange adds it to its order book until the price has been matched by another trader. When the price gets matched, the buyer or seller who sets the limit price is referred to as the maker. Traders who place a market order that immediately gets filled are takers.
Benefits of Bitcoin
- Bitcoin has greater liquidity relative to other cryptocurrencies
- It has increasingly wide acceptance as a payment method
- Easy International transactions than regular currencies
- Low Transaction fees
- Elimination of Banking fees
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