Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency, without a central bank or single administrator, that can be sent from user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries. Transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain.
Bitcoin is unique in that there are a finite number of them: 21 million.
Bitcoins are created as a reward for a process known as mining. They can be exchanged for other currencies, products, and services.
As of February 2015, over 100,000 merchants and vendors accepted bitcoin as payment.
According to research produced by Cambridge University there were between 2.9 million and 5.
NOTE: WARNING: It is important to be aware that determining who is the biggest holder of Bitcoin is impossible due to the nature of cryptocurrency. As a result, any information claiming to identify the biggest holder of Bitcoin should be viewed with skepticism and caution. Additionally, it is important to remember that no individual or group has control over or access to all of the Bitcoin in circulation.
8 million unique users using a cryptocurrency wallet, as of 2017, most of them using bitcoin.
The identity of Nakamoto remains unknown. Though his identity has been speculated, the computer scientist Paul Krugman has suggested that Nakamoto could be a group of people including Neal King, Vladimir Oksman and Charles Bray.
In October 2008 an article titled “The Face Behind Bitcoin” was published in The New Republic suggesting that Nakamoto might be Irish cryptography student Michael Clear or economic sociologist Vili Lehdonvirta. A Wired article published in December 2013 asserted that Craig Steven Wright was Nakamoto, but he later denied this claim.
The first bitcoin transaction took place on January 3rd 2009, between Satoshi Nakamoto and Cryptographer Hal Finney who were working on the Bitcoin project at the time. The first real world transaction took place on May 22nd 2010 when Laszlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins – the equivalent of around $80 million today.
Bitcoin is currently the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, with a total market cap of over $100 billion dollars. The closest competitor is Ethereum, with a market cap of around $20 billion dollars.
However, there are many other cryptocurrencies available on the market today with various levels of popularity and market capitalization.
3 Related Question Answers Found
As the price of Bitcoin has surged over the past year, more and more people are becoming interested in the crypto currency. While there are many different ways to acquire Bitcoin, one of the most popular methods is through mining. Mining is the process of verifying transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain and adding them to the public ledger.
Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency, without a central bank or single administrator, that can be sent from user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries. Transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain. Bitcoin was invented by an unknown person or group of people using the name Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009.
The Richest Bitcoin Holder is a person who owns the most bitcoins. The title is currently held by Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin. Nakamoto is estimated to own around 1 million bitcoins, which would give him a net worth of over $10 billion at today’s prices.
