What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency and a payment system, first proposed by an anonymous person or group of people under the name Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008.
Bitcoin is decentralized, meaning it is not subject to government or financial institution control. Transactions are verified by a network of computers using cryptography and recorded in a public dispersed 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.
NOTE: WARNING: Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that is not backed by any government or financial institution. It should be used with caution as its value can be extremely volatile and its transactions are irreversible. Additionally, the use of Bitcoin may be subject to regulations that vary by jurisdiction and can change over time. It is important to understand the associated risks before using Bitcoin.
How is Bitcoin Used?
Bitcoin can be used to buy things electronically. In that sense, it’s like conventional dollars, euros, or yen, which are also traded digitally. However, bitcoin’s most important characteristic, and the thing that makes it different to conventional money, is that it is decentralized.
No single institution controls the bitcoin network. This puts some people at ease, because it means that a large bank can’t control their money.
Who Creates Bitcoins?
Bitcoins are created digitally through a “mining” process that requires powerful computers to solve complex math problems. These problems confirm transactions to the rest of the network.
They also produce new bitcoins until there are 21 million in existence.
3 Related Question Answers Found
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.
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 under the name Satoshi Nakamoto and released as open-source software in 2009.
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 2008.
