Bit coin is undoubtedly one of the technologies that have most attracted attention in the media around the world lately (for better or for worse). Many have heard or read an article about it, but few really understand what it is and why Bit coin is a disruptive technology. For the Bit coin user it is fundamentally two things:
A payment network (Bit coin with a capital 'B')
The digital currency used in this payment network (bit coins with a lowercase 'b')
The "Bit coin" payment network is therefore used to send and receive "bit coins" over the Internet. To understand it better, let's make a comparison with PayPal and the Euro. PayPal is a payment network, but it is not a currency. On the contrary, the Euro is a currency, but it is not a payment network. The PayPal payment network is usually used to make transactions with other people using currencies such as the Euro or the USD. As Bit coin meets both facets, it is both a payment network and a currency. It is important to note that the PayPal payment network is operated and managed by a single private company (PayPal Inc.). The Euro, the USD and the different currencies of each country are also created and controlled centrally by the corresponding governments or central banks. On the contrary Bit coin is a fully decentralized payment network. Bit coin is not controlled by any company or organization. Bit coin is physically a network of several thousand computers talk to each other to validate and ensure the security of transactions between user, and no one has control over this network (there is no central server).
