Any user who has a time using Bitcoin will have noticed that once this currency begins to use is not difficult to understand. Its use quickly becomes natural, its concept makes sense and its usefulness becomes evident. For anyone with a basic knowledge of economics, computing and accounting, Bitcoin can be made much easier to understand. And for those who do not have it, learning about this new form of virtual money is not a great difficulty either.
Now, I will try to make a simple explanation about the nature of Bitcoin and the protocol that supports it. This is an explanation aimed at people who are just getting to know cryptocurrencies. In advance, I send a fraternal hug to all those who are curious about it, and I hope you find this information helpful and take advantage of it:
Bitcoin: The Digital Currency
Bitcoin is the name of a project started by Satoshi Nakamoto, and a currency that uses cryptography to allow secure and reliable financial transactions. Commonly, this coin is represented with the symbol "BTC", although it can also be identified as "XBT". Keep in mind that, like other forms of electronic cash, this is not a physical currency, but a token used in a payment network called the Bitcoin Blockchain. It is called currency because this is the use that its users give it and because it has been designed for it, and it can also be considered money in cases where it is accepted as such.
Bitcoin is a currency that uses cryptographic techniques to carry out its transactions, that is why Bitcoin is a "cryptocurrency". Currently, it is not the only virtual currency of its kind. There are many more, although Bitcoin was the first of them all based on the Blockchain protocol, which is executed by a P2P network that maintains a shared ledger that avoids double spending and counterfeiting.
Bitcoin is an active user friendly and accessible. Anyone in the world can use it, and it is not owned by any centralized institution. The creation of bitcoins cannot be done arbitrarily by a Central Bank, but it uses a meritocratic process and is subject to consensus rules that will prevent the issuance of more bitcoins when the total amount reaches a maximum of 21 million coins.
The Blockchain Protocol
Blockchain is the name of the protocol Bitcoin uses to provide secure and reliable transactions. Its name refers to the record of transactions maintained by the participants of the aforementioned network using this protocol. To put it in simple terms, this transaction log is a kind of virtual ledger used to record bitcoin transfers that everyone can consult. For a transaction to be included, it must meet standards that miners must verify.
It is also important to know that these networks are maintained thanks to an activity called "mining". The miners are the ones who verify the transactions of the Bitcoin network using the chain of blocks protocol, and not all the users of the network are obliged to mine. Every so often (about every 10 minutes) the miners compete to add a "new page" (a block of data) to the Bitcoin ledger, and once the winner of that competition is recognized, it is automatically rewarded by the network with newly created bitcoins.
Well, I hope you have found this information useful and next time I will be posting more about this exciting world of crypto. See you Steemians!!!
