- Bitcoin (BTC)>>
Bitcoin, often called “Digital Gold”, is the world’s first decentralized ledger cryptocurrency based on blockchain. Bitcoin is designed to be a digital cash system that does not rely on a central trusted source.
Date Launched: January 2009
Mineable: PoW
Founders: Satoshi Nakamoto
Child Forks: Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Bitcoin Diamond
Major Investors: Winklevoss Twins, Tim Draper, Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen
Type: Currency
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Bitcoin is the world’s first decentralized ledger cryptocurrency. Created by Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin is designed to be a digital cash system that does not rely on a central trusted source. Utilizing blockchain technology, Bitcoin transactions are secured and recorded on a decentralized public ledger. New Bitcoins are generated trough a process called mining up to the Maximum supply of 21 million Bitcoins. Because multiple nodes (think of it as people running the Bitcoin ledger on their PC) cofirm the validity of the ledger, it is decentralized and maintained by the network. This is unlike a centralized system, such as our banks, where one organization/person has the authority to dictate what is final.
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Benefits of Bitcoin
Successful venture capitalist Mark Andreessen published an article in the New York Times in January 2014 titled “Why Bitcoin Matters” in which he discusess the disruptive nature of the technology. The arricle mentions that low transactions fees made possible by Bitcoin allow for micropayments. Micropayments can bring about a whole host of features that gives people financial flexibility. Examples include viewing news articles on a per-article basis rather than a subscription. Or getting paid your salary daily instead of the end of the month. Another benefit of Bitcoin is security, in which merchant can accept Bitcoin payments and then instantly convert to Fiat. This way, payment by Credit Cards would not be necessary and customer dara would not be compromised when a merchant is hacked. Merchants can also drastically reduce the fees they need to pay to Visa or MasterCard.
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Future
While Bitcoin’s value has risen significantly over the past few years, there remains a lot of controversy regarding the cryptocurrency. Many government agenices and major institutions are pushing back against Bitcoin and claim that is nothing more than a bubble. However, Bitcoin and blockchain technology has began revolutionizing the world, setting up a new network on which people can transact assets of value online trough a trustless system.
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