A Brief Insight into Bitcoin
Bitcoin was first launched in 2009 and it was the very first cryptocurrency ever. It is thought to have been created by Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin is a global currency that does not use any intermediaries such as banks to make transactions between two parties. Thus enabling very private transactions. Bitcoins cost is exceptionally low and the transactions are fast and reliable.
Bitcoin is based on blockchain technology. That is is a public virtual ledger of every transaction ever made in Bitcoin. It is transparent and anybody can access the data at any time. Also, the algorithms and authentication methods are all public.
Is Bitcoin Safe?
Bitcoin provides an easy and most importantly a secure way of transferring funds from one device or person to another. If you use other means of transactions such as a credit card, there is always the risk of getting hacked and the bank account to be repeatedly credited until the card is closed down. With BTC, this is not possible since the wallet cannot be credited. And the transaction must always be made by the wallet owner. Although everything with Bitcoin is transparent and traceable, the identity of a certain person making a transaction is not revealed. This makes the BTC an easy method of payment. Especially, if you are not sure about the sincerity of the recipient.
How to Start With Bitcoin?
The Bitcoin blockchain is maintained by miners who accommodate the transactions and receive a small percentage for this service. You can start as a miner yourself and start receiving Satoshis, which are smaller particles of Bitcoin. Mining BTC was first done with personal computers but as the mining gets harder in time, more powerful devices are needed. Now mining pools are created to combine the powers of individual miners to gain more profit.
The Bitcoins are stored in a BTC wallet that is accessible by the owner with a password. Bitcoins can be used to make everyday purchases such as hotel reservations, food items, or clothes.
Bitcoin Value and Investment
Bitcoins can also be used as a means of investment. You can profit from the appreciation of the value and sell your Bitcoin at a higher rate or keep them longer and wait for the value to rise even further. The maximum amount of bitcoin available is 21 million and in 2020 there are about 2.5 million bitcoins not yet in circulation.
The value of Bitcoin in January 2021 is upward of USD 30,000. BTC is a good investment as its value is still expected to rise. However, with every investment there is a certain level of risk involved. But since the BTC correlates only slightly to the changes in the market, the risk is smaller. However, Bitcoin has proved to be volatile at times and it is still considered an experimental currency. Even though it has been used for several years by people all over the world.
Future of Bitcoin
The use and trading of BTC have increased rapidly over the past few years. And the development is estimated to follow the same pattern in the future. Bitcoin is an ideal means of value for the future, as people are more insecure about their identities and the safety of the transactions they make every day.
As Bitcoin is programmable money, it is predicted to be the means of value for the internet of things in the future. As computers will communicate among themselves, there are bound to be transactions involved. The computer programs that might even utilize artificial intelligence could make payments with BTC without people being involved in the process at all.
Do you own Bitcoin yet?
Spending Bitcoin is now easier than ever and the rise of BTC-backed debit cards has made the process significantly easier for newcomers. All that’s left is to fill up a BTC wallet and start spending!