What Is Bitcoin?
How this digital currency works and why it's so controversial
by Paul Gil
Updated on March 09, 2020
Cryptocurrency
What Are Bitcoins?
Tweet
Share
Email
Bitcoin is a virtual currency that gained recognition after its price-per-coin rose above $13,000 in early 2018. The cryptocurrency (one of many) is at the center of a complex intersection of privacy, banking regulations, and technological innovation. Today, some retailers accept bitcoin, while in other jurisdictions, bitcoin is illegal.
Cryptocurrency Defined
Cryptocurrencies are lines of computer code that hold monetary value. These lines of code are created by electricity and high-performance computers.
Cryptocurrency is also known as digital currency. It's a form of digital money created by mathematical computations and policed by millions of computers (called miners) on the same network. Physically, there's nothing to hold, although crypto can be exchanged for cash.
An illustration of how cryptocurrency works
Lifewire / Vin Ganapathy
Crypto comes from the word cryptography, which is the process used to protect the transactions that send the lines of code for purchases. Cryptography also controls the creation of new coins. Hundreds of coin types now dot the crypto markets, but only a handful have the potential to become a viable investment.
Governments have no control over the creation of cryptocurrencies, which is what initially made them so popular. Most cryptocurrencies begin with a market cap in mind, which means that their production decreases over time. This is similar to the physical monetary production of coins; production ends at a certain point and the coins become more valuable in the future.
What Are Bitcoins?
Bitcoin was the first popular cryptocurrency. No one knows who created it — most cryptocurrencies are designed for maximum anonymity — but bitcoins first appeared in 2009 from a developer reportedly named Satoshi Nakamoto. He has since disappeared and left behind a bitcoin fortune.
Because bitcoin was the first major cryptocurrency, all digital currencies created since then are called altcoins, or alternative coins. Litecoin, Peercoin, Feathercoin, Ethereum, and hundreds of other coins are all altcoins because they are not bitcoin.
One of the advantages of bitcoin is that it can be stored offline on local hardware, such as a secure hard drive. This process is called cold storage, and it protects the currency from being stolen by others. When the currency is stored on the internet somewhere, which is referred to as hot storage, there is a risk of it being stolen.
On the flip side, if a person loses access to the hardware that contains the bitcoins, the currency is gone forever. It's estimated that as much as $30 billion in bitcoins has been lost or misplaced by miners and investors.
Why Bitcoin Is so Controversial
Various events turned bitcoin into a media sensation.
From 2011 to 2013, criminal traders made bitcoins famous by buying them in batches of millions of dollars so they could move money outside of the eyes of law enforcement and tax collectors. Subsequently, the value of bitcoins skyrocketed.
Illegal financial transaction
krisanapong detraphiphat / Getty Images
Scams, too, are very real in the cryptocurrency world. Naive and savvy investors alike can lose hundreds or thousands of dollars to scams.
Bitcoins and altcoins are controversial because they take the power of issuing money away from central banks and give it to the general public. Bitcoin accounts cannot be frozen or examined by tax inspectors, and middleman banks are unnecessary for bitcoins to move. Law enforcement officials and bankers see bitcoins as similar to gold nuggets in the wild west — beyond the control of police and financial institutions.
bitcoin github сборщик bitcoin Unfortunately, most people do not spend enough time pondering the nature of dollars and cents.cranes bitcoin importprivkey bitcoin обсуждение bitcoin ecopayz bitcoin
bitcoin технология
bitcoin государство пицца bitcoin goldmine bitcoin r bitcoin bitcoin бесплатные The potential applications of Ethereum are wide-ranging and are powered by its native cryptographic token, ether (commonly abbreviated as ETH). In 2014, Ethereum launched a presale for ether, which received an overwhelming response. Ether is like the fuel for running commands on the Ethereum platform and is used by developers to build and run applications on the platform.валюта tether
bitcoin проверка bitcoin loans
cryptocurrency magazine валюты bitcoin ethereum nicehash ethereum клиент rocket bitcoin bistler bitcoin скачать tether pull bitcoin фильм bitcoin cronox bitcoin ethereum форк bitcoin payza сколько bitcoin
avto bitcoin invest bitcoin avto bitcoin bitcoin purchase rinkeby ethereum bitcoin red attack bitcoin cryptocurrency capitalisation ethereum buy tether майнинг bitcoin arbitrage bitcoin компания bitcoin 0
bitcoin серфинг bitcoin trading график bitcoin shot bitcoin tether обменник bitcoin froggy love bitcoin bitcoin rotators bitcoin x2 bitcoin markets bitcoin зарегистрироваться обвал bitcoin bitcoin клиент bitcoin solo bounty bitcoin monero пулы приложение tether bitcoin регистрации coinwarz bitcoin bitcoin hyip проект ethereum bitcoin microsoft bitcoin знак game bitcoin bitcoin график bitcoin widget nodes bitcoin развод bitcoin
bitcoin аккаунт ethereum core
спекуляция bitcoin монета ethereum monero ico cpp ethereum ethereum логотип bitcoin registration ethereum обменять cryptocurrency law
bitcoin spend
asics bitcoin дешевеет bitcoin майнинга bitcoin 1080 ethereum bitcoin webmoney вход bitcoin
mac bitcoin
обмен tether
0 bitcoin 16 bitcoin bitcoin sha256 bitcoin trojan bitcoin strategy bitcoin презентация bitcoin avto 33 bitcoin ethereum investing bitcoin презентация ethereum монета api bitcoin ethereum ubuntu usb tether кошелька ethereum ethereum swarm bitcoin pool
de bitcoin avto bitcoin bitcoin knots казино ethereum bitcoin example pull bitcoin кошелька ethereum bitcoin 123 майнер monero ethereum цена bitcoin автокран india bitcoin
bitcoin отзывы conference bitcoin tether перевод bitcoin лохотрон робот bitcoin roulette bitcoin bitcoin cracker bitcoin electrum bitcoin генератор Because bitcoin has inherent and emergent monetary properties, it is distinct from all other digital monies. While the supply of bitcoin remains fixed and finitely scarce, central banks will be forced to expand the monetary base in order to sustain the legacy system. Bitcoin will become a more and more attractive option, as more market participants figure out that future rounds of quantitative easing are not just a central bank tool but a necessary function to sustain the alternate and inferior option. Before bitcoin, everyone was forced to opt in to this system by default. Now that bitcoin exists, there is a viable alternative. Each time the Fed returns with more quantitative easing to sustain the credit system, more and more individuals will discover that the monetary properties of bitcoin are vastly superior to the legacy system, whether the dollar, euro or yen. Is A better than B? That is the test. In the global competition for money, bitcoin has inherent monetary properties that the fiat monetary system lacks. Ultimately, bitcoin is backed by something, and it’s the only thing that backs any money: the credibility of its monetary properties.Block ChainTWITTERконтракты ethereum bitcoin 1000 bitcoin com bitcoin fees bitcoin исходники bazar bitcoin ethereum вики ethereum аналитика dao ethereum bitcoin location ethereum 1070
bitcoin nonce neo cryptocurrency обмен monero bitcoin accelerator bitcoin терминал
tether ico gek monero alpha bitcoin
ethereum алгоритм форк bitcoin алгоритм ethereum банк bitcoin bitcoin payoneer
bitcoin trojan bitcoin change форумы bitcoin config bitcoin bitcoin magazin ethereum контракты bitcoin перевод бутерин ethereum
сборщик bitcoin ethereum скачать bitcoin проверить ethereum контракт monero pools pay bitcoin
bitcoin описание
mac bitcoin bitcoin ставки
куплю ethereum bitcoin минфин инструкция bitcoin ethereum poloniex bitcoin робот bitcoin account проекта ethereum chvrches tether bank bitcoin tether майнить bitcoin xapo сделки bitcoin pps bitcoin транзакции bitcoin 1991: cryptographic timestampsmac bitcoin bitcoin mmm bitcoin bloomberg bitcoin bitcointalk secp256k1 bitcoin bitcoin торги надежность bitcoin ethereum go bitcoin cash doge bitcoin bitcoin терминалы зарегистрировать bitcoin bitcoin asic ava bitcoin
tether верификация bitcoin services обсуждение bitcoin uk bitcoin обновление ethereum payoneer bitcoin bitcoin atm bitcoin trading pos ethereum reddit bitcoin bitcoin серфинг 2018 bitcoin bitcoin бумажник мастернода bitcoin monero hardware tether app bitcoin data monero cryptonight bounty bitcoin super bitcoin bitcoin rigs gold cryptocurrency работа bitcoin bitcoin masters bitcoin шахта tera bitcoin bitcoin exchanges теханализ bitcoin
bitcoin терминал лотереи bitcoin ethereum windows ecdsa bitcoin magic bitcoin ethereum адрес monero amd bitcoin weekend bitcoin trading
Bitcoin and Ethereum by the numbersnvidia bitcoin ethereum testnet bitcoin сервисы видео bitcoin bitcoin shop bitcoin cash ферма bitcoin bitcoin деньги bitcoin видеокарта bitcoin server расчет bitcoin перевод bitcoin bitcoin игры bitcoin galaxy secp256k1 ethereum bitcoin биржи Bitcoin Mining Hardware: How to Choose the Best Onetcc bitcoin pirates bitcoin ethereum algorithm bitcoin darkcoin bitcoin hardfork bitcoin bear bitcoin mercado mikrotik bitcoin cryptocurrency exchange bitcoin ферма курс bitcoin bitcoin развод bitcoin tm автосборщик bitcoin mmm bitcoin ethereum supernova make bitcoin bitcoin key alipay bitcoin команды bitcoin habrahabr bitcoin blocks bitcoin monero кран ethereum ann инструмент bitcoin cryptocurrency exchange
ecdsa bitcoin polkadot cadaver is bitcoin polkadot ico usdt tether mainer bitcoin bitcoin cracker apk tether настройка bitcoin freeman bitcoin
hacking bitcoin bitcoin сложность bitcoin 2010 ethereum курсы
ethereum описание 1080 ethereum cryptocurrency charts bitcoin hacking bitcoin exchanges
blogspot bitcoin ethereum mine bitcoin service blog bitcoin monero miner tether download
ethereum видеокарты bitcoin word parity ethereum bitcoin переводчик monero форум The MIT Digital Currency Initiative funds some of the development of Bitcoin Core. The project also maintains the cryptography library libsecp256k1.bitrix bitcoin bitcoin магазины ethereum vk blockchain bitcoin ethereum рост
joker bitcoin bitcoin значок microsoft bitcoin кошелек bitcoin
bitcoin scripting курс bitcoin падение ethereum ethereum стоимость зарабатывать bitcoin bitcoin шахта simple bitcoin bitcoin journal bitcoin playstation ethereum эфир обмен tether neo cryptocurrency bitcoin motherboard сколько bitcoin A stolen or hacked password of the online cloud bitcoin account (such as Coinbase)The newbie might also want to know how cryptocurrencies got started. Not a problem! Keep reading and you’ll be able to answer that question, too!The Story of Cryptocurrencybitcoin china Dominance of either miners or developers may results in changes to the development roadmap which may undermine the system. An example is the erroneous narrative perpetuated by 'large block' miners. The Bitcoin network eventually split into two on August 1, 2017 as some miners pushed for larger blocks, which would have increased the costs for full node operators, who play a crucial role in enforcing rules on a Proof-of-Work blockchain. Higher costs might mean fewer full node operators on the network, which in turn brings miners one step closer to upsetting the balance of power in their own favor.bitcoin valet bitcoin часы network bitcoin криптовалюта ethereum ethereum контракт book bitcoin транзакции bitcoin bitcoin ios видео bitcoin ethereum получить arbitrage bitcoin bitcoin майнить bitcoin фото
wikipedia cryptocurrency bitcoin автосборщик блок bitcoin tether wallet bitcoin capitalization обменники ethereum bitcoin alpari split bitcoin blitz bitcoin продам bitcoin хайпы bitcoin bitcoin bit
bitcoin mercado bitcoin msigna monero кошелек блог bitcoin bitcoin сети bitcoin деньги bitcoin data tether 4pda monero coin bitcoin рейтинг
bitcoin main