We all know that Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, and in the relatively short time Bitcoin has been in existence, it has rapidly established itself as the number one digital currency. Created by a mystery man by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, who wrote a paper entitled ‘Bitcoin: The Peer to Peer Electronic Cash System’ which was posted on to a cryptography mailing list. Shortly after that, Nakamoto began implementing the Bitcoin system and he even made the software open source, which allowed other developers to upgrade the software.
Decentralised Peer to Peer Register
There are many attractive qualities to Bitcoin, not least the fact that the system does not require a governing body, in fact, the peer to peer registry is available to anyone who downloads the virtual Bitcoin Wallet software. The system works in such a way that Bitcoin sellers and buyers do not need to trust each other, as the data is not copied, rather a transaction involves adding a new block to the chain of data. While there have been a couple of successful hacks, these loopholes were quickly patched, and blockchain developers are now confident that the blockchain is 100% safe from hacking.
Bitcoin Eliminates the Need for a Third Party
When two people wish to carry out a Bitcoin transaction, they can do so without the need of a bank or credit card company, which makes the system very popular. Understandably, banks and finance companies do not like Bitcoin, and despite several attempts at gaining control, the payment system is totally independent of any governing body. Simply put, you could send any amount of money (in Bitcoin format) to any person that also has the Bitcoin virtual wallet installed on their device, and not only is it free, it is also anonymous.
Retailers and Bitcoin
As a reflection of the level of trust businesses have in Bitcoin, many retailers will accept Bitcoin as a form of payment, and this trend looks like it will continue. The more Bitcoin becomes globally accepted as both a cryptocurrency and a method of payment, the closer we are moving to a world where cryptocurrencies are the norm.
Blockchain Technology
Bitcoin uses a blockchain to store all the data, and as each block is connected to the one before and the one after, it is impossible to alter the data in any way. A person is the owner of a bitcoin until such time as they sell it, when a new block is added to the chain, handing ownership to the buyer, and such is the value of blockchain technology, it can be used in many ways, such as registering land ownership or intellectual property rights. Blockchain developers think that every person’s essential data will one day be recorded on a blockchain ledger, which would eliminate identity theft and fraud.
One thing is for sure, the more Bitcoin is used, the higher its value will become, and there is a limit to the amount of bitcoins that can be mined, which is 21 million, and experts say that around the year 2040, all Bitcoins will have been mined and then it is a question of circulation.
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