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To cut through some of this confusion surrounding bitcoin, we need to divide it into two components. On the one hand, you have bitcoin-the-token, a snippet of code that represents ownership of a digital concept sort of like a virtual IOU. On the other hand, you've got bitcoin-the-protocol, a distributed network that maintains a ledger of balances of bitcoin-the-token.
The machine enables payments to be sent between users without passing through a central authority, like a bank or payment gateway. It's created and kept electronically. Bitcoins arent printed, like dollars or euros theyre produced by computers all around the planet, using free software.
It was the first example of what we call cryptocurrencies, a growing asset class that shares several characteristics of traditional currencies, with verification based on cryptography.
A pseudonymous software programmer going by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto proposed bitcoin in 2008, within an electronic payment system based on mathematical evidence. The idea was to generate a means of exchange, independent of any central authority, that may be transferred electronically in a secure, verifiable and immutable way.
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Bitcoin can be used to pay for things electronically, if the two parties are willing. In that sense, its similar to conventional dollars, euros, or yen, that can also be traded digitally.
Bitcoins most important feature is that it is decentralized. No single institution controls the bitcoin network. It is maintained by a group of volunteer coders, and run by an open network of dedicated servers spread around the world. This brings individuals and groups that are uncomfortable with all the control that banks or government institutions have over their money. .
Bitcoin solves the double spending issue of electronic currencies (in which electronic assets can easily be copied and re-used) through an ingenious combination of cryptography and economic incentives. In electronic fiat currencies, this function is fulfilled by banks, which gives them control over the traditional system. With bitcoin, the integrity of these transactions is maintained by a distributed and open network, owned by no-one. .
Fiat currencies (dollars, euros, yen, etc.) have an unlimited supply central banks visit this page can issue as many as they want, and can try to manipulate a currencys worth relative to other people. Holders of this currency (and notably citizens with little alternative) keep the price.
While senders of traditional electronic payments are often identified (for verification purposes, and to abide by anti-money laundering and other legislation), users of bitcoin in theory function in semi-anonymity. Since there's absolutely no central validator, users do not need to identify themselves when sending bitcoin to another user. When a transaction request is filed, the protocol checks all prior transactions to confirm that the sender has the necessary bitcoin as well as the ability to send them.
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In practice, every user is identified by the address of their pocket. Transactions can, with some effort, be monitored this way. Additionally, law enforcement has developed methods to identify users if necessary.
Additionally, most exchanges are required by legislation to perform identity checks on their customers before they are allowed to purchase or sell bitcoin, facilitating another manner that bitcoin usage can be tracked. Since the network is transparent, the advancement of a particular transaction is visible to all.
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This is because there is no central adjudicator that can say okay, return the money. If a transaction is recorded on the network, and if more than an hour has passed, it's not possible to change.
While this may disquiet some, it will mean that any transaction on the bitcoin network cannot be tampered with.
The smallest unit of a bitcoin is called a satoshi. It's one hundred millionth of a bitcoin (0.00000001) at todays prices, about one hundredth of a cent. This may conceivably enable microtransactions that traditional electronic money cannot.
Read more to find out how bitcoin transactions are processed and how bitcoins are mined, what it can be used for, as well as how you can buy, sell and store your bitcoin. We also explain a few alternatives to bitcoin, as well as the way its underlying technology the blockchain works. .
If you want to know what is Bitcoin, how you Homepage can get it and how it can assist you, without floundering into technical details, this guide is for you. It will explain how the system works, how you can use it for your profit, which scams to avoid. It will also direct you to resources which will help you store and use your very first pieces of digital currency.