What is Bitcoin?
Updated: Oct 30, 2022
Bitcoin is the father of all cryptocurrency that was first introduced in an anonymously published white paper under the alias Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The paper was published during the rage of the 2008 Financial Crisis and piggy backed discontent towards the existing financial system by proposing an alternate decentralized form of currency utilizing a cryptographic tool that would come to be known as the blockchain. Underlying fundamentals of Bitcoin includes its decentralized nature of bookkeeping as well as the its finite number of coins (set to 21 million). In application, bitcoin can be transferred between users’ digital wallets. The transactions are hashed and added to an ever-growing blockchain by ‘miners.’ These miners compete against one another in a format known as Proof of Work for the ability to facilitate the transaction in exchange for newly minted Bitcoins. In theory, Bitcoin allows for an almost instantaneous method of transaction that transcends national borders, exchange rates, and jurisdictions. It is a form of currency that is held by the people that works for the people.
Bibliography
Nakamoto, S. (2008). Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Decentralized Business Review, 21260.