Bitcoin is the first implementation of a concept called crypto-currency" , which was first described in 1998 by Wei Dai on the cypherpunks mailing list, suggesting the idea of a new form of money that uses cryptography to control its creation and transactions, rather than a central authority. The first Bitcoin specification and proof of concept was published in 2009 in a cryptography mailing list by Satoshi Nakamoto . Satoshi left the project in late 2010 without revealing much about himself. The community has since grown exponentially with many developers working on Bitcoin . The first page of Satoshi's famous whitepaper. View the full document here . Satoshi's anonymity often raised unjustified concerns, many of which are linked to misunderstanding of the open-source nature of Bitcoin. The Bitcoin protocol and software are published openly and any developer around the world can review the code or make their own modified version of the Bitcoin software. Just like current developers , Satoshi's influence was limited to the changes he made being adopted by others and therefore he did not control Bitcoin. As such, the identity of Bitcoin's inventor is probably as relevant today as the identity of the person who invented paper. Who controls the Bitcoin network? Nobody owns the Bitcoin network much like no one owns the technology behind email. Bitcoin is controlled by all Bitcoin users around the world. While developers are improving the software, they can't force a change in the Bitcoin protocol because all users are free to choose what software and version they use. In order to stay compatible with each other, all users need to use software complying with the same rules. Bitcoin can only work correctly with a complete consensus among all users. Therefore, all users and developers have a strong incentive to protect this consensus.

FAQs Archive

Q: What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a consensus network that enables a new payment system and a completely digital money. It is the first decentralized peer-to-peer payment network that is powered by its users with no central authority or middlemen. From a user perspective, Bitcoin is pretty much like cash for the Internet. Bitcoin can also be seen as the most prominent triple entry bookkeeping system in existence.

Q: How does Bitcoin work?

From a user perspective, Bitcoin is nothing more than a mobile app or computer program that provides a personal Bitcoin wallet and allows a user to send and receive bitcoins with them. This is how Bitcoin works for most users. Behind the scenes, the Bitcoin network is sharing a public ledger called the "block chain". This ledger contains every transaction ever processed, allowing a user's computer to verify the validity of each transaction. The authenticity of each transaction is protected by digital signatures corresponding to the sending addresses, allowing all users to have full control over sending bitcoins from their own Bitcoin addresses. In addition, anyone can process transactions using the computing power of specialized hardware and earn a reward in bitcoins for this service. This is often called "mining". To learn more about Bitcoin, you can consult the original whitepaper .

Q: Is Bitcoin really used by people?

Yes. There is a growing number of businesses and individuals using Bitcoin. This includes brick and mortar businesses like restaurants, apartments, law firms, and popular online services such as Microsoft , Dell , and Newegg. While Bitcoin remains a relatively new phenomenon, it is growing fast. At the end of March 2016, the value of all bitcoins in circulation exceeded US$ 6.5 billion with millions of dollars worth of bitcoins exchanged daily.

Q: How difficult is it to make a Bitcoin payment?

Bitcoin payments are easier to make than debit or credit card purchases, and can be received without a merchant account. Payments are made from a wallet application, either on your computer or smartphone, by entering the recipient's address, the payment amount, and pressing send. To make it easier to enter a recipient's address, many wallets can obtain the address by scanning a QR code or touching two phones together with NFC technology.

What is Bitcoin?

admin2019-11-15T19:08:47-08:00January 17th, 2019|Categories: General|

It is the first decentralized peer-to-peer payment network that is powered by its users with no central authority or middlemen.

Who created Bitcoin?

admin2019-11-15T18:22:48-08:00January 17th, 2019|Categories: General|

Nobody owns the Bitcoin network much like no one owns the technology behind email.

How does Bitcoin work?

admin2019-11-15T18:24:18-08:00January 17th, 2019|Categories: General|

Behind the scenes, the Bitcoin network is sharing a public ledger called the "block chain".

Is Bitcoin really used by people?

admin2019-11-15T18:25:36-08:00January 17th, 2019|Categories: General|

There is a growing number of businesses and individuals using Bitcoin.

How does one acquire bitcoins?

admin2019-11-15T18:26:52-08:00January 17th, 2019|Categories: General|

As payment for goods or services. Purchase bitcoins at a Bitcoin exchange. Exchange bitcoins with someone near you. Earn bitcoins through competitive bitcoin mining. While it may be possible to find individuals who wish to sell bitcoins in exchange for a credit card or PayPal payment, most exchanges do not allow funding via these

How difficult is it to make a Bitcoin payment?

admin2019-11-15T18:27:56-08:00January 17th, 2019|Categories: General|

Payments are made from a wallet application, either on your computer or smartphone, by entering the recipient's address, the payment amount, and pressing send.

What are the advantages of Bitcoin?

admin2019-11-15T18:30:23-08:00November 15th, 2019|Categories: General|

Payment freedom - It is possible to send and receive any amount of money instantly anywhere in the world at any time. No bank holidays. No borders. No imposed limits. Bitcoin allows its users to be in full control of their money. Very low fees - Bitcoin payments are currently processed

What are the disadvantages of Bitcoin?

admin2019-11-15T18:31:20-08:00November 15th, 2019|Categories: General|

Degree of acceptance - Many people are still unaware of Bitcoin. Every day, more businesses accept bitcoins because they want the advantages of doing so, but the list remains small and still needs to grow in order to benefit from network effects. Volatility - The total value of bitcoins in circulation and

Why do people trust Bitcoin?

admin2019-11-15T18:32:01-08:00November 15th, 2019|Categories: General|

Much of the trust in Bitcoin comes from the fact that it requires no trust at all. Bitcoin is fully open-source and decentralized. This means that anyone has access to the entire source code at any time. Any developer in the world can therefore verify exactly how Bitcoin works.

Can I make money with Bitcoin?

admin2019-11-15T18:32:36-08:00November 15th, 2019|Categories: General|

You should never expect to get rich with Bitcoin or any emerging technology. It is always important to be wary of anything that sounds too good to be true or disobeys basic economic rules. Bitcoin is a growing space of innovation and there are business opportunities that also include risks. There