We’ve all wondered about bitcoin: what exactly is it? Who created it? How did it come into being? Here at CryptoTrendency, we bring you the answers to the most frequently asked questions about this crypto-currency.
For a few years now, the word ‘bitcoin’ has been part of the everyday lexicon for many people. In news channels, newspapers, social networks and casual conversations between friends, it seems that crypto-currency is already part of everyone’s daily lives.
However, while we’ve discussed bitcoin and its effect on the economy at length, we all have many unanswered questions about how the world’s most famous crypto currency works, which is why we at CryptoTrendency bring you this guide with the 7 most frequently asked questions about bitcoin.
What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a crypto-currency, it was created in 2009, and is the first in a series of crypto-currencies that have emerged since, and are the first financial assets in the history of the world to be powered by Blockchain technology.
What is a crypto-currency?
A crypto-currency is a digital currency housed in a blockchain or Blockchain, which guarantees the transparency of all transactions made with it, while protecting the privacy and security of users thanks to the cryptographic technology that supports the data.
Crypto-currencies are also characterised by their independence, as they do not require any centralised entity to issue or operate them, but their network is managed by their own users.
Who created Bitcoin?
Bitcoin was conceived by Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym behind which lies the identity of the crypto-currency’s creator, and was launched in 2009 with the mining of the Genesis block, the first block on the bitcoin chain.
What does Bitcoin mining involve?
Being a decentralised currency, and therefore independent of any single entity such as a central bank or government, Bitcoin requires the participation of its users to maintain the network.
Therefore, users who wish to do so lend part of their computing power to carry out transactions and store them in the blockchain, in exchange for which they receive a reward in bitcoins from the system. This process of lending computing power and receiving a reward is known as mining.
What is bitcoin used for?
Bitcoin is intended to be a currency like any other, avoiding government control of fiat money. It can therefore be used to buy goods and services in places where it is accepted, to invest in financial products and even as a store of value in times of market uncertainty.
What is the price of bitcoin?
Bitcoin, like any financial asset governed by supply and demand, has no fixed selling price, but depends on market conditions at the time, essentially the number of people asking for bitcoins, the number of people offering them and the confidence of market participants. Here at CryptoTrendency, we have a tool to allow you to track the value of BTC and other crypto-currencies in real time which we invite you to visit.
Are there other crypto-currencies?
After the release of Bitcoin, new crypto-currencies were born and have enriched the world of crypto-currencies. Some of them are trying to compete directly with Bitcoin to become a currency like any other, while others, such as Ethereum or EOS, are taking advantage of Blockchain technology to provide a platform for entering into smart contracts and other such services.
