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To cut through some of the confusion surrounding bitcoin, we need to divide it into two components. On the one hand, you have bitcoin-the-token, a snippet of code which represents ownership of a digital concept sort of like a digital IOU. On the other hand, you've got bitcoin-the-protocol, a dispersed network which 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 is created and kept electronically. Bitcoins arent printed, like dollars or euros theyre made by computers all around the world, using free software.
It was the first instance of what we today call cryptocurrencies, a growing strength 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 method based on mathematical proof. The idea was to produce a means of exchange, independent of any central authority, which could be transferred electronically in a secure, verifiable and immutable way.
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Bitcoin can be used to cover things electronically, if both parties are willing. In that sense, its similar to conventional dollars, euros, or yen, that are also traded digitally.
Bitcoins most important feature is that it is decentralized. No single institution controls the bitcoin network. It's 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 who are uncomfortable with the control that banks or government institutions have over their money. .
Bitcoin simplifies the dual spending issue of electronic currencies (in which digital assets can easily be replicated and re-used) via 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 can issue as many as they want, and can attempt to manipulate a currencys value relative to others. Holders of this currency (and notably citizens with very little alternative) keep the price.
Even though senders of traditional electronic payments are often identified (for verification purposes, and to comply with anti-money laundering and other legislation), users of bitcoin in theory function in semi-anonymity. Since there is 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 authority to send them.
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In practice, every user is identified by the address of their wallet. Transactions can, with some effort, be monitored this way. Also, law enforcement has developed approaches to identify users if necessary.
Additionally, most exchanges are required by law to perform identity checks on their clients before they are permitted to buy or sell bitcoin, facilitating another manner that bitcoin usage can be tracked. Since the network is transparent, the advancement of a particular transaction is observable to all.
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This is because there's no central adjudicator that can say ok, return the money. When a transaction is recorded on the network, and go to website if greater than an hour has passed, it's not possible to modify.
Even though this might disquiet some, it does mean that any transaction on the bitcoin network cannot be tampered with.
The smallest unit of a bitcoin is referred to as a satoshi. It is one hundred millionth of a bitcoin (0.00000001) in todays prices, about one hundredth of a cent. This could conceivably enable microtransactions that traditional electronic money cannot.
Read more to find out how bitcoin transactions are processed and the way bitcoins are mined, what it can be used for, as well as how you can purchase, sell and store your bitcoin. In addition, we explain a few alternatives to bitcoin, in addition to how its underlying technology the blockchain functions. .
If you want to know what is Bitcoin, how you can get it and how it can assist you, without floundering into technical details, this guide is for you. It'll explain how the system works, how you can use it to your gain, which scams to avoid. It will also guide you to resources which will help you shop and use your first pieces of digital currency.