What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is digital money that allows for secure user to user transactions over the internet. Bitcoin is the most widely adopted cryptocurrency, and was unveiled in 2008. The creator of Bitcoin is unknown, to this day only revealing themselves by the name Satoshi Nakamoto.
As Bitcoin is built using Blockchain Technology, it’s strengths are decentralization and security. No entity owns or controls the Bitcoin network, and all transaction information is publicly viewable. If you are connected to the internet, you can use Bitcoin. Bitcoin allows for online payments to be made without the need of traditional financial institutions or any other third party entities to be involved.
Bitcoin, abbreviated as BTC, has a maximum supply of 21 Million BTC. Similar to how dollars can be divided into cents, BTC can be divided into Satoshis (SAT).
1 BTC = 100,000,000 SAT
1 SAT = 0.00000001 BTC
As Bitcoin is programmable money written in code, it has a fixed supply that cannot be inflated or manipulated in any way.
Why is Bitcoin a superior system?
Peer to Peer: allows for payments between individuals without an intermediary
Permissionless: you don’t need approval to use it and when you can use it
Borderless: you’re able to move freely with your money
Bitcoin has come a long way since first being published in the Bitcoin White Paper on October 31, 2008. On January 3, 2009 the first block of Bitcoin was mined by Satoshi Nakamoto and they received 50 BTC. Recently, on September 7, 2021 El Salvador became the first country to make Bitcoin legal tender.
Currently, Bitcoin is mainly used as a digital asset investment and store of value. It can be used as a medium of exchange as well, however, due to the volatility of the Bitcoin price as it continues to develop, it is less commonly used for buying and selling.
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