What is bitcoin?
Wondering
what bitcoin is? Bitcoin is a Cryptocurrency that, since 2008, has allowed
online users to transfer digital money, thereby completing a series of
transactions.
The
creator of bitcoin is Satoshi Nakamoto (a pseudonym), and his idea was to
securely transfer digital money from person to person (peer to peer) without
intermediaries such as a bank, government, or other external institutions.
Bitcoin
It
is thanks in part to this that the value of bitcoin continues to rise, although
the number of bitcoin will not exceed 21 million. Bitcoin is also very often
referred to as digital gold and hides under the acronym BTC (now you are sure
what BTC means).
How Bitcoin work?
Each
bitcoin transaction (purchase of one bitcoin) is recorded on a so-called
blockchain, which only resembles a bank register - each block contains
information on the date, time, and amount of the transaction.
This
register is not maintained by any external institution or server - it is
managed by a network of decentralized computers. Their high computing power is
used to create new blocks (this answers the question of what is bitcoin digging.
Bitcoin digging
Since
the very beginning of Bitcoin's creation, its target quantity of 21 million BTC
in circulation has been known. Once the network has generated 21 million BTC,
it will stop generating more.
Bitcoin is mined based on the operation of
properly configured excavators, optimized to solve advanced mathematical
problems.
How does Bitcoin work?
A
person who wants to mine bitcoins must have a powerful computing unit to become
a viable and efficient node of the bitcoin network.
Apart
from this, a bitcoin miner should have a wallet application installed. It is in
the full wallet that he has access to the entire blockchain, i.e. the
transaction records placed in the dug blocks.
Bitcoin miners
In
order to increase the efficiency of mining - to increase the Hash rate,
advanced devices optimized for the execution of specific algorithms are used.
These
are Cryptocurrency miners or ASICs. These devices are used to solve specific
mathematical tasks (SHA-256). The performance of cryptocurrency miners is
measured in hashes per second (Hash/s).
At
the moment, digging bitcoin on your own is difficult and unprofitable.
Therefore, mining pools were created, which unite people who mine bitcoin.
Group
mining is intended to increase computing power and thus increase the
possibility of obtaining Cryptocurrency. It is also a form of protection when
the value of the bitcoin falls.
When
the value of a Cryptocurrency falls, people who mine alone usually abandon
further mining as it becomes unprofitable.
What is the block reward?
Bitcoin
mining is associated with the term block reward. This is the amount of Cryptocurrency
that the owner of the node providing the computing power receives for each new
block created in the blockchain network. The block reward is visible in the
bitcoin wallet.
Security of bitcoin currency value - or what is bitcoin halving?
As
the amount of this Cryptocurrency is limited, it is considered to be an
exhaustible resource. The risk of a decline in the value of this Cryptocurrency
is then reduced.
Security Of Bitcoin
Another
factor affecting the limitation of bitcoin's availability is halving. The
principle of bitcoin halving is a mechanism that reduces the reward for mining
a new block by half.
Halving
bitcoin is a phenomenon that occurs approximately every four years.
Bitcoin's strengths and weaknesses
Bitcoin
(BTC) is digital money that cannot be manipulated in any way and its value
cannot be inflated. A Cryptocurrency investor can buy just a fraction of a
bitcoin and then make money with it on a Cryptocurrency exchange. Many other
cryptocurrencies have been created since the advent of bitcoin (BTC), but it is
bitcoin that has the greatest financial and market potential.
Bitcoin's advantages:
Speed
of transactions: Payments with bitcoin are made over the internet network. Transactions
from even the most remote places in the world are approved every 10 minutes.
Security: Every transaction made with bitcoin is
encrypted by the SHA-256 mixing algorithm, which is the most secure in the
world.
Availability: Transactions can be made 24 hours a day,
regardless of the day of the week.
No intermediation: P2P system, i.e. transactions without the
intermediation of banks and parent institutions;
Anonymity:
the virtual money owner is not required to have a bank account. Payments are
made from a bitcoin wallet. Setting up a wallet does not require filling out a
data form, as is the case with traditional bank accounts, which means that in
the Bitcoin network we can remain anonymous;
Decentralization: In the Bitcoin network there is no overarching
organization that can stop or permanently blocks a transaction, the network is
based on independent nodes that independently confirm transactions. In the blockchain, each user is their own bank.
Limited quantity: the maximum supply of Bitcoin is limited to
21,000,000 dug units of the currency. This unique feature has a very positive
effect on the Bitcoin exchange rate and, unlike fiat currencies, prevents
inflation.
High value: Bitcoin is perceived as a store of value
because its price has been increasing in a broad perspective (despite drastic
corrections) and is not subject to the phenomenon of inflation. As the first Cryptocurrency,
it is endowed with special trust from institutions and investors, which is
positively reflected in the prognosis of its price.
Disadvantages of Bitcoin:
Anonymity: This is both an advantage and a disadvantage of
bitcoin - for governments, anonymity in the trading of funds is a huge problem
as it can enable illegal behavior by citizens.
However,
it is worth remembering that transactions in bitcoin (despite the apparent
anonymity) are traceable!
Lack of immunity to quantum computer
computing: Bitcoin, unlike newer generations of
cryptocurrencies, is in theory vulnerable to the malicious use of quantum
computers.
This
has to do with the 51% attack theory, which occurs when 51% of bitcoin's
network is taken over. In addition to taking over the network, quantum
computers were also supposed to have enough computing power to crack the
SHA-256 mixing algorithm, which could lead to private keys based on the address and
public keys.
In
contrast, none of these concerns are currently valid, as quantum computers have
a different specificity for solving tasks than computing units focused on
executing a single algorithm (e.g. application-specific integrated circuit).
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