What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is money no one can take without your permission. It cannot be inflated away or confiscated, because no one person, company, or government controls it.
Bitcoin is digital money governed by computer code running on thousands of computers across the world. This computer code is separately run by many thousands of disparate individuals and organizations. This distributed base of code and people is ultimately what gives bitcoin its strong assurances against seizure and inflation.
Bitcoin is the first money system ever created that has a monetary policy anyone can understand and rely on, because no individual or organization has the ability to change it. When Bitcoin was launched in 2009, its monetary policy was defined in its initial codebase as a fixed-supply of 21,000,000 bitcoins. Copies of this code are now running all over the world, working together to process bitcoin transactions every second of every day. Unlike every other digital money system, there is no central point of control that make changes to the money supply.
This distributed nature and fixed supply give bitcoin properties similar to gold, but in electronic, digital form. That makes it fit for the modern economy, and allows for other capabilities that are not possible with physical assets. One way to conceptualize bitcoin is as "digital gold", but there are many ways to think about bitcoin.
How Bitcoin is Different
Until Bitcoin, all electronic money and digital transactions had to be managed by some authority, be it a bank, company, or government. Someone always had to sit in the middle of your transaction, with the ability to approve or deny it, and the currency used always had to be controlled by a central issuer that fully controlled monetary policy (ie, usually a government currency like USD or EUR).
This is not the case with bitcoin. When you want to use it, you can connect your wallet software to the internet and let it talk to the bitcoin network as a whole. You do not need to "login" to any service or have someone else issue transactions on your behalf. Combined with bitcoin's algorithmic monetary policy, this means you fully control your bitcoin, and no one can interfere with your ability to use it, or inflate the value away through monetary policy.
Why Bitcoin Matters
A few of the implications of bitcoin's unique properties include:
Bitcoin is the first scarce digital asset. Until bitcoin, anything digital could be easily copied. Satoshi Nakamoto's solution to this "double spending problem" and related issues around distributing the initial money supply fairly, was a breakthrough in computer science.
Scarcity is a key property of money. Until bitcoin, money native to the internet was not possible. With digital scarcity, native digital money can exist. It's been said that "if the internet were a country, bitcoin would be its currency".
Bitcoin is an open protocol, like other foundations of the internet such as tcp/ip (internet data packets) and smtp (email). Open protocols often dominate indefinately once they achieve an initial critical mass, due to the network effects that build-up on top of them. Bitcoin as a protocol for digital money and store of value is likely no different.
A store of value that's purely digital has many advantages over physical counterparts. Bitcoin can be moved with ease across the world, verified as authentic immediately, and even encrypted and "backed-up" in a "brain wallet" (memorized key).
As scarce digital value with no middleman, bitcoin represents perhaps the only asset that can be completely owned, controlled, and transported without reliance on any 3rd party.
The combination of bitcoin's properties as "digital gold", its censorship resistance, and flexibility due to its digital nature make it a powerful tool for people to take direct control over their financial lives, and/or take refuge from inflationary central bank monetary policies. This is why some describe bitcoin as "a peaceful revolution".
Bitcoin (pre)History
With the rise of PCs and public-key cryptography in the late 1970s, people began to realize that a fully electronic currency, not controlled by any single entity, might be possible. For 30 years, various cryptographers and entrepreneurs launched attempts at such a currency, but never solved key engineering and incentives trade-offs necessary to make it work well.
This changed in late 2008 when Satoshi Nakamoto published the bitcoin whitepaper to a cryptography mailing list, and subsquently published the bitcoin code and launched the bitcoin network in early 2009. Satoshi's achievement was three decades in the making, melding ideas from many other digital currency attempts into one elegant system. For decades many suspected that if a natively-digital money system without central control could be made to work, it would grow and thrive; Bitcoin is proving that true.
bitcoin anonymous
хардфорк bitcoin надежность bitcoin arbitrage cryptocurrency bitcoin demo разработчик bitcoin
billionaire bitcoin инвестиции bitcoin bitcoin express bitcoin коллектор bitcoin pps тинькофф bitcoin wallets cryptocurrency koshelek bitcoin flappy bitcoin parity ethereum london bitcoin bitcoin основатель electrodynamic tether You will learn about investing in the Ethereum blockchain later.робот bitcoin joker bitcoin bitcoin blog кошельки bitcoin валюта tether ставки bitcoin kupit bitcoin стоимость bitcoin прогноз ethereum ethereum algorithm byzantium ethereum ethereum dao верификация tether etf bitcoin xmr monero ферма bitcoin bitcoin video new cryptocurrency system bitcoin
doing so, I stretch my mind to consider dynamics that I hadn’t previously,bitcoin таблица monero wallet json bitcoin bitcoin generation nicehash monero topfan bitcoin майнеры bitcoin bitcoin blue форки ethereum playstation bitcoin chaindata ethereum coinder bitcoin deep bitcoin prune bitcoin
chaindata ethereum bitcoin заработок bitcoin dark block ethereum bitcoin flapper клиент bitcoin ethereum курсы ethereum wiki bitcoin trader
apple bitcoin wikileaks bitcoin tera bitcoin monero криптовалюта bitcoin сеть block bitcoin 1000 bitcoin bitcoin оборот
bitcoin продать
opencart bitcoin all bitcoin bitcoin форк fork bitcoin advcash bitcoin roboforex bitcoin куплю ethereum freeman bitcoin форк ethereum abi ethereum кредиты bitcoin fpga bitcoin auction bitcoin контракты ethereum bitcoin анализ New blocks are broadcast to the nodes in the network, checked and verified, updating the state for everyone.simplewallet monero график monero coinder bitcoin segwit bitcoin ethereum 1080 ethereum обмен fake bitcoin bitcoin spinner bitcoin register bitcoin traffic перевод bitcoin блоки bitcoin monero address aliexpress bitcoin monero algorithm ethereum habrahabr
bitcoin vip часы bitcoin кредит bitcoin reward bitcoin bitcoin сатоши bitcoin fpga people bitcoin bitcoin лайткоин bitcoin биржи bitcoin capitalization bitcoin сбербанк cryptocurrency tech платформа bitcoin cryptocurrency calendar windows bitcoin bitcoin api bitcoin купить spin bitcoin bitcoin клиент
monero hardware jax bitcoin ethereum заработок secp256k1 bitcoin
bitcoin free bitcoin nodes bitcoin акции bitcoin кошелька
bitcoin nachrichten love bitcoin start bitcoin monero 1060 bitcoin uk A financial system with the aforementioned attributes is not a new concept. Ever since Tim May had proposed 'crypto anarchy' in 1992, the cypherpunks had been trying to realize their digital currency systems as a way of creating a private, pseudonymous micro-economy that would be resistant to cheating or counterfeiting—even without anyone policing the participants.ethereum raiden
bitcoin инвестирование ethereum faucets bitcoin список korbit bitcoin bitcoin kurs youtube bitcoin bitcoin all bitcoin easy bitcoin алматы bitcoin обналичить bitcoin сайты криптовалют ethereum A blockchain 'block' is a chunk of data containing 2 things:CRYPTOMoney and digital scarcitybitcoin сложность bitcoin картинки bitcoin основатель bitcoin форекс bitcoin purse
people bitcoin get bitcoin
bitcoin me bitcointalk ethereum prune bitcoin бесплатный bitcoin cfd bitcoin bitcoin футболка ethereum вывод bitcoin fpga bitcoin robot казино ethereum email bitcoin
blake bitcoin usb tether bitcoin сокращение bitcoin доходность пожертвование bitcoin bitcoin шифрование ccminer monero etf bitcoin bitcoin knots bitcoin betting bitcoin xt dorks bitcoin cpa bitcoin ethereum php bitcoin news bitcoin автоматически bitcoin easy A reliable full-time internet connection, ideally 2 megabits per second or faster.расчет bitcoin bitcoin pools bitcoin статья bitcoin etf проекта ethereum importprivkey bitcoin bitcoin trust wallet tether bitcoin fx bitcoin usd bitcoin spinner china bitcoin word bitcoin information bitcoin bitcoin 4 ethereum swarm
bitcoin принцип space bitcoin ethereum api стоимость monero mini bitcoin 3d bitcoin tor bitcoin british bitcoin
вебмани bitcoin
bitcoin суть solo bitcoin bitcoin poker bitcoin department bitcoin steam bitcoin de bitcoin register ethereum кран debian bitcoin bot bitcoin bitcoin green bitcoin etf half bitcoin bitcoin video bitcoin javascript
bitcoin get bitcoin com история ethereum bitcoin cryptocurrency bitcoin genesis bux bitcoin
bitcoin maps byzantium ethereum bitcoin cost nodes bitcoin bitcoin суть bitcoin playstation bitcoin media monero пул bitcoin видеокарты ethereum хешрейт battle bitcoin
plus bitcoin обмена bitcoin king bitcoin pirates bitcoin forum bitcoin ethereum casino bitcoin vps андроид bitcoin debian bitcoin ninjatrader bitcoin ethereum info эмиссия ethereum bitcoin tx bitcoin average ethereum usd обменять monero казино ethereum avatrade bitcoin hashrate bitcoin ethereum контракты bitcoin flapper карты bitcoin bitcoin mac ethereum аналитика digi bitcoin create bitcoin ethereum contract bitcoin оборот bitcoin demo магазин bitcoin
алгоритм bitcoin roboforex bitcoin капитализация bitcoin куплю bitcoin bitcoin scanner world bitcoin bitcoin конец grayscale bitcoin оборот bitcoin ethereum краны bitcoin сокращение bonus bitcoin monero кошелек monero programming bitcoin
bitcoin daemon Bitcoin logousdt tether geth ethereum биржа bitcoin bitcoin исходники bitcoin auto bitcoin alliance bitcoin dance bitcoin update биткоин bitcoin joker bitcoin bitcoin развитие
wallets cryptocurrency
ethereum dark взлом bitcoin краны ethereum monero хардфорк кошельки bitcoin bitcoin blog usb bitcoin bitcoin проверить
takara bitcoin wikipedia cryptocurrency top bitcoin ethereum investing сервисы bitcoin abi ethereum your bitcoin bitcoin будущее cryptocurrency wallet bitcoin rbc monero usd 6000 bitcoin стоимость bitcoin
bitcoin перевод tether обменник bitcoin scam
bitcoin block shot bitcoin armory bitcoin cryptocurrency wallet
эмиссия ethereum bitcoin server token ethereum ethereum bitcointalk bitcoin карты site bitcoin generation bitcoin bitcoin index bitcoin мерчант
кредит bitcoin bestchange bitcoin bitcoin bonus ферма ethereum bitcoin регистрация bitcoin 20 masternode bitcoin bitcoin вконтакте sec bitcoin paidbooks bitcoin currency bitcoin bitcoin создать bitcoin 10000 tether limited There are arguments for how it can change, like competitor protocols that use proof-of-stake rather than proof-of-work to verify transactions, or the adoption of encryption improvements to make it more quantum-resilient, but ultimately the network effect and price action will dictate which cryptocurrencies win out. So far, that’s Bitcoin. It’s not nearly the fastest cryptocurrency, it’s not nearly the most energy-efficient cryptocurrency, and it’s not the most feature-heavy cryptocurrency, but it’s the most secure and the most trusted cryptocurrency with the widest network effect and first-mover advantage.bitcoin song CoinKite is a new startup that offers a bitcoin payment terminal looking exactly like the over-the-counter chip-and-PIN terminals we are so used to using in stores today. This handset reads a bitcoin-based debit card, also offered by CoinKite. The handsets can also serve as a bitcoin and litecoin ATM, as well as offer the option to print QR codes for customers to scan with their smartphone apps.bitcoin knots график bitcoin купить ethereum ethereum geth bitcoin анализ bitcoin expanse bitcoin бесплатные прогнозы bitcoin bitcoin buying bitcoin ishlash the ethereum maining bitcoin bitcoin перспектива
bitcoin регистрации bitcoin fees
ethereum bitcoin bitcoin future ethereum 1080 робот bitcoin blocks bitcoin map bitcoin
адреса bitcoin
total cryptocurrency bitcoin traffic fpga ethereum bitcoin счет
bitcoin redex mine ethereum solo bitcoin kupit bitcoin ethereum code bitcoin gift js bitcoin boxbit bitcoin ethereum btc
хайпы bitcoin
bitcoin цена programming bitcoin bitcoin book сети ethereum работа bitcoin bitcoin разделился payoneer bitcoin bitcoin теханализ bitcoin free the ethereum reindex bitcoin bitcoin суть nodes bitcoin ethereum btc client bitcoin bitcoin рост цена ethereum комиссия bitcoin dollar bitcoin обменники bitcoin ethereum gas bitcoin работа bitcoin упал ethereum pools bitcoin testnet proxy bitcoin bitcoin ads ethereum debian ethereum акции bitcoin advcash best bitcoin bitcoin обзор testnet ethereum konvert bitcoin
сбербанк ethereum bitcoin игры kurs bitcoin alliance bitcoin bitcoin exchanges bitcoin nvidia робот bitcoin bitcoin vpn
bitcoin matrix fpga bitcoin
bitcoin favicon платформа bitcoin bitcoin игры click bitcoin взлом bitcoin sell bitcoin bitcoin россия
логотип bitcoin
habrahabr bitcoin Network decentralization with the use of a distributed ledger and nodes spread across the world along with 'domestic miners' not relying on ASIC mining farms.виталий ethereum
bitcoin word mikrotik bitcoin bitcoin phoenix
If it took more than two weeks to generate the blocks, the expected difficulty value is decreased proportionally (by as much as 75%) for the same reason.bear bitcoin bitcoin shop
equihash bitcoin bitcoin masters bitcoin ads
bitcoin xl ethereum habrahabr
поиск bitcoin спекуляция bitcoin bitcoin форекс unconfirmed bitcoin conference bitcoin tether пополнение китай bitcoin
price bitcoin видео bitcoin cryptocurrency ico tether bitcointalk bitcoin login cryptonator ethereum mt5 bitcoin ethereum coin bitcoin history bitcoin coin курс bitcoin
терминалы bitcoin black bitcoin bitcoin кошелька продать monero инструмент bitcoin ethereum котировки cryptocurrency charts
bitcoin icon bitrix bitcoin ethereum хардфорк php bitcoin
blue bitcoin кошель bitcoin обменники ethereum bitcoin 4pda кошель bitcoin my ethereum bitcoin cny new cryptocurrency куплю ethereum ethereum хешрейт accepts bitcoin ethereum microsoft faucet bitcoin tether майнить space bitcoin deep bitcoin xronos cryptocurrency Blockchain Definition: Why is it Called Blockchain?network bitcoin bitcoin half
bitcoin brokers разработчик ethereum использование bitcoin ethereum price pro100business bitcoin bitcoin роботы
new bitcoin серфинг bitcoin bitcoin заработок вывод ethereum ubuntu bitcoin ethereum упал bitcoin луна bitcoin putin ethereum habrahabr bitcoin bcc bitcoin payeer converter bitcoin golang bitcoin bitcoin картинки bitcoin бонусы bitcoin wikileaks вывод monero
ethereum faucet bitcoin gif настройка ethereum importprivkey bitcoin bitcoin telegram alpha bitcoin монета ethereum
bitcoin автосборщик purse bitcoin casino bitcoin
