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Have you ever bought Bitcoin? It's a cryptocurrency and worldwide payment system.
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency and worldwide payment system.
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Bitcoin
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Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency and worldwide payment system. It is the first decentralized digital currency, as the system works without a central bank or single administrator. The network is peer-to-peer and transactions take place between users directly, without an intermediary. These transactions are verified by network nodes through the use of cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain. Bitcoin was invented by an unknown person or group of people under the name Satoshi Nakamoto and released as open-source software in 2009. Bitcoins are created as a reward for a process known as mining.
History of bitcoin
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange that uses cryptography to control its creation and management, rather than relying on central authorities. The presumed pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto integrated many existing ideas from the cypherpunk community when creating bitcoin. Over the course of bitcoin's history, it has undergone rapid growth to become a significant currency both on and offline - from the mid 2010s onward, some businesses on a global scale began accepting bitcoins in addition to standard currencies. Prior to the release of bitcoin there were a number of digital cash technologies starting with the issuer based ecash protocols of David Chaum and Stefan Brands.
Cryptocurrency
A cryptocurrency (or crypto currency) is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange that uses cryptography to secure its transactions, to control the creation of additional units, and to verify the transfer of assets. Cryptocurrencies are classified as a subset of digital currencies and are also classified as a subset of alternative currencies and virtual currencies. Cryptocurrencies use decentralized control as opposed to centralized electronic money and central banking systems. The decentralized control of each cryptocurrency works through a blockchain, which is a public transaction database, functioning as a distributed ledger.
Economics of bitcoin
Bitcoin is a digital asset designed by its inventor, Satoshi Nakamoto, to work as a currency. Bitcoin is a digital asset designed by its inventor, Satoshi Nakamoto, to work as a currency. It is commonly referred to with terms like: digital currency, digital cash, virtual currency, electronic currency, digital gold, or cryptocurrency. The question whether bitcoin is a currency or not is still disputed. Bitcoins have three useful qualities in a currency, according to "The Economist" in January 2015: they are "hard to earn, limited in supply and easy to verify". Economists define money as a store of value, a medium of exchange, and a unit of account and agree that bitcoin has some way to go to meet all these criteria.
Blockchain
A blockchain, originally block chain, is a continuously growing list of records, called "blocks", which are linked and secured using cryptography. Each block typically contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp and transaction data. By design, a blockchain is inherently resistant to modification of the data. It is "an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way". For use as a distributed ledger, a blockchain is typically managed by a peer-to-peer network collectively adhering to a protocol for validating new blocks.
Bitcoin network
The bitcoin network is a peer-to-peer payment network that operates on a cryptographic protocol. Users send and receive bitcoins, the units of currency, by broadcasting digitally signed messages to the network using bitcoin cryptocurrency wallet software. Transactions are recorded into a distributed, replicated public database known as the blockchain, with consensus achieved by a proof-of-work system called "mining". Satoshi Nakamoto, the designer of bitcoin claimed that design and coding of bitcoin begun in 2007. The project was released in 2009 as open source software. The network requires minimal structure to share transactions.
Virtual currency law in the United States
United States virtual currency law is the area of financial regulation that applies to the buyers, sellers, and users of virtual currency. This regulatory structure consist of tax regulations and FINCEN transparency regulations between financial exchanges and the individuals and corporations with whom they conduct business. The Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S) describes Virtual Currencies (VC)s as “a digital representation of value that functions as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and/or a store of value [and] does not have legal tender status in any jurisdiction.” Although, electronic payment systems have been part of American life since at least 1871 when Western Union “introduced money transfer” through the telegraph and in 1914 “introduced the first consumer charge-card," virtual currencies differ from these digital payment structures because unlike traditional digital transfers of value, virtual currencies do not represent a claim on value; rather the virtual currency are the value.