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To cut through some of this confusion surrounding bitcoin, we need to divide it into two components. On the one hand, you've got bitcoin-the-token, a snippet of code which represents ownership of an electronic concept sort of like a virtual IOU. On the other hand, you have bitcoin-the-protocol, a distributed network that maintains a ledger of balances of bitcoin-the-token.
The system enables payments to be sent between users without passing through a central authority, such as a bank or payment gateway. It is made and kept electronically. Bitcoins arent printed, for example dollars or euros theyre made by computers all around the world, using free software.
It was the very first instance of what we today call cryptocurrencies, a growing asset category that shares some features of traditional currencies, together with verification based on cryptography.
A pseudonymous software programmer going by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto suggested bitcoin in 2008, within an electronic payment system based on mathematical proof. The idea was to generate a means of exchange, independent of any central power, which could be transferred electronically in a secure, verifiable and immutable way.
Bitcoins most important characteristic is it is decentralized. No single institution controls the bitcoin network. It's maintained by a group of volunteer coders, and run through an open network of dedicated servers spread around the world. This attracts individuals and groups that are uncomfortable with the control that banks or government institutions have over their money. .
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Bitcoin simplifies the double spending problem of electronic currencies (in which electronic 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 try to manipulate a currencys value relative to others. Holders of this currency (and especially citizens with little alternative) keep the cost.
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Together with bitcoin, on the other hand, the distribution is tightly controlled by the underlying algorithm. A small number of new bitcoins trickle every hourand will continue to do so at a diminishing rate until a maximum of 21 million has been attained. This creates bitcoin more attractive as an asset in concept, if demand grows and the distribution remains the same, the value will increase. .
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 concept operate in semi-anonymity. Since there's absolutely no central validator, users do not need to identify themselves when sending bitcoin to another user. When a transaction request is submitted, the protocol assesses all prior transactions to confirm that the sender has the necessary bitcoin in addition to the ability to send them.
In practice, every user is identified with the address of their wallet. Transactions can, with a little effort, be monitored this way. Additionally, law enforcement has developed approaches to identify users if necessary.
Additionally, most exchanges are required by legislation to perform identity checks on their customers before they're permitted to buy or sell bitcoin, facilitating another manner that bitcoin usage can be monitored. Since the network is transparent, the advancement of a particular transaction is observable to all.
This is because there is no central adjudicator that can say ok, return the money. If a transaction is listed on the network, and if greater than an hour has passed, it's not possible to change.
While this may disquiet a few, it will mean that any transaction on the bitcoin network cannot be tampered with.
The smallest unit of a bitcoin is called a satoshi. It is one hundred millionth of a bitcoin (0.00000001) at todays prices, about one hundredth of a cent. This may conceivably enable microtransactions that traditional electronic money cannot.
Bitcoin is an electronic currency, also known as a cryptocurrency. It was How To Make Money Online Fast invented in 2008 by an anonymous person or group named Satoshi Nakamoto.