What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin emerged in 2008 and was initially developed as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Bitcoin can be understood as a value store, meaning that a Bitcoin (or part of a Bitcoin) represents some amount of value. Another way to think of Bitcoin is as a virtual “currency” and payment system. Bitcoin is transferred from one person to another in a transaction, and the value is determined by what someone is willing to pay for it.
Bitcoin is a form of cryptocurrency — or encrypted currency — that enables anonymous, independent, and non-regulated transactions. Cryptography allows for the secure ownership of the currency, which means that Bitcoin’s users can control the creation and transfer of money. Such a degree of privacy in transactions has helped Bitcoin gain a foothold as an alternative currency.
How is Bitcoin used?
Bitcoin is considered a decentralized currency, which means that a network of users control and verify transactions instead of a central authority such as a bank or government doing so. Bitcoin still works like fiat currency, since one party pays another for goods and services.
One of the first Bitcoin transactions made famous in pop culture was the Bitcoin Pizza story from 2010. Famously, a man offered to pay 10,000 Bitcoin for someone to order him two pizzas — and someone did it. Those 10,000 bitcoins were worth about $25 at the time. Today, that value fluctuates between 5 to 6 million USD.
One of the interesting usability features of Bitcoin is that it’s infinitely divisible. The measurement prefix mBTC, which represents .001 of a Bitcoin, can be used to understand everyday transactions in more manageable and translatable amounts. Users can transact 1/10 of a bitcoin for $64 USD, 1/100 of a bitcoin for $6.40 or 1/1000 of a bitcoin for .64 cents. This simplification of standards allows transactions to correlate more closely with the dollar. For example, it makes more sense to say someone is willing to pay 5 mBTC for a burger versus .005 Bitcoin.
How do you get Bitcoin?
There are three ways to get Bitcoin:
- The first is to “mine” them: What is bitcoin mining? This quick video may help explain. Put simply, a minersets up his computer to attempt to guess a very difficult random string of letters and numbers. If the computer guesses correctly, the miner is awarded a Bitcoin. While there are currently 13 million bitcoins in circulation, the total amount that can ever be “mined” is capped at 21 million. However, finding new coins becomes more difficult as the number of available coins reaches this cap. The reason? The creation rate, or rate at which Bitcoin can be discovered, is automatically halved every four years as more coins are added to circulation.Because there’s a limited amount of Bitcoin, this cryptocurrency can be considered deflationary, meaning less and less will be entering the market as time goes on. In contrast, the U.S. dollar is inflationary, with new bills being disseminated constantly.
- The second option is to buy them:There are two common ways to purchase Bitcoin. The most popular method is to sign-up for an online exchange that connects you with a seller. At a mutually agreed upon price, bitcoins are exchanged directly from you to whomever through a peer-to-peer system. The other option is to meet a seller face-to-face to complete the transaction.Once the transaction is complete, your coins will arrive in your Bitcoin “wallet” and officially belong to you.
- The third option is to earn them:You can offer your services or products for bitcoins. There is a large community of bitcoin fans who will be glad to spend their coins at your business.
Okay, so what’s a Bitcoin Wallet?
A Bitcoin wallet is a place where you can receive, send, and store your Bitcoin. A wallet acts similarly to an email account, where you have an unique address that people can use to send Bitcoin. Just like an email account, without the password to your Bitcoin wallet, no one else can access it. To spend your Bitcoin, simply enter the address of the party you wish to pay, the amount, and then hit “send!”
As a merchant, what are the advantages of accepting Bitcoin?
A merchant will find that there are a few perks to accepting Bitcoin. Unlike credit cards, transacting with Bitcoin incurs no fees. Credit cards end up costing merchants somewhere between 3% to 5% on all transactions after fees, fraud, and chargebacks. Accepting Bitcoin costs nothing, and funds are instantly deposited into the business’s Bitcoin wallet. Additionally, Bitcoin is accepted globally — Bitcoin has no barrier to transactions made around the world since there is no currency exchange rate.
How can I check the price of Bitcoin?
There are a wealth of tickers, value monitors, and exchanges that help track the value of Bitcoin. Coinmarketcap.com charts all available cryptocurrencies currently in circulation, listing market cap, current price by currency, percent change in a 24-hour period, as well as a market cap and a price graph.
What factors influence price fluctuation?
Political and social changes can dramatically affect Bitcoin’s valuation — even virtual currency is subject to economic dynamics. As international support for Bitcoin grows, this drives up the average market valuation. As more people become comfortable with using Bitcoin, demand goes up, which in turn drives the price up. The inverse effect would negatively affect Bitcoin. It’s simple economics.
How viable is bitcoin? Could it ever replace the U.S. dollar?
The biggest roadblock for Bitcoin becoming more widely accepted is that it can be technically confusing and often difficult for new users to adopt. Pushback from governments and threats of regulation also pose a problem. Despite these issues, Bitcoin is already one of the top money transfer networks, according to Coinometrics.