You may know a lot about different currencies around the world, yet there is one currency that you need to be familiar with. Bitcoin is a currency that was created through the power of technology.
Bitcoin is a virtual currency, or a crypto-currency, which was created back in 2009 by an anonymous individual (or a group of unnamed programmers) who uses the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. What made people interested in the use of bitcoins is the absence of a middle man, which means that there is no need to get banks involved when using them.
If you are interested in the idea of using bitcoins for your transactions, get to know more about its concept first by looking into the details stated below.
- Transactions – One thing that makes people so interested in this virtual currency is the absence of transaction fees. However, it is important to mention that transaction fees are still optional when miners can choose which transactions to process based on who pays the higher fees.
- Wallet – This is the virtual wallet where bitcoins are stored. This also includes the storage of information needed to transact bitcoins.
- Ownership – Doing transactions using bitcoins does not require the use of a real name. The users can simply spend their bitcoins with a specific address. The user needs to provide his or her digital signature in accordance with his or her private key to proceed with any transaction.
- Blockchain – Every transaction you make is recorded in a public ledger called a blockchain. The maintenance of a blockchain is made possible by a network of communicating nodes that run the software used for bitcoins.
- Supply – The creator of bitcoins based the use of bitcoins through the monetary policy of artificial scarcity wherein there would only be 21 million bitcoins in circulation.
Despite these seemingly unusual features in the usage of a currency, the bitcoin is still a currency accepted by several merchants. In fact, over 100,000 merchants have accepted the bitcoin as a mode of payment since February 2015. Overall, when you manage your payments through this currency, you need to be familiar with its features to avoid setbacks in the future.
