what is bitcoin?

in #bitcoin6 years ago


For those who do not know about Bitcoin, it is by far the most used electronic currency – not related or dependent on the currency of any nation or government. Bitcoin (BTC) is a digital currency first mentioned in a 2008 paper by Satoshi Nakamoto, who called it an ‘anonymous, peer-to-peer, electronic payments system’.

What makes it volatile is that unlike printed coins and bills, there is no regulatory entity to back it. For example, in many countries, bills are printed only up to a certain ratio of total exchangeable metal available in that country.

As of 2016, 1 Bitcoin is worth around $375 on the open market. As of 3rd March 2017, it crossed $1200. The total number of bitcoins in circulation exceeds 15 million.For those who do not know about Litecoin, it is yet another electronic currency – quite similar to what Bitcoin-based its origin on. Litecoin is a cryptocurrency currency launched in 2011 by Charles Lee, an MIT graduate and former software developer at Google. Litecoin is based upon the fundamentals of how the peer-to-peer system works on Bitcoin, but with improvements on the technical front.