Noticed a sign at a subway I went to not to long ago, that simply read Bitcoin Accepted here. I thought to my self, what is a Bitcoin and how can you use it to buy a Sub. I know I probably sound dumb, but like I said I am a Virgin to this concept. When I got home I started doing a little research to figure out what this "Bitcoin" is and how it came about. In my research I have noticed it is actually an accepted currency and is taken as payment by a bunch of Companies. The value of this Bitcoin, seems to fluctuate quite a bit on Exchanges, which work like a currency stock market. Everything I read said that you can buy Bitcoin with USD on these markets, but now is where my novice experience leaves a blank.
Once you buy these Bitcoins, do you hold onto it like a stock or simply buy it to buy products from some of these stores that accept it. I also see a large number of other Coins, if you will. Are they like Bitcoin and what is the purpose of these other coins. Like I said, I am very new at this and some kind of incite would be much appreciated.
Thanks for your time.
Bitcoin is a set of building blocks that can build many things. Already has, but so much more to come. They used to use the convention of little "b" and big "B" like bitcoin, and Bitcoin. One was bitcoin the currency and one was the bitcoin blockchain. I believe bitcoin was the currency and Bitcoin was the blockchain. Anyway there is a lot of info out there on bitcoin. I will provide some links. The first use case for bitcoin was and is of course an exchange of value like money or an asset. Think of this application of bitcoin as being your own bank. It's peer to peer where you are the bank of you and I am the bank of me. We don't need a third party to take custody of our funds. This is just the most basic application of bitcoin or Bitcoin to be more specific to the earlier convention referring to the Bitcoin blockchain. Steemit is another application that has come from Bitcoin. We are going to see so many things come from this combination of technologies known as the blockchain. More freedom is coming, more freedom has recently come and we are using it right here. Learn as much as you can about crypto currencies and the like. To protect yourself against the bad actors in this space and to help you be up to date with the best things that we will see yet that are just around the corner. Teach your kids about this, they need to know this. I turned my 2 hrs a day commute to work into an education listening to lets talk bitcoin podcasts. Go do the same! Make the time! Here are some links.
letstalkbitcoin.com
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Main_Page
https://www.bitcoin.com/
https://www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/core-finance/money-and-banking/bitcoin/v/bitcoin-what-is-it
All you really need to know is that people buy things like gold, silver, and Bitcoin as a hedge against government currency mismanagement or implosion. Typically anyone with non-negligible amount should have a minimum of 10% of their wealth in metals (physical gold and/or silver like in a safe, not an ETF).
If the SHTF and the paper value goes to nothing, the metals value usually increases to make up for it so you didn't work your entire life for nothing. Since the paper money is really just a giant scam, a lot of people avoid storing wealth in it entirely and have all their money in things like real estate, stocks (bad idea to buy them now), metals, bitcoin, etc.
I'm personally all-in on metals and Bitcoin myself right now, but both are volatile and dangerous markets for people that don't know what they're doing and metals are definitely more safe than Bitcoin at this point.
Silver is a good buy right now:
https://steemit.com/money/@r0achtheunsavory/the-r0ach-report-vol-1-it-s-time-to-back-up-the-truck-for-silver