What is Bitcoin and The History of Cryptocurrency
The global financial system has witnessed immense pressure to stay updated with modern times and evolve to the changing needs of customers. People are now looking for alternatives to traditional banking or financial systems in order to ensure more stability and easy access. As a result, many people turned to Bitcoin since it can be used as an international payment system without any intervention from governments or third-parties.
The rise of Bitcoin is probably the largest financial stories of the last decade. This virtual currency was designed to revolutionize transactions without sharing any personal information, spending on transaction fees, or using a bank or a credit card network. Yet, many people are confused about Bitcoin and how it works, where it came from, what it is today, and why this technological innovation has completely shaken the financial world.
Back in 2010 to 2014, cryptocurrencies weren’t so well-known and were often used only on the dark web. However, innovators saw the potential in cryptocurrencies as it can benefit users with a fast and stable transfer of value. This led to the rise of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as we know today.
What are Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin?
Cryptocurrencies or virtual currencies uses a bunch of state-of-the-art cryptographic systems in conjunction with each other to allow safe and secure transactions without any limits. Since they are not regulated by national governments, they are also considered as an alternative currency. Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency to be used widely and hence one of the most predominant cryptocurrencies. However, there are hundreds of cryptocurrencies that exist and more are coming into existence every month.
Since the inception of bitcoins, the whole industry has evolved to a point, such that it is robust enough and trusted enough where one can buy a car or even real estate using cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency transactions are incredibly fast, safe, borderless and inexpensive making it quite appealing for everyone involved.
The Blockchain Technology
The backbone of Bitcoin or any cryptocurrency is the blockchain technology that records the transactions on its network. In essence, a blockchain is a publicly distributed ledger that perfectly records every transaction ever made in a block. When the block’s memory gets full, it is sequentially added to the chain of previous transaction blocks. The ledger is freely available on any computer in the crypto network and it validates the Bitcoin transactions and also stores the blockchain. Since the database gets stored on a big network on computers and not just one server, it is virtually impossible to steal or hack the Bitcoin data. Also, only a predetermined number of Bitcoins can ever be created so the currency won’t get devalued in the future.
The constantly rising prices of Bitcoin, its acceptance as money on major platforms and the exclusivity and buzz around it has made many people interested in this cryptocurrency since the last few years.
Some fascinating Bitcoin facts:
· There’s a Bitcoin post on social media every 3 seconds
· In 2017, the price of Bitcoin rose by 2000%
· By 2025, the global blockchain technology market is expected to reach $57 million
· Bitcoin accounts for more than $6 billion in daily transactions
· In 2019, there were 153 million Bitcoin addresses
· At the time of writing, the market cap of Bitcoin is at $158 billion
Sounds like something you need to dive into, right? If you don’t have any Bitcoins or cryptocurrencies yet, this could be the perfect time to start investing and hodlling.
Satoshi Nakamoto Creates History
When the financial crisis was at its worst in 2008, a person or a group going by Satoshi Nakamoto published a short (8-page) white paper called “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” that described the functionality of Bitcoins and Blockchain network. When the world’s financial infrastructure was crumbling, the domain bitcoin.org was registered and it all began to change. Satoshi Nakamoto mined the first block of Bitcoin, known as the Genesis Block and began the blockchain technology. Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity remains a mystery even today!
The first popular use of Bitcoins was when Laszlo Hanyecz purchased two pizzas for 10,000 BTC. 22nd May 2010 is still celebrated as Bitcoin Pizza Day. Today, the value of those Bitcoins is $90,000,000, which is a lot of dough!
In March 2013, the value of the Bitcoins in circulation reached $1 billion and cryptocurrency started attracting Silicon Valley and venture capitalists, too. In fact, in May 2013, Bitcoin reached parity with the US dollar and the cryptocurrency market had around 10 digital assets.
The Ethereum network, the crypto asset with the second highest market capitalization in the world, was launched in 2015. Its arrival was marked by the development of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). Today, there are more than 200,778 ERC-20 compatible tokens on the Ethereum network.
The market cap of all cryptocurrencies rose from $11 billion to the current all-time high of over $300 billion in 2017 and there was no looking back.
Today, there are over 2957 altcoins available and the list is rapidly expanding! Cryptocurrency is here to stay; in fact, many banks like Citi Bank, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, and BNP Paribas are looking for ways to work with Bitcoin and Blockchain, the technology behind it.
How to Get in on the Bitcoin Action?
Even though Bitcoin is the biggest buzzword in the financial technology industry, it’s also one of the least understood ones. We hope that you’ve got a fair understanding of Bitcoin and altcoins with this article and are ready to jump into the world of cryptocurrencies.
The price of a Bitcoin that was $710.09 in 2016 dramatically moved up to $3,890 in February 2019. That’s why everyone who invested in this cryptocurrency is patting themselves on the back! But it’s not too late to get in the game for you.
What You Need to Get Started?
Begin with a Wallet
If you want to conduct transactions on the bitcoin network, you need to run a program that’s called a wallet. Since Bitcoin isn’t technically coins, a cryptocurrency wallet is also not a real wallet. Instead of using leather, wallets in the crypto world are made of two unique cryptographic keys — a public key and a private key.
The location from where transactions are deposited and withdrawn is called the public key and it appears on the blockchain as the digital signature of the user. On the contrary, the private key is the highly sensitive password required to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies.
Looking for the perfect wallet to begin your Bitcoin journey? Hodllabs brings you Vault-E, a highly secure hardware wallet to store your cryptocurrencies and see them grow into prosperous wealth! In the future, the aim of Cryptocurrency is to break all barriers and borders in the world of trade and finance. Cryptocurrency adoption as money is on the rise and it offers a new world and a new era for money and finances! At Hodllabs, we invite you to experience top-notch technology and innovation that keeps your coins safe and secure at all times.
