How Did Bitcoin Come About?

How Was Bitcoin Invented?

The idea of Bitcoin was presented first in 2008 by an author named “Satoshi Nakamoto.” However, it has never been determined if he was only one person or more than one.

The most famous of all cryptocurrencies, bitcoin, was first “mined” in 2009 using a little piece of code, and then it was developed as a whole by Nakamoto and others.

Two physical bitcoins on top of a mobile device screen with exchange trading in the background
Two physical bitcoins in front of a cryptocurrency exchange screen. Photo by Kanchanara on Unsplash

New cryptocurrencies, like Ethereum, have emerged since the invention of Bitcoin. Ethereum is “the world’s programmable blockchain” with a comparable market capitalization and a thriving development community.

Bitcoin Price Changes

Throughout the market evolution, the Bitcoin price on paybis changed for many reasons, like media coverage, speculation, and availability.

Some bitcoin owners get panicked by adverse press reports and sell their shares, lowering the price and vice versa.

When the amount of bitcoin sold on the virtual market enhances, the value falls. As more and more organizations adopt bitcoin as a source of investment and medium of exchange, its price rises.

Why Not Use A Bank?

To transfer money to someone else, you have to go to a bank or banking website to transfer electronic currency from account to account, paying transaction fees to the bank for this service, typically taking 3-5 business days.

The person who withdraws the money from their bank account may also have to pay ATM (Automated Teller Machine) fees to the bank.

Know Your Customer (KYC) laws require banks to keep personal data on their clients. Initially, Bitcoin didn’t have KYC requirements, and people could transact in cryptocurrency with relative anonymity. Nowadays, cryptocurrency exchanges are required to collect personal information on their customers to thwart money laundering efforts by criminals.

Banks have the authority to block customers’ accounts whenever they like, and they have complete control over your money. The concept was to avoid the financial crisis and make a currency free from the subjugation of financial institutions.

Bitcoin is a decentralized currency, which means there is no involvement of a third party. No one can control your money if you have your private keys. Never leave a significant amount of cryptocurrency on exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken, Binance, CEX, or Gemini.

What Is Bitcoin’s Value Proposition Today?

The Bitcoin developers are working on another layer to simplify its use for users and machines. Along with the infrastructure building plans, the new application will assist other competing companies, for example, Coinbase and Bloq.

The exponential growth of cryptocurrency trading online and via smartphones is one of the primary reasons for Bitcoin’s growth.

Some countries initially banned or discouraged their people from using Bitcoin, but these countries are beginning to change their minds.

Russia is one country that initially thought that Bitcoin should be illegal. Now they accept and encourage the use of Bitcoin since it enhances security and transparency. It also helps that they have many unethical hackers that extort Bitcoin from unsuspecting global citizens.

People that are “unbanked” — they can’t afford to use their country’s banking system — are especially appreciative of Bitcoin’s ease of transferring value. In some cases, countries with very old, underdeveloped banking systems have benefited from blockchain technology.

Bitcoin’s Future

Even with the drastic price fluctuations, Bitcoin will grow even more in the next decade. Gambling websites now sell online gaming chips, and cannabis vendors use Bitcoin because it’s still against federal law (in the United States) to use credit cards.

Future generations will likely gravitate toward cryptocurrencies for most online transactions leaving banks for more significant transactions like direct deposit of paychecks and making mortgage or automobile payments. Eventually, the networks, apps, and tools will mature into a full-fledged payment and storage solution, and people will leave banks for good.

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