A Guide to Bitcoin & Blockchain For You As a Beginner
You have probably been living under a rock if you still haven’t heard of Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies or blockchain technology by now.
The world’s biggest cryptocurrency, also a digital gold Bitcoin has seen its value rising in epic proportions. The value of a single token has jumped to a magnificent 15,000 % during 2017.
If you had invested $10,000 in Bitcoin earlier in 2013, when it traded nearly $15, that could bring you $9,5 million for now— an enough amount to sit on a beach somewhere and not to work.
But What Exactly Is Bitcoin?
It is a type of virtual currency, the well-known by everybody called crypto. Cryptocurrency is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange or facilitate transactions between buyers and sellers.
These currencies are unique, as they use unusual form to create digital money units known as tokens by cryptography.
Blockchain technology refers to the use of this cryptography to store and link these records.
The world’s largest and first decentralized virtual currency is Bitcoin. This means that there is no central authority backing it and allows peer-to-peer transactions without other’s assistance.
According to Cambridge University view there are between three and six million cryptocurrency users specially transacting in bitcoin for purchasing other products, services or currencies.
The most famous of those users is the Winklevoss twins, who, thanks to 2017’s extraordinary run-up, are now the world’s first Bitcoin billionaires.
You may recognize the Winklevoss twins from The Social Network movie, which featured the rise of Facebook, Inc. Common Stock and its founder Mark Zuckerberg.
The Future of Bitcoin
The Winklevoss brothers claim they would not even be sellers if Bitcoin reached a price of US$380,000, when they were asked about intention to sell their holdings.
It may difficult to believe, but we can’t ignore the prospects of possible developments of blockchain technology.
That’s because there are so many potential benefits to be derived from the technology, which has Goldman Sachs Group Inc. getting involved in Bitcoin recently, opening a trading desk before the close of 2017.
Blockchain technology, which is used mainly for settling payments, can also be a good measure to crack down cyber crimes.
Bottom Line
You may think, that at this very moment it is too late to purchase Bitcoin, but there are alternative cryptocurrencies out there to choose for buying, such as Ripple and Ethereum, not to mention the alternative of investing in those companies like Goldman Sachs who are finding derivative applications for the technology.
