Bitcoin: the virtual currency that has got everyone buzzing. Although not exactly new, Bitcoin is still quite the puzzler to some. How is it possible to have a form of currency that you cannot exchange by hand? Where do you even keep it? And most importantly, should you get on the Bitcoin bandwagon?
Money 2.0
Bitcoin is the currency of the digital age, signifying a major shift similar to the move from the letter to the email. In essence, Bitcoin is a global currency without varying rates in different locations.
No Physical Coins
Bitcoin eliminates the need for a brick and mortar financial institution and traditional physical currencies, making the virtual space the place of all transactions where you exchange your fiat currency for Bitcoins.
Safety
Bitcoins are deposited in a virtual “wallet”, and just like in real life, there are different types of wallets that one can opt for with various features, pros, and cons. The icing on top of the cake is that, as opposed to an actual wallet which can easily be lost or stolen without any of hopes of retrieval, Bitcoin wallets can be backed up.
What’s the Worth of a Bitcoin?
Bitcoins do not come at a fixed rate, and because there is very little-to-no regulation where Bitcoins or other Altcoins (cryptocurrencies) are concerned, the market is continually subject to change. By 2014, a Bitcoin could go from as little as $0.05 to upwards of $1000.
Mining, Selling, and Shopping
Bitcoins are buried with encryptions and need to be unearthed by users online, which is referred to as “mining”. It is reported that only 21 million bitcoins exist in total, and 13 million of those had been mined by 2014.
While bitcoins can be used to purchase many things similar to say the US dollar or Euro, retailers that accept bitcoins are still a minority, though their number is on the rise with the increasing popularity of bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies.
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