Bitcoin is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies to arise from the cryptocurrency craze.
Everyday people have been able to change their lives by buying and selling the currency at the right time, needing a combination of computer and financial know-how and a bit of luck.
With this new technology on the rise, more people are having to learn how to exist in the digital world.
This often means having to think about everyday things in a new touchless world.
What Do Bitcoins Look Like?
Bitcoins look like a line of 1s and 0s on a computer screen because they have no physical form.
Like other forms of cryptocurrency, Bitcoin is a purely digital product that doesn’t exist outside of the digital world.
Bitcoin is similar to a file that is stored on your computer, but the file is stored in your Bitcoin wallet rather than directly on your computer.
These files must meet certain conditions, which is what gives them their scarcity.
Your Bitcoin wallet is an alphanumeric string, which is a string that only contains characters such as lowercase a through z, uppercase A through Z, and the numbers 0 through 9.
Bitcoin uses similar technology as debit or credit cards.
When you deposit money into your bank account, the bank teller isn’t putting physical money in a personal lockbox for you.
They have a digital system that keeps track of how much money you deposit and withdraw from your bank account.
When you purchase Bitcoin, you aren’t buying a physical item.
You are purchasing rare and valuable codes that you can buy and sell among other Bitcoin users.
Although there are places that sell what looks like physical Bitcoin, they are actually just selling souvenirs or collector’s items.
There is no physical coin or other physical representation connected to the Bitcoin company.
When you are online, you will see two logos for Bitcoin.
The first is the B that is combined with a dollar sign and the second is a green square that is made up of other smaller squares of varying shades.
Those who are worried about not being on the proper website can go through Bitcoin’s own website to find the resource they need in order to thrive in the cryptocurrency world.
Bitcoin is glad to connect consumers with the support they need.
Where Does Bitcoin Get Its Value?
When considering what Bitcoin is, it can be hard for users who are new to cryptocurrency to see the value in the digital currency.
However, the stability of Bitcoin comes from those who choose to use it and incorporate it into their lives.
As soon as a group of people decides that an object is desirable, it begins to gain value.
Cryptocurrency became more valuable when the group of people who wanted the product began to increase, but the number of Bitcoins never increased to match the value.
According to Bitcoin, there will always only be 21 million Bitcoins.
However, these Bitcoins can be broken into smaller parts that are more affordable and usable in everyday life.
A single Bitcoin can be broken into 100 million pieces.
Since you are no longer dealing with the entire Bitcoin, the value decreases and becomes a reasonable amount to purchase things with or trade among friends.
Those who have to pay people who live in another country may choose to do it in Bitcoin because the cryptocurrency isn’t limited to a geological location and has value all over the world.
Bitcoin has the bonus of being impossible to lose or be faked.
When sending money around the world, payments can end up being not what each person expects unless they are familiar with both forms of currency.
Bitcoin ensures that both parties get the exact amount of money they were promised.
The security that comes with Bitcoin also helps make it a valuable currency, boasting a 100% guarantee of security and sending similarly to an encrypted email.
The cryptocurrency is also able to be sent in a matter of minutes.
Unlike a country’s currency, Bitcoin is decentralized, and there isn’t a CEO to make decisions regarding the cryptocurrency.
Instead, changes must be voted on.
Where Can Bitcoin Be Purchased?
Bitcoin can be purchased with the Bitcoin.com Wallet application, directly from the Bitcoin website, a centralized cryptocurrency exchange, peer-to-peer trading platforms, or buying Bitcoin cash to use the peer-to-peer trading platform.
You can find the Bitcoin.com Wallet on Google’s Play Store or on Apple’s App Store.
Once the application is downloaded, choose Bitcoin and click the “Buy” button.
The application will take you through the steps that you need to take in order to figure out where the money will go.
If it is your first time purchasing from the application, you will have to verify your identity before the process can be completed.
Bitcoin has made it incredibly easy for beginners to make their Bitcoin investment with their Buy Bitcoin website.
Here, you can purchase Bitcoins, but you will want to set up your Bitcoin Wallet before purchasing Bitcoin, and you need to get the web address of your digital wallet to paste it into the Buy Bitcoin website.
You can also purchase Bitcoin from a cryptocurrency exchange outside of Bitcoin.
The exchanges that Bitcoin recommends are Bitcoin.com Exchange, Binance, BitForex, BitMEX, Bit-Z, BW, Changelly, ChangeNOW, Coinbase, CoinBene, CoinEx, Coinmama, DigiFinex, Nominex, SideShift, The PIT, and Payeer.
Those who are looking for a chance to get Bitcoin for a cheaper price may want to consider peer-to-peer trading platforms.
It’s important to remember that each seller is different and there is only a chance for a discount, it isn’t guaranteed.
In peer-to-peer exchanges, you can choose between offers that want different payment types for their cryptocurrency, by location, their reputation, or by the amount of Bitcoin you want.
Each person sends the agreed-upon amounts in the form that the seller wants the money, then the seller is able to confirm the payment with Bitcoin, and the money is transferred.
What Can You Purchase With Bitcoin?
Most of the things you can purchase with Bitcoin are high-value items like cars, technology, high-end accessories, news subscriptions, and even insurance.
As Bitcoin becomes more popular, more businesses are beginning to accept it.
Two of the car companies that accept Bitcoin are Lamborghini and Subaru.
In 2015, a Lamborghini Huracan was purchased by YouTuber Peter Saddington for nearly 45 Bitcoins.
He originally only spent $115 purchasing Bitcoin and was able to cash out some of his Bitcoins for the luxury sports car.
Today, that amount of Bitcoin would be worth $2.15 million.
At one point, Tesla was offering to sell their line of electric cars for anywhere from 1 to 2.69 Bitcoin.
The company eventually decided to remove the direct Bitcoin payment option from their website due to the instability of Bitcoin.
Microsoft accepts Bitcoin on its online store but doesn’t accept it on its online Xbox store.
Newegg, the Amazon of technology goods, also accepts Bitcoin in exchange for the large selection of goods it has to offer.
One of the first commonplace websites to begin accepting Bitcoin was Overstock.
Overstock’s CEO, Patrick Byrne, is a firm supporter of Bitcoin and the future of cryptocurrency.
Shopify, Rakuten, and Home Depot all allow users to purchase goods with cryptocurrency.
Companies such as Twitch even encourage purchasing their subscriptions and other forms of funds with Bitcoin.
Most fans of Bitcoin are just waiting for the day when sites such as eBay and Amazon begin to accept the cryptocurrency.
While Amazon may own Twitch, they don’t seem to share Twitch’s enthusiasm for Bitcoin.
eBay considered accepting Bitcoin for years and even held a conference for the decision.
In the end, eBay decided that the value of Bitcoin fluctuates too heavily for them to responsibly accept it at this point.
How Do You Sell Bitcoin?
For those who want to sell the Bitcoin they have purchased, there are two options outside of purchasing goods with the cryptocurrency.
You can either sell your Bitcoin to a centralized cryptocurrency exchange or you can sell Bitcoin on a peer-to-peer basis.
The easiest and fastest way to sell your Bitcoin is to sell it to a cryptocurrency exchange organization, such as Coinbase or Bitcoin.com Exchange.
Exchange services are regulated businesses that work with the traditional banking system to get you the money you need.
Some exchange services are simply websites that allow you to only buy or sell cryptocurrency.
Other exchange services may work with your bank to serve as a digital wallet and place to buy and sell currency.
Full-service cryptocurrency exchange services will come with a multitude of services, such as order books and market makers.
The downside of exchange services is that there’s no bargaining on the price that you purchase or sell your cryptocurrency.
Peer-to-peer exchange sites will help connect you with buyers as a seller.
Buyers are able to choose from the type of payment you want, where you’re located, how reliable a seller you are, or by the amount of Bitcoin that you’re selling.
When selling on a peer-to-peer exchange site, you won’t need to verify your identity like you would need to for a centralized exchange service.
You are able to trade your cryptocurrency for whatever you want, including other forms of currency, vehicles, or other objects that match the value of the cryptocurrency to you.
The downside of peer-to-peer exchanges is that you are normally only able to trade small amounts of Bitcoin at a time.
It isn’t common for sellers to be selling tiny percentages of a Bitcoin rather than the whole thing.
What Is Bitcoin Mining?
Bitcoin mining is how new Bitcoins are created and uses a complex computational math problem to find even the smallest amount of Bitcoin.
The process is automated by extremely sophisticated hardware that is used to continuously run, beginning the mining process again as soon as it finds a Bitcoin.
While this may sound like free money generated in the background of your life, this process is extremely difficult and can be even more costly to do.
Miners are only awarded the cryptocurrency if they are the first ones to find the code.
This means that the chances of the miner actually cashing out are incredibly small.
The more computing power your mining system has, the more likely you will be the first one to find the valuable code that becomes a Bitcoin.
The reward that comes from mining Bitcoin is given to the miner because they are helping legitimize and monitor Bitcoin through this process.
Bitcoin miners’ systems are essentially acting as auditors.
The idea was created by the founder of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto.
He claims that mining prevents people from double-spending their Bitcoin.
All of the codes that make up Bitcoin serve the same purpose as physical money’s serial number.
The small size of the files and the unique codes that make up each individual Bitcoin make it easy to identify which Bitcoins have been used and which ones haven’t.
Some miners complain that the small size of Bitcoins makes checking each code extremely difficult to find, but Nakamoto is determined that Bitcoins should maintain their one-megabyte size.
Miners claim that they could go through all the data faster if Nakamoto would change the size of Bitcoins.
Bitcoin mining is a massive investment, but it can pay out handsomely if you’re patient and know what you’re doing.
What Makes Bitcoin Different From Other Cryptocurrencies?
With all cryptocurrencies working in nearly identical ways, it may be difficult to figure out why Bitcoin is the cryptocurrency that you see all over.
Bitcoin has a couple of key advantages over other types of cryptocurrency that have come from over a decade’s worth of experience and development.
Out of all of the cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin has proven to be more secure than other cryptocurrencies.
While marketing themselves, most other cryptocurrencies are quick to bring up how easy it is for you to make money on their platforms.
Bitcoin differentiates itself with its goal to become a reliable form of stable payment.
In order to become a more stable form of currency, it needs to expand its user base and convince its users to continuously use its cryptocurrency.
Many casual cryptocurrency users look at their cryptocurrencies in the same way they see stocks.
They plan to hold onto their Bitcoins until the price is right, sell their Bitcoins, and then walk away with more money in their pockets.
Bitcoin wants to convince people to incorporate the decentralized cryptocurrency into their everyday lives, making purchases like buying cars to getting insurance.
It is also the most accepted form of cryptocurrency, which helps stability and accessibility.
With all the businesses that are starting to accept Bitcoin rather than other forms of cryptocurrency, it is going to make consumers see more applicable value in Bitcoin rather than one of the other cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin aren’t going to get you a brand-new Tesla or Lamborghini, but Bitcoin is breaking through barriers.
As more people accept the changes that come with the digital world, more businesses and consumers are going to see Bitcoin as a legitimate form of currency.
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