Let's start with a simple question, what is Bitcoin? Bitcoin is a Digital Currency that has been in the spotlight for some time. The basic idea of Bitcoin was to create a standard currency that could be "mined" just like gold. A particular fact about Bitcoin is that its users are anonymous and the currency can be used all around the world via the internet.
2017 is the year of Bitcoin
Is Bitcoin good as gold as it's been argued? It surely is, topping $1200 for the first time since its inception. That means the virtual currency is going to get even closer to the price for an ounce of gold.
Traditional analysts consider that the currency is too volatile, complicated and risky. They doubt its value but Bitcoin had a better run than any other currency in the world since it started. The Friday's value made it clear that Bitcoin is a real player in the economic game.
The total value of all Bitcoins comes close to $20 billion which mean Iceland might find a rival soon. The eCurrency attracts more and more institutional investors that were previously skeptical about it. Besides the fact that there is remarkable revenue possibilities by choosing to invest into Bitcoin, there is not too much evidence which shows the lead investors are investing into the cryptocurrency.
History of Bitcoin
The cryptocurrency was introduced on 31 October 2008 to a cryptography mailing list by an individual or a group of programmers that used the name Satoshi Nakamoto, and was released in 2009 via OSS (Open-Source Software).
Many like to call that Bitcoin as the first cryptocurrency but in fact, prior systems existed. In the initial days, Nakamoto was estimated to have 1 million bitcoins, before he disappeared from the scene and let Gavin Andresen become the lead developer at the Bitcoin Foundation.
The real deal started in 2013 when the first BitcoinATM was inaugurated in Vancouver, Canada in 2013 and some bigger websites begin to accept bitcoins.
Some of them were: Wordpress (2012); OKCupid (2013); and Microsoft (2014);
The impact that Bitcoin has had in every economic and social sphere is so huge that it is widely regarded as one of the biggest innovations of our era. A study involving 1000 users aged between 19 and 59 have shown that 42% of those surveyed understand the concept of Bitcoin.
