Bitcoin
Self-portrait
Bitcoin is an innovative payment network and a new kind of money.
Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority or banks; managing transactions and the issuing of bitcoins is carried out collectively by the network. Bitcoin is open-source; its design is public, nobody owns or controls Bitcoin and everyone can take part. Through many of its unique properties, Bitcoin allows exciting uses that could not be covered by any previous payment system. (https://bitcoin.org/en/)
Bitcoin.org was originally registered and owned by Bitcoin's first two developers, Satoshi Nakamoto and Martti Malmi. When Nakamoto left the project, he gave ownership of the domain to additional people, separate from the Bitcoin developers, to spread responsibility and prevent any one person or group from easily gaining control over the Bitcoin project. (https://bitcoin.org/en/about-us)
Description
Bitcoin.org provides information to individuals, businesses, and developers interested in Bitcoin. The project’s proposal is a new way of doing monetary transactions by using a digital currency (“Bitcoin”) and a decentralized payment network called “block chain”, allowing quick peer-to-peer transactions around the world on low commissions or none at all.
The site’s mission is:
-Informing users to protect them from common mistakes.
-Giving an accurate description of Bitcoin properties, potential uses and limitations.
-Displaying transparent alerts and events regarding the Bitcoin network.
-Inviting talented humans to help with Bitcoin development at many levels.
-Providing visibility to the large scale Bitcoin ecosystem.
-Improving Bitcoin worldwide accessibility with internationalization.
-Remaining a neutral informative resource about Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is a type of cryptocurrency designed anonymously as an open source software in 2008 under the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto. The currency’s design is based on the idea of scarcity in that only 21 million bitcoins will ever be created. Thanks to the block chain distributed through a p2p network, all transactions are public, irreversible and never disappear, allowing Bitcoin owners to monitor both what they’re making as well as what they’re using. This system allows Bitcoin to function without central bank authorities or financial institutions that usually control official, fiat currencies. Bitcoin owners are psuedo-anonymous, meaning identifying themselves is not required for joining the Bitcoin network. Since the system lacks any banks or middlemen, transactions can be carried across the globe at any time with little to no commission by avoiding fees associatied with regular banks. In order to protect user’s identities and their money, the system provides security measures based on military-grade cryptography.
When using Bitcoin, it is not recommended for use in keeping savings, since it’s a high risk currency under constant change, fluctuating in price. As is the case with real money, securing one’s wallet is advised, since protecting one’s money is one’s own responsibility. At the end of the day, being a financial expert on Bitcoin’s future is unpredictable.
Publications
Satoshi Nakamoto (2009) Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.
Links
Wayback Machine:http://web.archive.org/web/20170306041207/https://bitcoin.org/en/
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin
