On January 3, 2009, almost 13 years ago, the first bitcoin ledger was launched on the internet. Creator of the Bitcoin (BTC) is yet unknown. The only information available is the nickname Satoshi Nakamoto. Since then, things have started to change in the world of decentralized technology, bringing a new understanding of currency and money transfer.

What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency without supervision from the central bank or other financial administratory systems. All the transactions are digital; the data is verified by network nodes through cryptography and written on the public distributed ledger called a blockchain. So far, Bitcoin started from being worth $0.09 all the way to $64,800 on April 14, 2021 (record high).

Bitcoin is widely known for its P2P (peer-to-peer) service providing an opportunity for users to transfer their digital currency from one account to another without a trace and high commissions and fees.

There are two main options to acquire Bitcoin – Purchase on a cryptocurrency exchange or mining the blocks.

What Is Blockchain?

As previously mentioned, it is a public ledger or a system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to change, hack, or cheat the system. Each block on the chain has a number of transactions, so each time a new transaction takes place on the blockchain, a record of that action is added to the chain of each participant.

Distributed Ledger Technology or (DLT) is a decentralized database managed by a number of individuals. Blockchain is a sort of distributed ledger technology in which transactions are recorded using a hash, which is an irreversible digital signature.

The purpose of blockchain is to enable the recording and distribution of digital data without the ability to modify it. A blockchain serves as a foundation for unchangeable ledgers, or records of transactions that cannot be changed, erased, or destroyed in this manner.. The idea behind the Blockchain is the creation of trust among those who want to use digital money or assets. There were several attempts to create such technology but all of them lacked immutable security measurements which led to failure and money loss. Blockchain is known for its trusted environment which is created for secure transaction processes. As of February 2021, there were a total of 620.369 million transactions on the blockchain.

Bitcoin Mining

Before P2P services, Bitcoin was initially created as a rewarding mining process. Mining is a service that utilizes the processing power of computers. By continuously combining new broadcast transactions into a block, which is eventually published to the network and validated by recipient nodes, miners keep the blockchain consistent, complete, and unchangeable. Each block includes the preceding block’s SHA-256 cryptographic hash, which links it to the previous block and gives the blockchain its name.

After undergoing mining processes, Miners can exchange the pool of Bitcoin into any available digital or physical currency, keeping the saturation of the process on the go.

Bitcoin Purchasing

To buy a Bitcoin or any other digital asset, you need to have a digital wallet to store the acquired BTC. These wallets can be found in many exchange services throughout the internet. Each country may have its local exchange; otherwise, global exchange wallets should be used.

When using the exchange wallet, you need to transfer your money to the wallet via available options such as Bank Transfer, Credit/Debit card, ATM, or P2P services. These transactions are limited for every country, having restrictions on the different sectors of the market. Each exchange may provide its fees, commissions, and purchasing processes having other Terms and Conditions of use.

There are alternative options of buying a BTC or any other digital currency other than the exchange systems.

Note: Please be careful with your money. When you transfer money to an exchange or a dealer, you believe that the operator will not misuse your money and that the operator’s systems are safe from internal or external theft. It is recommended that you obtain the real-world identity of the operator and ensure that sufficient recourse is available if you are using P2P services. Because Bitcoin services are not highly regulated, a service can continue operating even when it is widely believed to be insecure or dishonest, and web pages recommending them may not be regularly updated. It is not advisable to exchange or store large amounts of money with third parties.