Bitcoin is one of the new crypto currency digital payment methods.
We had bartering, then coins, cash, bank transactions and cards and now digital currencies that allow us to purchase items, sell items and trade on the crypto currency and in this case bitcoin stock market, a very volatile place where you can make and lose money in a hurry!
Bitcoin was the original crypto currency ‘invented’ by Satoshi Nakamoto, not someone who embraces the limelight, but his idea has stemmed a new way of transacting that even El Salvador has taken as their country’s currency.
Mining bitcoin
Bitcoin, is different from some of the other crypto currencies in that there is a finite amount to mine, once it is all mined that is it, it can only be traded. Mining is the way that crypto currency comes into being, just like the Californian gold rush of the mid 19th century, bitcoin mining is very appealing as you can ‘get rich quick’ ie earn bitcoins without having to buy them. However it uses vast amount of computer power, which in turn requires vast amounts of hardware and electricity costs… there are many stories of how bitcoins centres have been set up in cold places making use of less electricity needed for cooling… yes the computers work so hard, that they need to be constantly cooled.. And other raids on houses that the police and neighbours have thought may be a skunk farm but are infact a bitcoin mining set up, illegally tapping into electricity mains.
But most pay their way and mine, this is getting high powered computer hardware and understanding the process of creating a bitcoin block and exchanging it for bitcoin tokens.
This mining is the beginning of the blockchain process that is used in the transaction of all cryptocurrency and what sets it apart from all other forms of money which are guaranteed by a professional establishment like a bank.
owning BITCOIN
So you mine or buy part of or a full bitcoin, and then you have a key in your digital wallet app on your smart phone or computer, this key is your part of the blockchain so that you can sell it or buy something with it. Each time you do this there are transaction fees or ‘gas fee’, which is the cost for someone else to do the complex part of adding it to the blockchain.
what to buy with bitcoin
The issue with this new currency is.. lets be honest there really isn’t that much to buy with it, there is the bad rap of buying guns or drugs, but as with many underground movements that grow above ground this is just the start, testing the water, as other more legitimate businesses then follow suit. Take the porn industry pioneering the internet, and video on the internet for example. So whilst other business are thinking about it, it seems that art is the first to dive in, and buying art with bitcoin is becoming a buzz in the art world.