Bitcoin Price

Introduction

Bitcoin is not just an impressive investment; it is a revolutionary concept executed right.

On April 25, 2010, one bitcoin was worth $.003.

On September 1, 2017, one bitcoin was worth $5,000.00, the current all-time high.

That is an increase of 166,666% for seven years or a yearly straight increase of 23,809.52%.

To put that into perspective, someone used 10,000 Bitcoins to buy two pizzas on May 22,2010.

If he converted that 10,000 Bitcoins to dollars on September 1, 2017, he would have had $50 million dollars.

What Bitcoin is, its purpose and processes

Bitcoin was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto. It is not known who really is Satoshi Nakamoto and if “he” is one individual or a team.

There are no real founders or co-founders, in the strictest sense of the word for Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is actually a digitalized and decentralized currency.

Bitcoins can be mined from the internet and is usually used for internet transactions, hence digitalized. There are no central banks that control the Bitcoin market.

There are no central banks that control the Bitcoin market, meaning that it is decentralized.

What is interesting is that bitcoin transactions are peer-to-peer, which means that there are no middlemen.

What guarantees the value of the bitcoin without any central authority is the concept of a blockchain. A blockchain is like a record that is broadcasted to everyone.

Think of it as a ledger that not only has everybody a copy, everyone can access it extremely fast.

Plus, that ledger is also encrypted. It does not give away the names or locations of the buyer and seller.

Every bitcoin has its own specific number which if mined cannot be used again.

This means that, unlike physical currencies, it is extremely hard to counterfeit bitcoins.

This also means that if a bitcoin has been used, everyone can check.

People can know how many bitcoins are remaining and if that specific transaction is valid, without actually knowing who bought or sold it. This concept allows people to buy and sell anonymously.

Bitcoin is not the first cryptocurrency; there were others before bitcoin but did not hit the markets.

Since everyone can mine bitcoins by using the open-source software and anybody can check if the bitcoin is reliable or not, no central authority is needed.

However, the closest authority for bitcoin would actually be the Bitcoin Foundation. They cannot make rules nor force people to buy or sell bitcoins, but they are the main group who tries to improve and develop the open-source program and give updates to the public.

Additional Information for Bitcoin

Bitcoin has come a long way from its inception as a concept on a November 2008 paper. Bitcoin has a current market capitalization of $69.1 billion dollars as of September 11, 2017 with 16,557,100 Bitcoins in circulation.

The Bitcoin has been in the market since April 10,2010, firstly in an online Bitcoin exchange and then having the first physical transaction was on May 22, 2010 with 10,000 bitcoins for two pizzas.

Nations like Thailand bans the circulation of bitcoin but nations like China embraced it. Finding a buyer or seller of bitcoin in the internet is easy and safe, but it is always best to know which country penalizes or bans bitcoin transactions.