What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a non-aligned digital currency, which is not tied to any financial institution. The currency is not physical and is stored in a public ledger on the Cloud. A public ‘key,’ serving the role similar to a bank account number, is the address through which bitcoin transactions are made.The system was created to produce a currency that is transferable to another person without the need of a third party and with very low transaction fees.The transfers are faster and without high processing fees. It isn’t inflationary since there is a cap on the supply of bitcoins (21 million), which limits how much the currency can devalue through inflation. Apart from international money transfer, it can also be used for investment purposes.

                             

The digital payment system was created in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto, who left the project in 2010. He hasn’t revealed much about himself, and his anonymity has often raised concerns over the open-source nature of bitcoin.Its legality depends on what you are doing with it, who you are and where you live. Countries that have legally accepted bitcoin are U.S., Australia, Canada and the European Union. They are also regulating it to avoid misuse such as buying and selling of illegal goods. Meanwhile, Iceland, Ecuador and Bolivia have completely banned it.
Bitcoins can be bought from online exchanges using credit cards or dollars, euros and other currencies or directly from individuals via marketplaces. One can accept them as payment for goods or services.The currency isn’t physically formed at all. Instead, bitcoins are mined through a process of transaction verification and solving a computational puzzle. The ‘miner’ – special user authorized to verify and secure the transactions – who solves the puzzle first gets the opportunity to claim bitcoins as reward, which also becomes the newly released currency.Bitcoins can be stored either on your desktop, mobile, web or hardware using a software called Bitcoin Wallet.
You can sell bitcoin digitally either by exchanging it for another currency or making use of bitcoin trading marketplaces, also known as peer-to-peer trading space, where you post a request online and wait for a response. It can also be sold in person, by scanning a QR code on the other person’s phone.