History of Computers - Bitcoin

Introduction

The Bitcoin was created in 1998 by a group of programmers working under the name Satoshi Nakamoto. The true identity of this programer or group of programmers is still unknown. The Bitcoin was one of the first digital currencies, and is still used today. The first Bitcoin transaction was 10,000 bitcoins for 2 Papa John's Pizzas .Today (September 23, 2017) one bitcoin is worth 3772 US dollars .

Overview

As a digital currency, Bitcoins rely on people trust in the system, making its value extremely volatile, with the value of one Bitcoin violently fluctuating. However, the value of Bitcoins has raised dramatically in the past couple years, with one Bitcoin surpassing the price of an ounce of gold in March 2017. The popularity of digital currency has also dramatically risen. in 2013, only between 300,000 and 1 million people used a cryptocurrency wallet, but in 2017 there are an estimated between 2.9 and 5.8 million users, most of whom use Bitcoin . More and more companies now accept Bitcoin as a form of payment as it's popularity rises, the most notable of these including Newegg, Dish Network, and Expedia. With cash, the government can control the production and printing of new money. Bitcoin's equivalent of this is mining. Mining is when people use their computers to solve complicated problems, and in return, they are given new Bitcoins that enter circulation. However, the number of new Bitcoins being released yearly steadily decreases, and eventually it will reach it's cap of 21 million Bitcoins in circulation. The difficulty of these problems changes to match how fast they are being solved. For example, if the problems are being solved really fast, Bitcoin will automatically increase the difficulty of these problems. Solving these problems also increases the security Bitcoin. This means that the more users bitcoin has, the more stronger and secure it is.

Significance

Bitcoin was one of the first digital currencies created. It has grown to become one of the most popular forms of digital currency, with it's value consistently well over 3,000 US dollars today, despite the violent fluctuations. Bitcoin will continue to become stronger and more secure as the increasing number of users and miners builds the security of the system by adding their computers computing power to the mix. Bitcoin has changed the world of trade by creating a new, successful form of currency that is digital rather than physical. Today, one Bitcoin is valued at around $6,400, while having peaked $19,000 in December of 2017.

Links

• [1] "What's important about Bitcoin?"