So, you are new to Bitcoin, but would like to dive into the waves of the new technology. What should you start with? Here are 7 facts about the basics of Bitcoin that can help you with. We suggest you take a 5-minute break to read them and start your Bitcoin journey.
№ 1 People
Behind any technology is always an enormous number of personalities.
A person number one in Bitcoin is Satoshi Nakamoto, or a person referred to as Satoshi Nakamoto, as this name is still one of the greatest mysteries. He created the original Bitcoin software and published a paper which introduced Bitcoin digital currency to public. When I learned about it I immediately thought about Hephaestus, a character from the Greek mythology and the genitor of all sorts of crafts, who angered the whole Olympus after he had given fire to humans. Fair enough, thought I, a lot of bankers all over the world might also be annoyed observing the spread of the alternative methods of payment and the internet transactions.
Being an entire outsider in the world of cryptocurrency, soon after I came across a huge amount of interviews with Andreas Antolopoulos, a public speaker for Bitcoin, I found it very amusing to follow the events, simply because I liked the spirit that the Bitcoin community members conveyed talking about the anticipated transformations in society caused by the e-currency exploitation.
№ 2 Main principles
Neutrality, independence, transparency
Almost everyone starts with this sort of videos:
Inspiring enough to continue looking for more ways to apply bitcoins in practice. The first thing that caught my attention was the absence or law-cost of payment fees, considered impossible in the economic system for decades to come.
Eureka! Isn’t it natural to have no third party in your transactions? How did we, people live without it for so long? This is an important step that society does towards independence from financial institutions and mechanisms of power.
Neutrality here is meant as a core of any interaction within the network, when each user’s data is protected and sovereign, yet accessible. The identity of the sender and the receiver, as well as the amount of the money transferred are transparent, yet anonymous, or pseudonymous. That means, in case of cheating they will be figured out easily.
№ 3 Turning “cashless”
All is not gold that glitters
German proverb
Applying Bitcoin to everyday life is highly innovative, as it enables users to make payments and receive money through a mobile app or public-source software. No more cash or credit cards. All you need is a digital wallet on Blockchain or Coinbase. Only freedom, true liberty. That’s why Bitcoin is so beloved by libertarians and all sorts of like-minded people. It’s a huge movement of creative people and enthusiastic reformators of the world. See details on wallets here.
№ 4 Digital gold needs to be mined
The shortest way to get some bitcoins into your possession is through mining. Peer-to-peer computer network processes the information about transactions and actually runs them, verifies cheaters and solves mathematical problems to add bitcoins. The value comes from the limited amount of bitcoins that can possibly be mined, yet their rate is extremely flexible and largely depends on the amount of dollars or euros actually stored in Bitcoin network, either transferred or converted. These technical nuisances are not the easiest ones to explain, yet you can always find advisors and experts within Bitcoin community.
№ 5 Commodities
Using bitcoins would not have been so sweet without constantly increasing number of possibilities to spend them on all sorts of goods and services either online or in actual stores and bars.
What I find most interesting here is that Bitcoin is a great solution for the so-called Fairtrade market, a european hype these days. You can buy anything from organic food to electronic devices and drugs. Don’t be surprised, the same as traditional money – altcoins buys you anything, so does Bitcoin.
The most exciting thing here is that the opportunities to spend it on goods and services are constantly growing and forming an independent market. By the way, using bitcoins solely as a form of payment, excluding other currencies is becoming fashionable. And I’m already thinking of another experiment – conditioning myself to only live on bitcoins for a several weeks.
№ 6 or 99 prophecies
My experiment would not have been so successful without this nice educational website, which helps you to earn your very first bitcoins for the sake of learning how to use them and how to commence transactions: 99bitcoins.com. It’s very easy to use and very detailed, so you won’t have any problems creating your wallet.
№ 7 Global society
In the closing of my report I’m literally singing odes to the society formed around Bitcoin. It’s truly global, community-based, enthusiastic and very supportive. To get in contact with Bitcoin community, it is essential to take in both local and global events. I would recommend to start with Inside Bitcoins conference or at least to follow its updates.