Bitcoin (BTC) is the first cryptocurrency ever developed and also the first and only application based on blockchain technology that has been running 24/7, 365 days a year, since 2009.
Bitcoin is software, a protocol and a currency.
These three features make it possible for one of Bitcoin’s applications to be a global, transparent payment network based on open source and a single currency.
The currency was conceived as a decentralized economic system open to everyone, offering its users a monetary and value-exchange system better than the current fiat money system.
The value of this currency depends on users’ trust and is not controlled or regulated by any bank, which is precisely why its value is so volatile. One of Bitcoin’s great peculiarities is that the identity of its creator is unknown.
On October 31, 2008, a proposal for peer-2-peer (user-to-user) money based on cryptography and on something called blockchain appeared.
*On November 1, 2008, this information appeared on the Cryptography mailing list
Another great peculiarity of Bitcoin is that, for the first time in History, there is a form of money that is created, distributed and safeguarded through a network of computers that anyone can join, and together they currently make up the computer with the most computing power on the planet.
The pace at which bitcoins are created is constant and well known due to the open nature of its software code.
Thanks to this knowledge, it can be estimated that the last existing Bitcoin would be mined in 2140, and that the difficulty of creating bitcoins will increase just as the reward for creating bitcoins will be reduced every 210,000 mined blocks.
The Bitcoin Whitepaper or technical paper
According to the Bitcoin Whitepaper, each block of this cryptocurrency is created every ten minutes and contains all the transactions made during that period of time.
Because it is the first cryptocurrency developed on the market, it is the one used as the benchmark.
All cryptocurrencies on the market can be exchanged for bitcoin, since it is the first cryptocurrency developed with proven utility and has established itself as the reference token. In turn, bitcoin can be exchanged for any currency in common use, although the dollar is normally used as the reference, followed by the euro.
The basis of bitcoin is direct exchange between users. The transactions they carry out are validated through the mining of this cryptocurrency using an algorithm called Proof-of-Work (PoW).
Many stores, both physical and online, accept payment in BTC, as it has established itself as the main currency for payments.
The first payment in history was made on May 17, 2010, when a programmer paid a total of 10,000 BTC for two pizzas, which at the time was about $80, but today would be worth around $80 million.
For all these reasons, it is clear that Bitcoin has stirred up all kinds of feelings among financial elites and the banking sector.
They have never looked favorably on bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, since they would take away part of their power and break the monopoly on money creation.
States and government economic bodies are currently holding in-depth debates on developing a regulatory framework that allows the use of cryptocurrencies and their efficient oversight.
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