Everything You Need to Know About Bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) are the most popular cryptocurrency online today. Designed to be completely anonymous, Bitcoin are created and stored entirely by computers on the Internet using the Bitcoin network. Simply put, there are no tangible bills, coins, or any other type of physical elements that can be identified as bitcoin, passed around between consumers and businesses when transactions are made - bitcoin are stored purely online as numbers on computers without the need for any physical bills or coins. All payments are done electronically between computers with internet access, from one bitcoin wallet to another. Since bitcoin transfers occur from one user to another, no intermediary organizations like banks are involved, so there are no monthly payments or expensive banking fees associated with the use of bitcoin. Multilayered security methods have been implemented into Bitcoin to guarantee safe and clean transactions, preventing various forms of fraud and risks from affecting Bitcoin users.
More vendors are accepting Bitcoin as a legitimate method of payment each day and the markets are quickly realizing how Bitcoin can have a serious impact on how we trade goods on a daily basis. The growth of Bitcoin is steadily rising and as more and more people and organizations begin to accept the cryptocurrency as a viable method of payment, the more value Bitcoin will gain. While some may perceive Bitcoin as a volatile currency suffering from inflation spikes, it is designed to be stable in the long run. What we can all agree on is that Bitcoin are here to stay and as time passes, the more predominant it will become.
Before we get you started on how to acquire your own Bitcoin, we’ll fill you in on how it all works. While the concept of Bitcoin may seem daunting at first, they are actually quite simple to understand once you can grasp the fundamental concepts behind them.
Bitcoin Mining
Bitcoin mining is the key to understanding how Bitcoin works. Bitcoin miners are electronic devices that use specialized hardware and software to both approve transactions between users and secure the peer to peer bitcoin network. These miners additionally use their computing power to solve a mathematical algorithm, and upon solving the algorithm are issued new bitcoin to introduce to the market. Every time the algorithm is solved, a brand new and more complex algorithm is introduced, requiring more computing power to solve, thus reducing the rate in which bitcoin are created.
Releasing new bitcoin by resolving the algorithms provides a monetary incentive for more miners to take part in the bitcoin community. This is also a superior method to resolve the current issue we see every day in modern currencies known as inflation. Requiring miners to solve more difficult algorithms to unlock new bitcoin ensures that the rate in which bitcoin are introduced never increases and that the influx of new bitcoin never gets out of hand. What this means is obvious: the time to invest in bitcoin is now. In a few years, the price of bitcoin will increase dramatically and the acquisition of bitcoin early will bring profitable long term value.
In order to approve transactions, bitcoin miners may charge a small fee, often a few pennies. However, these marginal fees are a fraction of what traditional banks charge for wire transfers and occur faster, often within seconds as opposed to hours and days. This is where bitcoin shines above the rest and gives it a competitive edge over other services like PayPal or credit card companies.
Security of Bitcoin
Many people tend to stay away from making purchases online because they are concerned about the safety of spending their hard earned money in cyberspace. Bitcoin are designed in a fashion that reduces the surface area of security mitigations unlike any other payment method available today.
The several features integrated into the cryptocurrency are designed to keep your money safe. The main security features are:
- Secure and private transactions: Using a public and private key cryptography service, transactions are kept secure in the exact same method in which SSL works when you log into sites such as your bank or sites that contain sensitive data. Nobody can read the data being sent if they are listening to your computer “talk” to another computer across the bitcoin network because it is encrypted using this method.
- Double Spending and Race Attacks: This occurs when somebody uses the exact same bitcoin and sends it to multiple people at once, tricking the network into processing two transactions with the same bitcoin. The network is smarter than this and prevents this type of activity from occurring by recording all transfers in a ledger known as the block chain. This ledger is visible to all users and guarantees that once a bitcoin is spent, it can’t be spent again from the same user.
- Block ledger modification: Remember that ledger we just mentioned? You can’t edit it. By preventing people from manipulating the ledger, you prevent people from manipulating the network. The ledger has a feature implemented in it referred to as a hash, which is a generated number that is created based on the information the ledger receives. If you change even a single bit on information, the hash changes dramatically. This security method is popular throughout the IT industry and is arguably one of the most effective methods of keeping the network safe as it prevents users from modifying sensitive data.
- Anonymous Users: Every bitcoin user is completely anonymous online. Nobody knows who you are, your name, and your address are not involved with bitcoin in any way; unlike credit cards or PayPal funds, this information can’t be used against you if somebody is able to discover your online identity. While your BTC transfers appear in the ledger, your identity is seen as a random string of numbers and letters, masking your identity to the general public.
What does this all boil down to? Privacy, security and peace of mind. The creators of Bitcoin wanted to create a currency that was secure, not just from external threats, but from any form of exploitation, internal or external. No centralization means no inflation manipulation and cheap fees for users. Advanced security methods are implemented to keep all transactions secure and even though they’re made public on the block chain ledgers, it’s impossible to find out who you are. There is seemingly no method known to man at this stage of Bitcoin development for any level of threat to Bitcoin users and it seems likely to stay this way into the foreseeable future.
This is why we, at mBitcasino, opted for Bitcoin – because we wanted to offer you a discrete yet highly secure gambling experience. We value our players, their privacy, and their security.
Please note that the materials here serve an informative purpose only, and are meant to help you make an informed decision in regards to purchasing, using and storing Bitcoin. mBitcasino is not affiliated with any of the websites or products mentioned within the content, so we are not to be held responsible for any losses or issues you may encounter while using the mentioned websites or products.