What is Bitcoin (BTC)?
Get the Latest Bitcoin (BTC) Price & Live Chart Today! Bitcoin is a decentralized cryptocurrency that was first introduced in a 2008 whitepaper authored by an individual or group using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. The cryptocurrency was officially launched in January 2009.
Featured Coin: Solana (SOL)
As a peer-to-peer online currency, Bitcoin facilitates transactions directly between participants in the network, eliminating the need for intermediaries such as banks or financial institutions. According to Nakamoto, the primary purpose of Bitcoin is to enable "online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution."
While there were earlier concepts of decentralized electronic currencies, Bitcoin is recognized as the first cryptocurrency to achieve practical implementation.
Who Are the Founders of Bitcoin?
The identity of Bitcoin's original creator, known as Satoshi Nakamoto, remains a mystery as of 2021. On October 31, 2008, Nakamoto published the Bitcoin whitepaper, detailing the implementation of a peer-to-peer online currency. This proposal introduced the concept of a decentralized transaction ledger organized into blocks and secured by cryptographic algorithms, a system that would later be termed "blockchain." Nakamoto mined the first block of the Bitcoin network, known as the genesis block, on January 3, 2009, thereby initiating the world's first cryptocurrency. At its inception, Bitcoin was valued at $0, and most coins were acquired through mining, which required only moderately powerful devices such as personal computers. The first recorded commercial transaction using Bitcoin occurred on May 22, 2010, when programmer Laszlo Hanyecz exchanged 10,000 Bitcoins for two pizzas. As of mid-September 2021, the value of those pizzas would be approximately $478 million, an event now celebrated as "Bitcoin Pizza Day." Bitcoin began trading in July 2010, with prices ranging from $0.0008 to $0.08.
Although Nakamoto was the original inventor and developer of Bitcoin, he transferred control of the network alert key and code repository to Gavin Andresen, who later served as the lead developer at the Bitcoin Foundation. Over time, numerous contributors have enhanced the cryptocurrency's software by addressing vulnerabilities and introducing new features. The Bitcoin source code repository on GitHub lists over 750 contributors, including notable figures such as Wladimir J. van der Laan, Marco Falke, Pieter Wuille, and Jonas Schnelli.
What Makes Bitcoin Unique?
Bitcoin's most significant advantage lies in its status as the first cryptocurrency to enter the market. It has fostered a global community and spawned an entirely new industry comprised of millions of enthusiasts who engage with, invest in, and utilize Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in their daily lives. The introduction of Bitcoin has established a foundational framework that has inspired the development of thousands of competing projects. The entire cryptocurrency market, now valued at over $2 trillion, is built upon the principles established by Bitcoin: a form of money that can be transferred globally without reliance on trusted intermediaries such as banks and financial institutions. Due to its pioneering nature, Bitcoin has maintained a leading position in this dynamic market for over a decade. Even as it has faced increased competition, Bitcoin remains the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, surpassing $1 trillion in 2021, following an all-time high price of $64,863.10 on April 14, 2021. This growth is attributed to rising institutional interest and the proliferation of platforms that provide various use cases for Bitcoin, including wallets, exchanges, and payment services.
How Much Bitcoin Is in Circulation?
The total supply of Bitcoin is capped at 21,000,000 coins, as determined by its underlying software. New coins are generated through a process known as "mining." During this process, transactions are collected by miners and compiled into blocks, which are secured by complex cryptographic calculations. Miners are rewarded for their computational efforts with a specified number of bitcoins for each block they successfully add to the blockchain. At the launch of Bitcoin, the reward was set at 50 bitcoins per block, and this amount is halved approximately every 210,000 blocks mined, a process that occurs roughly every four years. As of 2020, the block reward has been halved three times and currently stands at 6.25 bitcoins.
Importantly, Bitcoin has not been pre-mined, meaning that no coins were allocated to the founders prior to its public release. In its early years, the competitive landscape for mining was relatively low, which allowed early participants, including Satoshi Nakamoto, to accumulate substantial amounts of Bitcoin through regular mining. Mining Bitcoin can be lucrative, depending on the prevailing hash rate and Bitcoin's market price. While the intricacies of Bitcoin mining are complex, it is essential to understand that mining is often measured in terms of the time required to mine a block rather than a single Bitcoin. As of mid-September 2021, the mining reward of 6.25 BTC is valued at approximately $299,200 based on current market conditions.
To learn more about Bitcoin including price, chart, and other details click here
