THE NEXT BIG THING AFTER " THE INTERNET " IS HERE!
After the revolutionizing invention of the "Internet", people say that the next big thing is cryptocurrency and Bitcoin are the first of it.
Bitcoin is the first global, decentralized currency that allows you to send money from one person to another without involving a third party broker, such as a bank. You only need your computer or mobile phone to make transactions because Bitcoin is fundamentally a software.
As a decentralized currency, Bitcoin isn’t controlled by anyone. It’s open so that anyone can benefit from it.
You might think that the lack of control could mean chaos, but that’s not true at all. That’s because Blockchain, the technology behind Bitcoin is one of the most accurate and secure systems ever created. Bitcoins are generated through a process called as Bitcoin Mining. Mining in simple words is solving a set of mathematical problems in order to get bitcoins as result.
When the algorithm was created under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto—which in Japanese is as common a name as Steve Smith—the individual(s) set a finite limit on the number of bitcoins that will ever exist: 21 million. Currently, more than 12 million are in circulation. That means that a little less than 9 million bitcoins are waiting to be discovered.
Since 2009, the number of bitcoins mined has skyrocketed. That's the way the system was set up—easy to mine in the beginning, and harder as we approach that 21 millionth bitcoin. At the current rate of creation, the final bitcoin will be mined in the year 2140.
Bitcoin mining is intentionally designed to be resource-intensive and difficult so that the number of blocks found each day by miners remains steady. Individual blocks must contain a proof of work to be considered valid. This proof of work is verified by other Bitcoin nodes each time they receive a block. Bitcoin uses the hashcash proof-of-work function.
The primary purpose of mining is to allow Bitcoin nodes to reach a secure, tamper-resistant consensus. Mining is also the mechanism used to introduce Bitcoins into the system: Miners are paid any transaction fees as well as a "subsidy" of newly created coins.
This both serves the purpose of disseminating new coins in a decentralized manner as well as motivating people to provide security for the system.
Bitcoin mining is so called because it resembles the mining of other commodities: it requires exertion and it slowly makes new currency available at a rate that resembles the rate at which commodities like gold are mined from the ground.
There’s a number of reasons why cryptocurrencies are so inherently popular. They are safe, anonymous and utterly decentralized. Unlike conventional currency, they are not controlled or regulated by some singular authority, their flow is determined entirely by market demand. They are also nigh impossible to counterfeit, thanks to the paranoidly complicated code system that encrypts each and every transfer, ensuring complete anonymity and utter safety to each and every user. They even make for a genuinely rewarding, if risky, investment endeavor, despite the fact that any financial advisor in their right mind will caution you against them. Therefore, despite the admittedly high stakes that this sort of dealing entails, not to mention the lack of any government agency to lend credence to them, cryptocurrencies can only thrive and multiply.
The Bitcoin has been making significant gains in value since it first came into the market in the year 2009. It can easily be said that the cryptocurrency has been bullish since its inception. The trend began being noticeable when the currency started to multiply its value at the rate never seen before. Analysts had different views about what the trend would be like. Some predicted that the bullish trend would quickly turn bearish. However, this has not been the case. Quite the opposite has actual occurred. The currency continued to increase in value until it went above its all-time high. It went on to exceed gold in value.
Even though analysts speak of the lack of cohesion within the bitcoin blockchain proponents. These influencers are all interested in making the bitcoin better. Thus instead of the split of the bitcoin that is predicted by the prophets of doom there might be a great coming together making the currency stronger.
We see the biggest risk to Bitcoin being its substitution and/or parallel use by other crypto currencies. Bitcoin die-hard fans claim that this is never going to be an issue since Bitcoin was the pioneer and as such enjoys first-mover privilege. This argument is probably flawed because although the BTC is used for payments, this is only a relatively small % of all Bitcoins. One of its primary uses is being a store of value and for this reason other crypto currencies can always step in and enjoy similar status if aggregate demand requires it.
