Cryptocurrencies are the digital currencies which are decentralized and no one regulates them. The concept of cryptocurrencies was given by Satoshi Nakamoto in the form of whitepaper he published in 2008. In the whitepaper, satoshi discussed his concept of decentralized peer-to-peer payment system and benefits of it.
Bitcoin History
In 2009, Satoshi developed his idea in the form of Bitcoin, it was the first Cryptocurrency ever introduced. In the initial years of Bitcoin, it was only geek topic, few people knew about it but it was not that commonly discussed on a public level. Bitcoin value started to increase in 2013 and it was trading at 750$ at the end of the year but in 2014, after the hack of Mt Gox Bitcoin value was dropped from 750$ to 250$ in few hours. Mt Gox hack was the major setback to Bitcoin investors because in this hack, investors loss around 450 million dollars. In 2017, Bitcoin crossed the 1000 Mark for the first time and in next 11 months, it crossed the mark of 19000 US Dollar. But soon after hitting 19000 Dollar mark, Bitcoin started to lose its value because of market speculation that Coin Base is shifting their focus to Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin market crashed to 13000 Dollar in few hours.
Bitcoin’s Volatile Nature
Bitcoin is a highly volatile Cryptocurrency and its volatility is the major factor which stops many investors from investing in it but on the other, its volatility is the major thing which also encourages investors for long time investment. According to Bitcoin Blockchain, 16.8 million Bitcoins have been mined and out of 16.8 million coins, approximately 4 million coins are out of mainstream since 2010. According to Bitcoin experts, these 4 million coins are held by long-term investors, Satoshi and a major portion of these Bitcoins are lost forever.
Founder of Bitcoin
Founder of Bitcoin is also a mysterious person or group. Nobody knows the real identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. Satoshi can’t directly control the Bitcoin but he has 1 million Bitcoins which he mined in the initial years of Bitcoin. Many economists think that his 1 million Bitcoins can crash the Bitcoin market but Bitcoin experts don’t agree and say that sudden induction of 1 million Bitcoins will be major dent but Bitcoin will recover from this dent quickly because of its demand.
Bitcoin’s Future
Bitcoin is the highest value Cryptocurrency in the market and no other Cryptocurrency come near the Bitcoin in term of its value and market cap. Bitcoin has limited supply of 21 million coins and so far 16.8 million coins have been mined. According to an estimate, 99% Bitcoin will be mined by 2032 and rest of the Bitcoin will be mined over the span of next 100 years. Bitcoin will hit its limit by 2140.
According to an estimate, Bitcoin will become the 6th largest reserve currency by 2030. Many Bitcoin experts think that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will become the reserve currency in the future but it will take time.
In the last 2 years, Bitcoin has also emerged as the ideal option for investors to invest their money as the dollar is losing its value and only viable option for investors is to invest in land, gold, and Bitcoin. Land and Gold is a good option for investment but you will have to wait for years to get a good profit on the other hand Bitcoin investors enjoy good profit over the span of few hours. For example, people who invested their money on January 2017 enjoyed the profit of 1300%.
High Volatile nature of the Bitcoin is a major risk as well as an opportunity for investors. Investors can earn thousands of dollars profit in just a few hours but at the same time risk of losing value is also equal. Bitcoin investors think that Bitcoin will become more stable with time but its volatility will stay but it will be reduced to a minimum level. Bitcoin is still young as it is only 8 years old and with time its value will become more stable.
Ethereum
Ethereum is another Blockchain company that has digital token “Ether” and it has the 3rd largest market cap. Ethereum or Ether is used interchangeably to refer the Cryptocurrency. Ethereum was launched in 2015 and its current value is around 850 US Dollars. Major Difference between Bitcoin’s Blockchain and Ethereum blockchain is the smart contracts.
Smart Contracts
Smart contracts allow two different parties to negotiate with each other and execute a deal without any third party. The idea of Smart contract was given by a cryptographer in 1994. Smart contracts are code written over the blockchain which executes when certain requirements are met then this piece of code store into blockchain worldwide and it can’t be corrupted. Many big tech companies like Microsoft and JP Morgan are developing uses of Ethereum smart contracts.
How to Trade/Buy Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies
Just like Fiat Currencies, cryptocurrencies are also traded over the different exchanges and you can buy them using your Fiat currencies like US Dollars, euros etc. After paying the money, you will receive the Bitcoin in your wallet. Major Bitcoin Exchanges are Coinbase, CoinMama, Cex.io, Walls of coins, coingate, bitsane etc. You can read detailed reviews of these Bitcoin Exchanges and other major Bitcoin exchanges on our website.
