What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is cryptographically secure way to send or transfer value through the internet. This powerful and decentralized digital currency was initially created as an alternative payment system that is free of any central control or system.

Let’s discuss Bitcoin in detail, its history, and how it works.

What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency created back in early 2009. The white paper associated with the currency was published by an unknown and pseudonymous person known as Satoshi Nakamoto.

Bitcoin is the most widely known cryptocurrency in the world, the true identity of its creator remains a mystery. Yes, it is true; the world knows Bitcoin but not about its creator or the team that created this monetary revolution.

Who controls Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is not regulated by any central authority or bank; instead, it works on its own as a decentralized authority.

A major selling point for the cryptocurrency is that it has lesser transaction fees when compared to the traditional online payment mechanisms using government-based (fiat) currencies.

New users will be surprised to know that Bitcoin is not a physical currency, only balances and numbers recorded on a public ledger that people have transparent and open access to.

Besides, bitcoin transactions are governed and verified by the latest technology and huge amounts computing power.

Is bitcoin legal?

As we stated above, no government or authority regulates bitcoin and this makes some question both its legitimacy and legality.

In many nations, it is considered to be an asset and is taxable as such. The idea behind Bitcoin has really captured public imagination globally, and has collectively triggered the launch of numerous digital cryptocurrencies known as altcoins.

Commonly, Bitcoin is abbreviated as "BTC."

Understanding Bitcoin

In simple words, bitcoin’s system includes a massive “collection of computers,” aka "nodes" or "miners."

These systems run bitcoin's code and save its 'distributed ledger', or 'blockchain'.

Symbolically, and in the simplest words, a blockchain is a group of blocks, and each block includes a collection of transactions.

Moreover, all the computers or systems running the blockchain has exact details of blocks and transactions. And users can transparently view when these are getting filled with new bitcoin transactions.

Due to this transparency, it becomes almost impossible to cheat or breach the system.

Did you know, Bitcoin has over 10,000 nodes at 30 June 2021,(even after the Chinese Government closed down their BTC mining industry) and the number is rapidly growing?

A Quick History of Bitcoin's Creation

18 Aug 2008

An unknown person registered the domain “bitcoin.org.” The domain is still "WhoisGuard Protected," which means others cannot view the person’s identity.

Oct. 31, 2008

Satoshi Nakamoto announced at metzdowd.com: "I have been working on an advanced electronic cash system that operates peer-to-peer, without any third party. This historical whitepaper was issued on bitcoin.org, titled as "Bitcoin: Peer-to-Peer Cash System."

Jan. 3, 2009

The first mining of the bitcoin block took place, namely “Block 0.”

Jan. 8, 2009

Cryptography Mailing list launched the first version of the bitcoin software.

And the rest, as they say, is a new international monetary paradigm.

Is Bitcoin safe?

Due to its extensive network, Bitcoin is almost impossible to 'hack'. As every transaction on the network is recorded by every node, to create an incorrect transaction, a bad actor would have to control more than 50% of the network, which would cost more than an attack would be worth.

Furthermore, developers and communities are working day and night to identify and restore the loopholes in the networks, adding an extra layer of security.

Lastly, if bitcoin gains the status of an acceptable currency for people and real users, it can outdo the central bank's role due to the latest computer and blockchain algorithm.

Does Utopia Digital Asset Management invest in Bitcoin?

Although our aim is to outperform BTC over the mid-to-long term, Bitcoin is the biggest constituent of our fund strategy on ICONOMI.

We consider the influence of Bitcoin on the wider crypto-market to be a major reason for investing.

Furthermore, as Bitcoin is becoming widely considered as 'digital gold', we see it appreciating considerably over the next few years as inflation from pandemic-inspired money creation takes a full hold in world economies.