This article gives you all the details you need to know about Bitcoin.

You probably have heard of the recent craze in town called Bitcoin. In town? No, it’s actually all over the world.

But you still do not understand what Bitcoin is and why it is important.

What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency. And it’s the earliest cryptocurrency. The whitepaper that detailed what Bitcoin was about was released in 2009 by someone with the online name – Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin is not the only cryptocurrency available, there are over 900 cryptocurrencies in the market as at July 2017. By market capitalization, Bitcoin is currently the largest blockchain network.

Bitcoin is the first decentralized peer-to-peer payment network that is powered by its users with no central authority or middlemen. From a user perspective, Bitcoin is pretty much like cash for the Internet. It is a consensus network that enables a new payment system.

What is a Cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency is a medium of exchange like normal currencies such as USD (United States Dollars), but designed for the purpose of exchanging digital information (i.e. products and services for value) through a process made possible by certain principles of cryptography. Cryptography is used to secure the transactions and to control the creation of new coins.

Other cryptocurrencies with huge market capitalization include Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ripple, and Zcash.

How is one Bitcoin formed?

Bitcoins are created as a reward for a process known as mining. Mining is the processing of transactions on the blockchain network using the computing power of specialized hardware.

The Bitcoin network is sharing a public ledger called the “block chain”. This ledger contains every transaction ever processed, allowing a user’s computer to verify the validity of each transaction. The authenticity of each transaction is protected by digital signatures corresponding to the sending addresses, allowing all users to have full control over sending bitcoins from their own Bitcoin addresses.

How Do I Get 1 Bitcoin?

1 Bitcoin costs around $7,464 (or NGN 2,688,984) as of the time of writing this article. You can a whole one or buy a part of it. Depending on the country you are, you can buy directly with an exchange service like Coinbase or Luno or you can use a dealer in your local country.

Here is a list of exchanges.

You can also offer a service and be paid in Bitcoin. There are now several global merchants receiving payments in Bitcoin. Here is a list of companies that accepts Bitcoin as payment.

You can also buy from someone near you.

You can invest in a fund or business that has invested in Bitcoins such as this one.

You can take the long route by investing in mining equipment and be rewarded through competitive mining as described above.

Final thoughts:

Bitcoin is here to stay even though a lot of people may not believe in it. Blockchain technology has more important uses beyond payment, which will further increase the popularity of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

As internet companies were suspected and not given much of a chance in the late 90s and early 2000s, the same is Bitcoin and the technology behind it today.

Now, internet companies like Amazon, Alphabet (Google’s parent company) and Facebook are generating insane amounts of money and commanding such great influence around the world today.

Bitcoin can also be seen as an investment.

Why? There are only 21 million Bitcoins that can ever be mined. As of 2017, 17 million Bitcoins have already been mined. Do you understand what this means? It means that once the 21 million Bitcoins has been mined, the demand we will see will be more overwhelming than what it is now. This demand will equivalently drive the price up.

The demand will increase because more Bitcoins can not be mined and it will now be only circulated.

Investors typically use Gold (with just about 155-171 kilotons ever mined) to hedge their bets when economies are getting derailed. Now, they are gradually turning to Bitcoins. This will further drive the price up.

Now, is the best time to buy into Bitcoin and increase your chances of getting out of the rat race, FAST!