By the end of this one short page. You will understand Bitcoin in a very simple and accurate way so that if you want to get involved and buy some, you can make an educated decision/choice.
I want to explain Bitcoin so that anyone can understand it. Why? Because it is already here and more and more people are using them.
The web pages and YouTube videos that try to explain Bitcoin, just seem to make it harder to understand, than make any sense to the average person in the street.
Bitcoin is a crypto-currency. It simple terms. It is a currency based on numbers stored in computers all over the world.
These numbers are stored using encryption technologies that convert the numbers into meaningless gibberish, making it secure. If someone hacked the computers, no useful information would be visible.
There is no actual Bitcoin in reality that you can touch, or put in your purse or pocket.
Instead, they are stored on your computer, or you can carry Bitcoins on your smartphone and pay for things, just as you would use a credit or debit card.
Today many people travel all over the world, to find work. They do this in order to support their families. They work hard and when they want to send money home. They get charged huge transfer fees by the banks and other money exchange businesses.
With Bitcoin, the transfer fees are almost zero. At most fractions of a penny. So all your hard earned money stays with you so you can send it overseas to your family.
How does it work? Where is it's value? There will only ever be 21 million Bitcoins made. That's it. It's scarce. The computers that store the Bitcoin information, all share a ledger that is synchronised to every other computer in the network.
When you buy a cup of coffee with your Bitcoin. The cost is deducted from your Bitcoin. You can carry on spending until you have spent it all.
All of the computers in the Bitcoin network will know at virtually the same time that you have spent your Bitcoin.
The simplest way to explain Bitcoin is to think of it as just another form of exchange.
In the past, we would give cash to someone, for something in exchange. Goods or services.
Bitcoin acts just like money except that it is safer and easier to move around the world. Now you can send $millions and it cost's pennies. Needless to say the banks and currency exchanges are not happy about it, as they see their business's going down the drain.
But do you care?
So that's it, Bitcoin explained in plain English. Now you know what it is, you can explain Bitcoin to your friends and impress them with your newfound geekiness.
Steemit is creating a new crypto currency every day with your posts.
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I'm not sure, but if I had to guess I would say the UK is further ahead in Bitcoin adoption for easy payment.
We've been using them for a few years now. Most of the popular coins are in daily use here. People use them to buy anything from a coffee to a car.
We want steem as easily to use at some point without having to convert it first.
No worries in converting it though. I was very scared the first time. I was rather intimidated and wrote a humorous ( I though) post about it
https://steemit.com/funny/@old-guy-photos/im-not-a-virgin-anymore
I'll pop over and have a read. I just bought some lite coins and it was a bit of a faff to be honest and it cost me about $12 for the trade on coinbase. Dan Larimer. The guy who built the steemit block chain is working on a new project to make these trades free. Bingo!
Yes Dan seems to clearly be a genius. I enjoy reading his posts, although I dont always understand them lol.
I am pleased that you have taken to this platform so nicely. Like a duck to water Id say!
I know what you mean, it seems a bit complicated but it is pretty simple in reality.
Thanks to this post of yours I now understand how bitcoin works. However, I have a few questions. Firstly, if only 21 million bitcoins were made, I suppose its value would depend on demand and supply. So, bitcoin owners will be able to sell their bitcoins for more than they have paid for it? If this is the case, 21 million may at the end of the day belong to only a few. Or am I wrong? Secondly, how and where does one buy bitcoins? Thirdly, what if the seller of goods doesn't accept bitcoins as payment? How many businesses accept bitcoins instead of money?
Check out Bitcoin stats you'll be both shocked and amazed.
Welcome to steemit lol
Good to see you are checking out the website before blogging. Very sensible to gauge the audience potential.Hi @martiecoetser lol so many questions. I must write a few blogs to answer them all. Quick answer.