Recently we have been listening to many views about Crypto Currency, Blockchain, and Bitcoin. I, as a finance student, was completely confused about everything. What is happening? What is it? Why are people running behind it for investing?
I am going to LEARN about it today while writing about it.
Currency is a generally accepted form of money, including coins and paper notes, which is issued by a government and circulated within an economy. – Investopedia
In today’s world, Central banks like US FED, BOJ, and ECB are there to handle money. In many countries, they are 100% govt owned. More information is here. In some countries, they are publically listed in the bank of Japan and the Bank of Greece. Some of them are private. Read about them here.
Fiat currency is legal tender whose value is backed by the government that issued it.
NEARLY all currency in today’s world is the Fiat Currency.
The reason I highlighted Nearly is cryptocurrency. What is cryptocurrency?
A blockchain is a digitized, decentralized, public ledger of all cryptocurrency transactions. Constantly growing as ‘completed’ blocks (the most recent transactions) are recorded and added in chronological order, allowing market participants to keep track of digital currency transactions without central record keeping. Each node (a computer connected to the network) gets a copy of the blockchain downloaded automatically.
Originally developed as the accounting method for the virtual currency Bitcoin, blockchains – which use what’s known as distributed ledger technology (DLT) – are appearing in a variety of commercial applications today. Currently, the technology is primarily used to verify transactions within digital currencies though it is possible to digitize, code, and insert practically any document into the blockchain. Doing so creates an indelible record that cannot be changed; furthermore, the entire community can verify the record’s authenticity using the blockchain instead of a single centralized authority.
In simple words, Bitcoin is the currency of the internet.
When a transaction is started in the blockchain, it goes to nodes, which are largely Computers and Servers. Here the system verifies the transaction with the help of algorithms. After verification, the transaction will send to Block with other trades. and it is done
So, where is bitcoin? And what are mining bitcoins?
Nothing more than like fee.
When a transaction is completed, it needs to keep a record. Inbox or Block. Where to keep them? On memory. Of course. Here they use the storage of your computer. if you permit them, then you will earn BITCOIN. aD THE SUPPLY IS LOW, AND DEMAND IS HIGH, THE PRICE OF BITCOIN IS SKY HIGH. ONE BITCOIN COST 529435.74 INDIAN RUPEE. BUT AS GOVT IS AGAINST BITCOIN AND RBI banned it, it isn’t easy in India. Banks are not doing transactions with anyone who is doing the marketing.
Other cryptocurrencies which exist are Bitcoin, LiteCoin, Ethereum, Zcash, Dash, Ripple, Monero (XMR)