BITCOIN (BTC)
Bitcoin
(abbreviation: BTC; sign: βΏ) is the first decentralized cryptocurrency.
Nodes in the peer-to-peer bitcoin network verify transactions through cryptography and record them in a public distributed ledger, called a blockchain, without central oversight.
Consensus between nodes is achieved using a computationally intensive process based on proof of work, called mining, that requires increasing quantities of electricity and guarantees the security of the bitcoin blockchain.
Based on a free market ideology, bitcoin was invented in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto, an unknown person.
Use of bitcoin as a currency began in 2009, with the release of its open-source implementation.:βch.
1β In 2021, El Salvador adopted it as legal tender.
Bitcoin
is currently used more as a store of value and less as a medium of exchange or unit of account.
It is mostly seen as an investment and has been described by many scholars as an economic bubble.
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