So What Exactly Is a Bitcoin Anyway? Complete Breakdown of Bitcoin

There's virtual money, and then there's Bitcoin. The super geeky Bitcoin is just a mathematically-derived currency that promises to improve just how people use money. Bitcoins are not real coins-they're strings of code locked with military-grade encryption-and individuals who utilize them to get and sell goods and services are difficult to trace. Alongside anonymous drug dealers, Ashton Kutcher and the Winklevoss twins have reportedly jumped on the bandwagon. There's something to be said about using currency that isn't regulated by the us government or banks, doesn't include the most common transaction fees and is impossible to counterfeit. Bitcoin also promises to be disaster-proof, when you can't destroy numbers in the exact same way that you could destroy gold reserves or paper money.

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Bitcoin is a digital currency created in 2009 with a developer hiding beneath the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto (supposedly a Japanese guy who has perfect command of American English). Bitcoin is decentralized, meaning it's not controlled by a main authority like an economic institution, country, government or individual. It's peer-to-peer and open-source, distributed across the net from computer to computer, without requirement for middlemen. In comparison to U.S. dollars, Bitcoin is virtually untraceable, making it attractive to libertarians afraid of government meddling and denizens of the underworld. You should use it to fund purchases online and off, from illegal drugs on the Silk Road to legit restaurant meals.

You may get Bitcoins from friends, online giveaways or by buying them with real money from Bitcoin exchanges. Using a real income to get Bitcoins defeats the whole intent behind anonymity, however, because you may want to add your bank-account to a third party site. You may also buy Bitcoins making use of your cell phone or through cash deposit establishments. New Bitcoins are made by "mining." Mining is done automatically by computers or servers-it's not real-world mining where you've to dig underground to unearth commodities, but the concept is similar. You have to exert effort to dig up gold, and you (or your machine) also need to spending some time and resources to verify and record Bitcoin transactions.

One of many coolest things about Bitcoin is that it gets its value not from real-world items, but from codes. Bitcoins are pulled out of the ether by machines (and the people who run them) in exchange for solving complex mathematical problems related to the current number of Bitcoins. These bulky and pricey supercomputers have powerful encryption capabilities (and reportedly suck electricity like nobody's business). In a typical transaction, buyer A from location X pays seller B some Bitcoins online. Miners then race to authenticate and encrypt the transaction, logging Bitcoin codes in a central server. Whomever solves the puzzle first gets the Bitcoins. About 25 new Bitcoins are made for each 10-minute block, but that number can increase or decrease depending on what long the network runs

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