2016-02-23 Tue

Bitcoin is a form of digital currency, created and used to buy things electronically.. The concept is invented by a software developer called Satoshi Nakamoto. No one controls Bitcoins, nor are they printed or mined. They’re produced by people using software that solves mathematical problems through cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin’s most important characteristic, and the thing that makes it different to conventional money, is that it is decentralized and no single institution controls the bitcoin network. Bitcoin is created digitally, by a community of people that anyone can join. Bitcoins are ‘mined’, using computing power in a distributed network. This network also processes transactions made with the virtual currency, effectively making bitcoin its own payment network.

According to the bitcoin protocol, only 21 million bitcoins can ever be created by miners. However, these coins can be divided into smaller parts (the smallest divisible amount is one hundred millionth of a bitcoin and is called a ‘Satoshi’