What Are Bitcoins?

Bitcoin is a digital currency or electronic cash the relies on peer to peer technology for completing transactions. Since peer to peer technology is used as the major network, bitcoins provide a community like a managed economy. This is to mean, bitcoins eliminate the centralized authority way of managing currency and promote community management of currency. Most Also of the software related to bitcoin mining and managing of bitcoin digital cash is open source. The first Bitcoin software was developed by Satoshi Nakamoto and it’s based on open source cryptographic protocol. Bitcoins smallest unit is known as the Satoshi which is basically one-hundredth millionth of a single bitcoin (0.00000001 BTC).

One cannot underestimate the boundaries BITCOINS eliminates in the digital economy. For instance, the BITCOIN eliminates governed controls over currency by a centralized agency and offers control and management to the community as a whole. Furthermore, the fact that the BITCOIN is based on an open source cryptographic protocol makes it an open place where there are scrupulous activities such as fluctuating value, deflation and inflation among others. While many internet users are becoming aware of the privacy they should exercise to complete some online transactions, bitcoin is gaining more popularity than ever before. However, for those who know about the dark web and how it works can acknowledge that some people began using it long ago.

On the downside, the bitcoin is also very secure in making anonymous payments which may be a threat to security or personal health. For instance, the dark web markets are the major suppliers and retailers of imported drugs and even weapons. The use of BITCOINs in the dark web facilitates a safe network for such criminal activities. Despite that, if put to good use, bitcoin has many benefits that can eliminate some of the economic fallacy as a result of centralized agency management of currency. In addition, the bitcoin allows for instance exchange of cash anywhere in the world. The use of bitcoins also mitigates counterfeiting, printing, or devaluation over time. Also, while relying on peer to peer network as its backbone, it promotes the distributed authority of transaction records making it safe to make exchanges.

Other advantages of the bitcoin include;

In the online business world, bitcoin promotes money security and total control. This is because buyers are protected against merchants who may want to charge extra for a lower cost service. The buyer can also choose not to share personal information after making a transaction. Besides, identity theft protection is achieved as a result of backed up hiding personal information.
Bitcoins are provided alternatives to major common currency catastrophes such as getting lost, frozen or damaged. However, it is recommended to always make a backup of your bitcoins and encrypt them with a password.
In making online purchases and payments using bitcoins, there is a small fee or zero transaction fee charged. This promotes affordability of use.
Merchants also face fewer risks that could result from fraud as bitcoin transactions cannot be reversed, unlike other currencies in electronic form. Bitcoins also prove useful even in moments of high crime rate and fraud since it is difficult to con someone over an open public ledger (Blockchain).
Bitcoin currency is also hard to be manipulated as it is open source and the cryptographic protocol is very secure.
Transactions can also be verified and approved, anywhere, anytime. This is the level of flexibility offered by this digital currency.

Also Read – Bitkey A Linux Distribution Dedicated To Bitcoin Transactions

How To Mine Bitcoins and The Applications to Accomplish Necessary Bitcoin Management Tasks

In the digital currency, BITCOIN mining and management requires additional software. There are numerous open source bitcoin management software that makes it easy to make payments, receive payments, encrypt and backup of your bitcoins and also bitcoin mining software. There are sites such as; Freebitcoin where one earns free bitcoins by viewing ads, MoonBitcoin is another site that one can sign up for free and earn bitcoins. However, it is convenient if one has spare time and a sizable network of friends participating in the same. There are many sites offering bitcoin mining and one can easily sign up and start mining. One of the major secrets is referring to as many people as you can to create a large network.

Applications required for use with bitcoins include the bitcoin wallet which allows one to safely keep bitcoins. This is just like the physical wallet using to keep hard cash but in a digital form. The wallet can be downloaded here – Bitcoin – Wallet. Other similar applications include; the Blockchain which works similar to the Bitcoin Wallet.

The screenshots below show the Freebitco and MoonBitco mining sites respectively.

There are various ways of acquiring the bitcoin currency. Some of them include the use of bitcoin mining rigs, purchasing of bitcoins in exchange markets and doing free bitcoin mining online. Purchasing of bitcoins can be done at; MtGox, bitNZ, Bitstamp, BTC-E, VertEx, etc.. Several mining open source applications are available online. These applications include; Bitminter, 5OMiner, BFG Miner among others. These applications make use of some graphics card and processor features to generate bitcoins. The efficiency of mining bitcoins on a pc largely depends on the type of graphics card and the processor of the mining rig. Besides, there are many secure online storage for backing up bitcoins. These sites provide bitcoin storage services free of charge. Examples of bitcoin managing sites include; xapo, BlockChain, etc. signing up on these sites require a valid email and phone number for verification. Xapo offers additional security through the phone application by requesting for verification whenever a new sign-in is made.

Disadvantages Of Bitcoins

The numerous advantages ripped from using bitcoins digital currency cannot be overlooked. However, as it is still in its infancy stage, the bitcoin currency meets several points of resistance. For instance, the majority of the individual are not fully aware of the bitcoin digital currency and how it works. The lack of awareness can be mitigated through education and the creation of awareness. Bitcoin users also face volatility as the demand for bitcoins is higher than the available amount of coins. However, given more time, volatility will be lowered as when many people will start using bitcoins.

Improvements Can be Made

Based on the infancy of the bitcoin technology, there is still room for changes to make it more secure and reliable. Given more time, the bitcoin currency will be developed enough to provide flexibility as a common currency. For bitcoin to succeed, many people need to be made aware of it besides being given information on how it works and its benefits.