Listen, by now you’ve heard the term BitCoin at least once…if not I’ll assume you don’t watch the news, or get on the internet at all. Most of the buzz around it has to do with the massive jumps in value BitCoin has experienced over a short span of time. But let me circle back and get the basics. What is BitCoin?
What is BitCoin?
BitCoin is a type of Cryptocurrency. It is the first peer-to-peer payment network that has no central authority. It’s digital currency and in that vein it’s software. More specifically it’s open source in that any developer can access, review and modify the Bitcoin Software. There is no one person that profits from BitCoin since it has no central authority, it is controlled by those who use it..the consumers.
Can I go on a shopping spree with BitCoin?
Now you can’t go to your local 7-11 or WalMart and use BitCoin to purchase stuff yet, but there are some businesses that accept it and they are of course onlin. Reddit, WordPress, and Expedia are a few that accept it. For the average consumer you may or may not have seen the BitCoin wallet apps that are
available, (there's a section on the App Store for it). This is how you'd typically interact with BitCoin. You can get bitcoins by way of accepting them as payment for a service, or you can purchase them from someone directly selling or by going through the BitCoin Exhcanges . There are plenty available worldwide, two such entities for the United States are Gemini and itBit.
Will it become as widely used as the dollar?
If BitCoin really expands as an accepted form of currency I think business owners especially those that do business online will appreciate that BitCoin transactions are both secure and irreversible. So no more people pulling a fast one after they've racked up a ton of purchases and then reporting them as fraud. It also offers protection for the consumer, no personal information is contained in it. Now that doesn't mean that it's anonymous. Due to the open source nature of it, there are tons of public records regarding transactions. You want better privacy then going off the grid aka the internet and any other form of digital means, is best for you.
I don't pretend to know it all and I'm currently doing my due diligence on learning more about this cryptocurrency as I do with all new technology so I can be informed. I mean if the Winklevoss twins (you know the guys that got swindled out of that social media site lol) can be BitCoin billionaires why can't I? Have you purchased any BitCoin or started looking into it?