Let’s talk Bitcoin.

Hello Steemians! It is I, AttractiveToast, and I have returned with an update as promised… although it’s about bitcoin, as this would be a logical place to start for those that don’t really have their footing yet.

As I’ve just mentioned, this one is mostly for those that are just beginning, although all the vets out there, feel free to give me your opinions!

So, let’s start from the top.

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency which was created in 2009 by an unknown person going by the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto. Before we get into Bitcoin, lets look back a bit. believe it or not, the idea is not new. Virtual currencies have been attempted multiple times in the past, ever heard of Beenz and Flooz? Yes, the 90’s gave birth to some weird-ass names for currencies.

What the hell are those??

Beenz was an attempt at creating an online currency.The aim was to allow consumers to ear been by performing activities, like visiting a website, shopping, or just logging on with a specific Internet Service Provider. Sounds good, doesn’t it? They lobbied for the creation of their currency, and through their marketing campaigns they received backing from billionaires and the government, and eventually raised over $80 million in venture capital. They even managed to get a deal to connect networks with MasterCard- Beenz was primed for success. But it crashed and burned in spectacular proportions. No, not because there was something wrong with the concept, but simply because investors lost confidence in the internet in general- the dot.com crash happened.

Flooz was another attempt at creating an online currency. Except, the aim of Flooz was to simply create a universal currency to be used by online merchants. This one doesn’t sound like a bad idea either does it? For those of you who are wondering, the name was based on the Arabic word for money- ”Fuloos”. Flooz was promoted across multiple ad campaigns by Whoopi Goldberg, but it ultimately failed. Online merchants didn’t really adopt Flooz, so it never got established as a recognized exchange of currency. The final blow to Flooz was when the FBI found out that a Russian crime group was using Flooz and stolen credit cards for a money laundering scheme. They had exhausted over $40 million in venture capital, and finally gave up just before the dot.com crash. Flooz was officially dead on August 26, 2001.

Holy %@#*&@#!!, does that mean cryptocurrencies are doomed to fail?

Wait a second, don’t get your panties in a twist.

Yes, digital currencies have a sad, sad history. But that was just the beginning. In late 2008, Satoshi Kamiya announced on Sourceforge that he had developed a “Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.” No, this was not Bitcoin. This was the birth of Blockchain. He then announced that he had released Bitcoin, and the Peer-to-Peer network would prevent forgery while being completely decentralized with no server or central authority. More than a decade later after previous virtual currencies using Trusted Third-Party systems had failed, the single most important part of Satoshi’s creation was that he had created the first decentralized system- one where no trust was needed…

…enter Blockchain

After the creation of Bitcoin it slowly grew in popularity from there to the current economic powerhouse that it is. Of course, that’s not to say it didn’t have its downfalls. At the start of Bitcoin in 2009, Bitcoins never really had a price as they were not traded. That is, until someone decided to exchange 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas (that's $146M today. If only he knew then what we know now.. ) Bitcoin now started to have value and others caught on, thus other cryptocurrencies were born, with Litecoin being of the first to appear. Fast forward to 2013 and Bitcoin's value had finally reached $1000- Only to suddenly crash down to around $300. It would then take over 2 years for Bitcoin to reach the same value. But before that could happen, the scams came. In 2014, the largest Bitcoin exchange at the time Mt.Gox suddenly went offline, and roughly 800,000 Bitcoins disappeared... Whoever got those is now $11.5 Billion richer. Through all this, Bitcoin fought on to reach $20,000 in December, only to crash yet again. That has been the volatile nature of Bitcoin. In fact, right now Bitcoin (and almost all other cryptos) have had a huge drop. This has seen Bitcoin fall from $17,000 to $13,800 over the course of 2 days - although, Bitcoin is now fighting to recover from this and is over $14,000.

That is basically all of the major things that have happened with Bitcoin to this day, if i missed anything feel free to let me know! :)

My next article will discuss some more about blockchain and what it's potential is. I might also highlight what i thin are some noteworthy cryptos that show what blockchain can do.

Thanks for reading!!