Crypto Academy Season 3 Beginners' course - Homework Post by @jamezmccoy for Task 3: Bitcoin
What Is Bitcoin and what was the Aim Behind Bitcoin Invention? Is Cryptocurrency Good For A Business To accept As Payment? Why?
What is bitcoin
Bitcoin as we know it is a digital currency found on a decentralized platform that can be used to buy and sell with out having to consult banks which was first and officially launched 3rd of January 2009. Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency to have been able to successfully solve the problem other attempts to launch an alternative form of money have, Before bitcoin successfully launched other form of alternative finance were brought up but none could solve the big issue of the double-spending problem that was majorly the reason behind the unsuccess of other forms of alternative currency, but bitcoin was able to handle the problem by introducing a transparent ledger that everyone keeps a copy.
Source
Bitcoin was created by a Japanese called Shitoshi Nakamoto and bieng the pioneer crypto currency is the most valuable coin right now on any crypto market and it has been on the rise ever since it launched, when It was started to be used for trading it was worth around 0.08$ per coin and currently today it holds a value of $33,838.93 per coin as of today Wednesday 29th. Bitcoin has a total supply of 21,000,000 BTC and a circulating supply of 18,740,850 BTC it has so far had its peak value on April 14 2021 at $64,863.10 and has had its ups and downs since then, it is currently ranking as the #1 in crypto market with a fully diluted market cap of $709,958,485,275.49. Here is a are some blockexplorer you can use to explore bitcoin some more blockchain and blockchair
The first ever transaction on bitcoin was recorded on the 22nd of May 2010 when an individual by name Lazlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 btc in exchamge for 2 pizzas.
what was the Aim Behind Bitcoin Invention?
Bitcoin was created solely as an alternative to our centralized finance which had lots of flaws, bitcoin was created to eliminate this flaws and be a better option to the already used centralized finance system which has flaws like
- Charges
Our centralized finance system charged too much to for maintaining and keeping our money for instance if you own a bank account you constantly get debited for things like ATM maintenance, monthly dues e.t.c bitcoin eliminated and does not have any of such flaws as it is fully decentralized only the person with access to his wallet can approve transactions
- Slow
Have you tried sending money to a relative overseas before the paper works is cumbersome and tedious and even after your done with the paper work it takes nothing less than 12 hours before the recipient can go to the bank with his paper work to clear and receive the funds. Now with bitcoin you can sit at the comfort of your home and send crypto from your wallet to anyone's in the world and it would be processed in less than an hour if not immediately
- Value
Now because our centralized finance system is controlled by the government, the government can order more money to be printed at any time hence the money tends to loose value more and more but with Bitcoin it has a limited supply so the question of value is out of hand although as the market is controlled by every one it is quite volatile too
Is Cryptocurrency Good For A Business To accept As Payment? Why?
Yes, one of the best thing that happened in the business world was the invention of crypto currencies because it.
- Eliminated having to carry a big stack of cash to the bank each time a big purchase is made or going to the bank to withdraw a big stack for purchase
- If a business accepts cryptocurrency as a method of payments it tends to have a reduced transactional charges
- Its safe as an individual only uses address to receive payment and cannot be hacked if private keys are not revealed
- Cryptocurrnencies like bitcoin has no tax charges
- No risk of having a third party freeze your account for some reasons this way your money is completely yours and yours alone
- Transparency
- Except forced bitcoin cannot be stolen, as businesses this days get hits by robbers often now a days, if your money is mostly on bitcoin they will have nothing to steal cash wise
Conclusion
Bitcoin was a pioneer which paved a way for other cryptocurrencies to successfully launch and develop its blockchain ledger makes it completely safe so the advantages of having or using bitcoin as a method of payment and as a form of cash cannot be overemphasized. Bitcoin has turned the world around in financial terms as almost every individual has 1 or 2 wallets where he keeps some certain amount of crypto currency either for daily transactions or as a form of savings. Bitcoin will still rise and it is currently bieng added as a method of recieving or making payment around the world.Thanks prof @steam4u for this wonderful opportunity.
P.S all data gotten about bitcoin was sourced from Coinmarketcap
Thank you