Bitcoins

Bitcoins provide a break from the old mundane ways of payment and at the same time places the opportunity of  minting money in your hands!

Also it has certain advantages attached to it.

You can pay directly to the seller and the sellers prefer bitcoins compared to other sources of payment like Credit cards where 2-3 % fees is imposed by Credit card processors. They can be used in any country and involve no risk of account being frozen(decentralized currency).
Within the context of Bitcoins we also discussed about Bubble and Ponzi Scheme and questions flew in from all directions making it a highly interactive discussion.
But in case a private key associated with a bitcoin is lost  you lose the possession of the bitcoin.

Starting with the basic meaning Bitcoin is an example of a digital currency.The concept of Bitcoins was developed by a person under the pseudonym ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’.

Bitcoin is a highly volatile currency and its value may vary from 100$ to 1240$ within the same year.

The value of bitcoins fluctuate due to the factors of demand and supply and also relative to the value of other currencies.

Bitcoins are mined at a decreasing rate i.e. the supply constantly increases.Thus the demand has to match to the level of increasing supply to keep the value constant.

Everyone’s eyes widened when  Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange,Silk Road online black market and other scams associated with Bitcoins were discussed.

In early February 2014, one of the largest bitcoin exchanges, Mt. Gox suspended withdrawals citing technical issues. By the end of the month, Mt. Gox had filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan amid reports that 744,000 bitcoins had been stolen!

In October 2013 the FBI of the United States shut down the Silk Road online black market and seized 144,000 bitcoins worth US$28.5 million at the time. The United States is considered more bitcoin-friendly than other governments. 

Every bitcoin has a public key and a private key attached to it.All the transactions in Bitcoins are recorded by Miners in a public ledger called the block chain.

Trading in bitcoins is simple:

You need to have a bitcoin wallet(a software that can downloaded on PC/smartphone)

Start buying bitcoins from Bitcoin exchanges.

The first bitcoin ATM was installed in October 2013 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

And soon Bitcoin ATMs are expected to be put up in many places!

And the market is yours!Shop or earn big moolah!


-Archit Pahwa