A Complete Beginner’s Guide To Bitcoin

We have all heard of bitcoins or cryptocurrencies at some point. They are completely digital virtual currencies exchanged directly between two parties through the web and without the need of an intermediary. They were created in 2009 by a programmer under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.

Unlike traditional money, they are not controlled or backed by any bank or central government authority, they are computer codes (mathematical algorithms) that represent monetary units. Today there are approximately millions of Bitcoins in existence, transactions are irreversible and can only be refunded by the person receiving the money.

How do we obtain bitcoins?

Currently, there are countless different ways, but we will tell you about the most basic and therefore the most popular ones:

Earning bitcoins with PTC pages and faucets.

Allows you to earn small fractions of Bitcoin in a simple way and without any risk, as in the famous PTCs, in some of these pages we have the possibility of accumulating coins by simply viewing ads.

Mining Bitcoins

Although mining bitcoins is the “original” way to get them, this process has changed radically.

You have to run a software that connects you to the P2P network of the currency, in exchange for part of the processing power of the computer, you receive a payment in that currency, equivalent to the power supplied, either when a new block is generated, or through a fee on transactions.

You must take into account the expense of electricity, the physical wear and tear of computer components, and the reduction of your performance while you are mining, so it is recommended to avoid doing it with a home computer.

Mining is crazy right now, those who make money with this technique have clusters of computers, with parallel equipment and several graphics cards and CPUs. In reality, making money with mining is a thing of the past, but that doesn’t mean it will stop being implemented.

Are Bitcoins anonymous?

Contrary to what many believe, they are not, as a detectable trace of each transaction is left in a public record known as a blockchain, helping to prevent people from spending the same Bitcoins more than once.

Can I buy Bitcoins?

Of course, you can, they are bought online using traditional money (dollars, euros, among others) through Bitcoin exchanges and private sellers. Some of the most popular include Bitso and Coinbase, but there are many to choose from around the world.

How and where are Bitcoins stored?

As they are completely virtual currencies, to access them we need storage software, this allows us to see the balance in our account, make and receive transfers.

As Bitcoin is an open protocol currency, it allows the implementation of software called “digital wallets” that allow money management and are compatible with Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, iOS, among others. These are available in web, computer, mobile and hardware versions (considered the most secure method to date).

With Bitcoin, the money belongs to a “Bitcoin cloud” (Blockchain), and what the software stores, is a copy of the key to access it.

Can I earn interest in my cryptocurrencies?

The answer is yes. Nowadays, there are many companies that facilitate saving accounts for cryptocurrency users that offer them a good amount of interest over their investments. One such platform is POKKET, where users can open a crypto savings account, and start earning by just resting their cryptocurrency on their account. You can visit their website https://pokket.com to learn more about the crypto savings account, and the Interest that they offer.

How much is a Bitcoin worth?

Surely this is the question we were all waiting for, however, it will not be the last, as bitcoin is considered such a volatile digital currency, it is difficult to answer this question exactly since its value will depend on the market.

Currently, we can say that the price of bitcoin surpassed $56882.40, and which is much higher as compared to the previous year.

This brings us to our last question.

Who, if anyone, determines the price of bitcoin?

The price of bitcoin is determined by all the participants in its buying — selling process, i.e. its users, i.e. the value of bitcoin has been changing over time and is based, basically on the trust of its users, its usefulness, and popularity.

If in 2010 a bitcoin was less than one euro cent, it was because many still doubted its security, efficiency and had not reached full acceptance.

This operation of determining the price through buying and selling is not different from what happens in other sectors: legal tender currencies, it can be concluded that the value of bitcoin, like any currency, varies every second.

We hope that having answered these questions, you will feel confident to continue participating in the digital age.