Bitcoin (BTC) : The world’s first decentralised cryptocurrency.
Beginners guide:
As the world’s first decentralised cryptocurrency with the highest market cap value and global recognition, Bitcoin is commonly referred to as the ‘great grandfather of crypto,’ and the common point of entry for those who embark on their journey into the world of cryptocurrency. So a clear Bitcoin review is essential ready for any crypto investor.
Industry type:
- Monetary authority and security.
Value proposition:
- Bitcoin solves major monetary problems and paves the way for a revolution in the financial industry.
- Bitcoin is difficult to manipulate, impossible to counterfeit, and easy to transfer.
- Currently, all other cryptocurrencies are valued against Bitcoin, and with the largest market cap value and limited supply it is considered ‘digital gold’.
Interesting Technology:
- By utilising blockchain technology to record and secure transactions, deny counterfeiting, enable peer-to-peer transactions, Bitcoin removes the slow and costly middle man through decentralisation.
Notable team:
- Satoshi Nakamoto is the creator of Bitcoin, a mysterious figure whose identity is unknown and who has become a mythological hero to the world.
- Nakamoto disappeared in 2010, leaving the Bitcoin Core development team to continue working to maintain the Bitcoin network today.
Notable partnerships:
- In 2018, Swiss start up company Tangem, responded to the concern of Bitcoin’s exclusive digital existence, by releasing the first Bitcoin banknotes in Singapore.
- Also in 2018, the New York Stock Exchange requested permission to launch Bitcoin-related-exchange-funds, heralding the oncoming industrial interest and potential mass adoption.
The Good:
- Bitcoin is the most popular and trusted cryptocurrency with the highest market cap value.
- It is available to trade and purchase on all exchanges, with the most software and hardware reinforcing it’s network.
- It is the most tried and tested coin and has reached price values far exceeding previous expectations.
- Is public and made available to anyone, anywhere in the world.
The Bad:
- Bitcoin’s network is limited to processing 7 transactions per second.
- High transaction fees.
- Slow transaction speeds.
- If Bitcoin is unable to meet demand, then it may be superseded by a more efficient coin.
- It’s core development team are reluctant to make changes to the network for fear of compromising it’s security.
Future Road-map:
- The Lightning Network: Bitcoin’s best chance of solving it’s scalability problems through off chain solutions.
- MAST: a smart contract development for increased privacy and smaller transaction sizes.
- Schnorr Signatures: another development to reduced transaction sizes.
- Bulletproof: a program to conceal quantities of transactions to improve privacy.
Conclusion:
As the world’s first decentralised cryptocurrency that is the most tried and tested coin with a price value that has reached $20,000 AUD, Bitcoin is the strongest coin on the market and a good place to start when beginning your journey with cryptocurrency.
An honest Bitcoin review has to mention its faults, with issues of scalability resulting in slow transaction speeds and high fees during peak periods in the past. However these are problems that any coin will currently run into to meet the demand that only Bitcoin has accomplished to date. The development of the Lightning Network will be closely watched.
- Local exchanges (AUS):
Coinspot: www.coinspot.com.au
CoinJar: www.coinjar.com.au
CoinTree: www.cointree.com.au
CoinLoft: www.coinloft.com.au
BTC Markets: www.btcmarkets.net
- Overseas exchanges:
CoinBase: www.coinbase.com
Kraken: www.kraken.com
Bitstamp: www.bitstamp.net
Coinmama: www.coinmama.com
Gemini: www.gemini.com
- Where to store this crypto:
Hardware wallet: www.bitgear.com.au
Desktop wallet: www.exodus.io
Online wallet: www.greenaddress.it/en/
Mobile wallet: https://wallet.mycelium.com/
- Similar coins:
Ethereum (ETH) – Bitcoin’s little, more evolved brother.
Litecoin (LTC) – Bitcoin, but faster.
Monero (XMR) – Popular coin focused on privacy.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) – Bitcoin’s rival twin.
Dogecoin (DOGE) – Formidable Bitcoin-clone-joke-coin
- Information sources:
Whitepaper: https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/
Website: https://bitcoin.org/en/
