Bitcoin
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What is Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin (BTC) is the world’s first decentralised digital currency, built on a global computer network where the digital token BTC is transferred between users. Unlike banks and service providers that rely on the traditional financial system, BTC is a peer-to-peer network that transacts globally, without the reliance of an intermediary.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies facilitate decentralised payments using blockchain technology. The cryptographic system is a public distributed ledger of all transactions made with the native token, in this instance, BTC. When participants send and receive BTC, transactions are grouped into ‘blocks’ and added to the ‘chain’ as immutable records. The blockchain displays and updates all activity and information available to all users, meaning every transaction is traceable and impossible to change.
Where to trade Bitcoin (BTC)
As the most popular and largest digital currency, BTC has become the most valuable and commonly held among the thousands in circulation. Its rise in value, while volatile withs its ups and downs, has steady and is available to buy, sell and trade on most leading exchange platforms. To help find the best fit for you, check out the table below and compare the best cryptocurrency exchange platforms.
| Name | Number of Assets | Trading Fees | Mobile App | Website | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Coinbase | 30 | < 1.49% | Yes | |
 | Binance | 600+ | <0.1% | Yes | |
 | Nexo | 59 | <0.5% | Yes |
Roadmap
Whitepaper: October 2008
Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin whitepaper
Genesis Block: January 2009
Bitcoin's first genesis block is mined
M-of-N Standard Transactions: October 2011
BIP 011 implemented M-of-N-signatures required transactions as a new 'standard' where secured wallets, escrow transactions and other use cases for redeeming funds requires multiple signatures.
Pay to Script Hash: January 2012
BIP 016, building off of BIP 013, introduced a Pay to Script Hash address types for the scripting system and defined additional validation rules that apply only to the new transactions.
Furthermore, it allowed a sender to fund any arbitrary transaction, no matter how complicated, using a fixed-length 20-byte hash that is short enough to scan from a QR code or easily copied and pasted
Hierarchical Deterministic Wallets: February 2012
BIP 032 introduced Hierarchical Deterministic Wallets ("HD Wallets"), wallets that can be shared partially or entirely with different systems, each with or without the ability to spend coins.
A Finite Supply for Bitcoin: April 2014
BIP 042 introduced a finite supply for Bitcoin. After discovering a bug that would allow Bitcoin's money supply to grow indefinitely, forever, developers introduced a hard cap for Bitcoin.
OP_CHECKLOCKTIMEVERIFY: October 2014
BIP 065 introduced a new opcode (OP_CHECKLOCKTIMEVERIFY) for the Bitcoin scripting system that allows a transaction output to be made unspendable until some point in the future. This was a fundamental addition paving the way for payment channels.
CHECKSEQUENCEVERIFY: August 2015
BIP 112 implemented a new opcode (CHECKSEQUENCEVERIFY) for the Bitcoin scripting system that in combination with BIP 68 allows execution pathways of a script to be restricted based on the age of the output being spent.
SegWit (User Activated Soft Fork): August 2017
This plan was proposed as BIP 148, a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal, from a pseudonymous developer named Shaolinfry. It was proposed in reaction to a plan referred to as "Segwit2x" which was an agreement among miners, developers, businesses, and investors to support SegWit (a soft fork) and a 2MB block size (hard fork). Users rejected this proposal and deployed a user-activated soft fork in a demonstration that users controlled the Bitcoin network.
Bitcoin Wallets
There are many ways to store bitcoin both online and off.
Hot wallet: You can often store cryptocurrency on exchanges where it is sold. Other providers offer standalone online storage. Such solutions provide access through a computer browser, desktop or smartphone app.
Cold wallet: An encrypted portable device much like a thumb drive that allows you to download and carry your Bitcoin.
Ledger
Exodus
TrustBlockchain & Technology
Launched in 2009, by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, the BTC protocol is built on an open-sourced ledger called a ‘blockchain’. The system facilitates the transfer of the digital BTC token, by grouping transactions into ‘blocks’. This technology creates a permanent record of each transaction and provides a way for every Bitcoin user to operate with the same understanding of who owns what.
Users on the Bitcoin network verify transactions through a process known as mining, which is designed to confirm that new transactions are consistent with other transactions that have been completed in the past. New Bitcoins are minted as part of the mining process, in which they are offered as a lucrative reward to people who validate transactions.
Bitcoin miners — also known as "nodes" —independently confirm each transaction, and add a completed "block" of transactions to the ever-growing "chain," which has a complete, public and permanent record of every BTC transaction.
Miners are paid in Bitcoin for their efforts, which incentivises the decentralised network to independently verify each transaction. This independent network of miners also decreases the chance for fraud or false information to be recorded, as the majority of miners need to confirm the authenticity of each block of data before it's added to the blockchain, in a consensus process known as "proof of work."
Staking with Bitcoin
Proof-of-work cryptocurrencies use mining, which relies on computational power - they generally do not support staking, however there are ways to grow your portfolio faster. The easiest way is to earn interest on Bitcoin, which you can do on several investment, lending and exchange platforms today.
When choosing the best place to earn interest on Bitcoin, there are many things to consider. In addition to the APY on offer, you’ll also need to look at what lock-up terms are stipulated by the platform. You’ll also want to assess the fees charged by the platform and how secure your Bitcoin deposit is.
With inflation rates climbing over 7% in 2022, investors are looking for ways to outpace inflation with their investments. More people are turning to Bitcoin to store value in a scarce asset that is accepted globally.
Summary
Since its inception more than 14 years ago, the bitcoin network has continued to see global attention and adoption. The system is permissionless and open-sourced, countless computer scientists and cryptographers have been able to examine all aspects of the network and its security.