Uber Facts About Bitcoin and CryptoCurrency
“With e-currency based on cryptographic proof, without the need to trust a third party middleman, money can be secure and transactions effortless.” - Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin developer (and possible founder).
Few things confuse people as much as cryptocurrency. Are you interested in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, but you’re just not sure where to begin? Here are 43 facts to help you wrap your mind around the situation.
43. Movers and Shakers
The idea of Bitcoin originated by the “Cypherpunks” of the 1990s. These were a group of people who advocated the widespread use of cryptography and privacy technologies to effect social and political change. The word “cypher"
was used because they specialized in creating puzzles that were nearly impossible to solve. The idea of a digital currency outside of the power of traditional banks was talked about and experimented with, but nothing ever came of it for years.
The core of their question was: “Why do we need banks?” The money comes from the people, so why can’t we just share it with each other?
42. The Original
An anonymous man named Satoshi Nakamoto began publishing his “white paper” business plans for Bitcoin. He hired computer programmers who were involved with the “cypherpunk” movement to build the technology.
After a while, he completely disappeared. While there are theories, no one truly knows who he is beyond the shadow of a doubt.
41. Peer to Peer
Bitcoin works on a technology called “Blockchain.”
Basically, it’s just a way to send money back and forth directly to anywhere around the world in an instant, rather than having to go through the Federal Reserve and a bank, or companies like Western Union act as a middle-man.
40. Why Did This Take So Long?
Have you ever over-drafted your bank account? Maybe you forgot that you wrote a check to somebody, and they didn’t cash it right away. Or you paid your credit card, and it took 3 days. Or your paycheck took 2 days to get to you.
Almost everyone has had this happen at least once. With Blockchain, that doesn’t happen. The money is going from Point A to Point B almost instantly.
