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Bitcoin () is a cryptocurrency, a type of electronic money. It's a decentralized digital currency with no central bank or single administrator that can be sent from user-to-user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries.7
Transactions are verified by network nodes via cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain. Bitcoin was invented by an unknown person or group of individuals using the name Satoshi Nakamoto9 and released as open-source software in 2009.10 Bitcoins are made as a reward for a process known as mining.
Research produced by the University of Cambridge estimates that in 2017, there were 2.9 to 5.8 million unique users using a cryptocurrency wallet, most of them using bitcoin.12.
Bitcoin has been criticized for its use in illegal transactions, its high electricity consumption, cost volatility, thefts from exchanges, and the possibility that bitcoin is an economic bubble.13 Bitcoin has also been utilized as an investment, even though many regulatory agencies have issued investor alarms about bitcoin.14
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The domain name"bitcoin.org" was registered on 18 August 2008.15 On 31 October 2008, a link to a paper authored by Satoshi Nakamoto titled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System5 was submitted to a cryptography mailing list.16 Nakamoto implemented the bitcoin applications as open-source code and published it in January 2009.171810 Nakamoto's identity remains unknown.9.
In January 2009, the bitcoin network was made when Nakamoto mined the first block of this chain, known as the genesis block.1920 Embedded in the coinbase of this block was the following text:"The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks. "10 This note has been interpreted as either a timestamp and a comment on the instability caused by fractional-reserve banking.21:18.
The recipient of the initial bitcoin transaction was cypherpunk Hal Finney, that made the first reusable proof-of-work platform (RPOW) in 2004.22 Finney downloaded the bitcoin software on its launch date, and on 12 January 2009 obtained ten bitcoins from Nakamoto.2324 Other early cypherpunk fans were creators of bitcoin predecessors: Wei Dai, creator of b-money, and Nick Szabo, founder of bit golden.25 In 2010, the first known business transaction using bitcoin occurred when developer Laszlo Hanyecz bought two Papa John's pizzas for 10,000 bitcoin.26.
Nakamoto is estimated to have mined one million bitcoins27 before disappearing in 2010, when he handed the network awake crucial and control of this code repository over to Gavin Andresen. Andresen afterwards became lead developer at the Bitcoin Foundation.2829 Andresen then sought to decentralize control. This abandoned opportunity for controversy to grow over the future development course of bitcoin.3029.
After ancient"proof-of-concept" transactions, the first significant consumers of bitcoin were black markets, such as Silk Road. During its 30 months of existence, beginning in February 2011, Silk Road exclusively accepted bitcoins as payment, transacting 9.9 million in bitcoins, value roughly $214 million.31:222
In 2011, the price started at $0.30 per bitcoin, growing to $5.27 for year. The price rose to $31.50 on 8 June. Within a month the price fell to $11.00. The next month it fell to $7.80, and in another month to $4.77.32
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Litecoin, an early bitcoin Clicking Here spin-off or altcoin, appeared in October 2011.33 Many altcoins have been made since then.34
In 2012, bitcoin prices began at $5.27 growing to $13.30 for the year.32 By 9 January the cost had risen to $7.38, but then crashed by 49% to $3.80 within the next 16 days. The cost then rose to $16.41 on 17 August, but dropped by 57% to $7.10 within the next three days.35.
In March 2013 the blockchain briefly split into two independent chains with different rules. The two blockchains operated simultaneously for six hours, each using its own version of the transaction history. Normal operation was revived when the majority of the network downgraded to version 0.7 of the bitcoin applications.37 The Mt.
Gox experienced processing delays because of insufficient capacity44 resulting in the bitcoin cost dropping from $266 to $76 before returning to $160 within six hours.45 The bitcoin price rose to $259 on 10 April, but then crashed by 83 percent to $45 over the next 3 days.35 On 15 May 2013, US government captured accounts associated with Mt.
881.48 This marked the first time a government agency had seized bitcoin.4950 The FBI captured about 26,000 bitcoins in October 2013 in the dark web website Silk Road during the arrest of Ross William Ulbricht.515253 Bitcoin's cost climbed to $755 on 19 November and crashed by 50% to $378 the exact same day.
In 2014, prices started at $770 and dropped to $314 for the calendar year.32 official website In February 2014 the Mt. Gox exchange, the largest bitcoin exchange at the time, said that 850,000 bitcoins had been stolen from its clients, amounting to almost $500 million. Bitcoin's price fell by almost half, from $867 to $439 (a 49% drop).