You don’t need to be a techie to use Bitcoin. The world of cryptocurrency is rapidly growing and one day in the near future, it will be as common as traditional currency. It has already been adopted by mobile payment giants like Venmo, Paypal, and Cash App meaning anybody can conduct transactions now. In terms of investing, Square and Microstrategy have added Bitcoin to their assets in an effort to stay ahead of the curve. As Bitcoin grows in popularity it’s crucial that you know the basics so that you can make smart decisions whether your investing or spending. Below, we’ve answered your biggest questions about Bitcoin:
“We see bitcoin as potentially the greatest social network of all.” – Tyler Winklevoss
What is Bitcoin?
In the simplest terms, Bitcoin is a shared public ledger of transactions. It was launched in 2009 by an anonymous individual who goes by the name Satoshi Nakamoto. Since Bitcoin is a daily new form of digital currency, there are very few regulations surrounding it and it is both open and open-sourced. This means that you can program with or on top of the code that runs the system.
How is it stored?
The cryptographic keys of Bitcoin are stored in either hot or cold wallets. Hot wallets are found on desktop or mobile devices that are connected to the internet. This includes applications like Venmo and Cash App. Cold wallets are physical paper or hardware wallets that are offline, making them more secure than hot wallets, which have the risk of being compromised by hackers. Devices like USBs and actual pieces of paper with private and public device keys written out both allow for more security.
What are the benefits of bitcoin over traditional currency?
As it is fairly new to the financial landscape Bitcoin offers many benefits that traditional currency lacks. For example, it is accessible 24x7x365 since it is not connected to a banking system and transactions are fairly fast. The system allows for privacy but not anonymity and transactions are automatically embedded into the database. Some of the biggest pros of using Bitcoin are that it is disinflationary making it a great investment, and it is transnational allowing users to send it around the world without intermediaries.
Where can I use bitcoin?
Recently PayPal and Venmo adapted Bitcoin into their systems now making it readily available for anyone to use on mobile payment applications. Large companies are also starting to accept Bitcoin from major retailers to fast food chains. Flashstarts also accepts Bitcoin now. You can use the code below to now transfer Bitcoin payments to us.
Having a basic understanding of Bitcoin is just the beginning. As we look to the future, Bitcoin is expected to have a major impact on how we conduct daily transactions and make business deals and investments. We also have an upcoming crypto governance webinar on November 12th at 2 pm EST where we will review how to set up a wallet and lay out fundamental guidelines for handling cryptocurrency for your organization. Register here!
“I do think Bitcoin is the first [encrypted money] that has the potential to do something like change the world.” – Peter Thiel (Co-Founder of Paypal)
