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Bitcoin () is a cryptocurrency, a type of electronic cash. It is 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 with no need for intermediaries.7
Transactions are confirmed by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger known as a blockchain. Bitcoin was invented by an unknown person or group of individuals using the name Satoshi Nakamoto9 and published as open-source applications in 2009.10 Bitcoins are created 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, the majority of them using bitcoin.12.
Bitcoin has been criticized because of its use in illegal transactions, its high power consumption, cost volatility, thefts from exchanges, and the chance that bitcoin is an economic bubble.13 Bitcoin has also been used as an investment, although several regulatory agencies have issued investor alerts 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 posted to some cryptography mailing list.16 Nakamoto implemented the bitcoin software as open-source code and released it in January 2009.171810 Nakamoto's identity remains unknown.9.
In January 2009, the bitcoin network was created when Nakamoto mined the first block of this chain, known as the genesis block.1920 Embedded in the coinbase of this cube has been 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 receiver of the initial bitcoin transaction was cypherpunk Hal Finney, who created the first reusable proof-of-work system (RPOW) in 2004.22 Finney downloaded the bitcoin applications on its launch , and on 12 January 2009 received ten bitcoins out of Nakamoto.2324 Other early cypherpunk supporters were founders of bitcoin predecessors: Wei Dai, founder of b-money, and Nick Szabo, founder of bit golden.25 In 2010, the earliest known business transaction using bitcoin happened 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 Visit This Link handed the network awake key and control of the code over description to Gavin Andresen. Andresen later became lead programmer at the Bitcoin Foundation.2829 Andresen then sought to decentralize control. This left opportunity for controversy to grow over the future development path of bitcoin.3029.
After ancient"proof-of-concept" transactions, the first major users of bitcoin were black markets, for example 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 each bitcoin, growing to $5.27 for year. The cost rose to $31.50 on 8 June. Within a month the price fell to $11.00. The next month it dropped to $7.80, and in another month to $4.77.32
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Litecoin, an early bitcoin 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 calendar year.32 By 9 January the price had risen to $7.38, but then dropped by 49 percent to $3.80 over the next 16 days. The price then rose to $16.41 on 17 August, but fell by 57 percent to $7.10 within the next 3 days.35.
In March 2013 that the blockchain temporarily split into two independent chains with different rules. The two blockchains operated simultaneously for half an hour, each using its own version of the transaction history. Normal operation was revived when the vast 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 prior to returning to $160 within six hours.45 The bitcoin cost rose to $259 on 10 April, but then dropped by 83% to $45 within the next three times.35 On 15 May 2013, US authorities captured accounts associated with Mt.
881.48 This marked the first time a government agency had seized bitcoin.4950 The FBI seized about 26,000 bitcoins in October 2013 in the dark web website Silk Road during the arrest of Ross William Ulbricht.515253 Bitcoin's price rose to $755 on 19 November and dropped by 50% to $378 the exact same day.
In 2014, prices started at $770 and fell to $314 for the year.32 In February 2014 that the Mt. Gox exchange, the largest bitcoin exchange in the time, stated Bonuses that 850,000 bitcoins had been stolen from its clients, amounting to nearly $500 million. Bitcoin's price fell by almost half, from $867 to $439 (a 49% drop).