What is Bitcoin ? - How to buy&sell and trade bitcoins ?

saponos (25)in #cryptocurrency • 7 years ago

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency and worldwide payment system.It is the first decentralized digital currency, as the system works without a central bank or single administrator.The network is peer-to-peer and transactions take place between users directly, without an intermediary. These transactions are verified by network nodes through the use of cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain. Bitcoin was invented by an unknown person or group of people under the name Satoshi Nakamotoand released as open-source software in 2009. Bitcoins are created as a reward for a process known as mining. They can be exchanged for other currencies,products, and services. As of February 2015, over 100,000 merchants and vendors accepted bitcoin as payment.Research produced by the University of Cambridge estimates that in 2017, there are 2.9 to 5.8 million unique users using a cryptocurrency wallet, most of them using bitcoin.

What is a bitcoin Wallet ?

A Bitcoin wallet is the first step to using Bitcoin. Why? Without a wallet, you can’t receive, store, or spend bitcoins. You can think of a wallet as your personal interface to the Bitcoin network, similar to how your online bank account is an interface to the regular monetary system. Bitcoin wallets contain private keys; secret codes that allow you to spend your bitcoins. In reality, it’s not bitcoins that need to be stored and secured, but the private keys that give you access to them. In short: A Bitcoin wallet is simply an app, website, or device that manages Bitcoin private keys for you.

Let's discuss the types of bitcoin wallets and why you might want to use one kind over another.

1.Hardware Wallets

A hardware wallet is a physical electronic device, built for the sole purpose of securing bitcoins. The core innovation is that the hardware wallet must be connected to your computer, phone, or tablet before bitcoins may be spent. The three most popular and best Bitcoin hardware wallets are:

Hardware wallets are a good choice if you’re serious about security and convenient, reliable Bitcoin storage. Bitcoin hardware wallets keep private keys separate from vulnerable, internet-connected devices. Your all-important private keys are maintained in a secure offline environment on the hardware wallet, fully protected even should the device be plugged into a malware-infected computer. As bitcoins are digital, cyber-criminals could, potentially, target your computer’s “software wallet” and steal them by accessing your private key. Generating and storing private keys offline using a hardware wallet ensures that hackers have no way to reach your bitcoins. Hackers would have to steal the hardware wallet itself, but even then, it can be protected with a PIN code. Don’t worry about your hardware wallet getting stolen, lost or damaged either; so long as you create a secret backup code, you can always retrieve your bitcoins.

2.Hot Wallets

Hot wallets are Bitcoin wallets that run on internet connected devices like a computer, mobile phone, or tablet. Private keys are secret codes. Because hot wallets generate your private keys on an internet connected device, these private keys can’t be considered 100% secure. Popular types

Electrum - https://electrum.org/
Jaxx - https://jaxx.io

2.Online Bitcoin wallets (Web Wallets)

Online Bitcoin wallets–also called web wallets–are wallets that run in your web browser just like any other website.And the website is responsible for holding your bitcoins.
Popular types