LEARN HOW TO GET STARTED WITH BITCOIN
Why Bitcoin?
To better understand Bitcoin, we need to take a look at our current financial system:
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Fiat money is money which a government has declared to be legal tender with an ascribed value. The value of money is dictated by central authorities and inherently loses value over time due to inflation. With a fractional reserve banking system and money which is no longer backed by gold, everybody's purchasing power is guaranteed to be debased.
Bitcoin solves the problem of centralization of the money supply through its beautiful properties:
The Benefits of Bitcoin
Public: Bitcoin is decentralized. It is not owned or controlled by any government, company or individual. Like the internet, it is a publicly available system and protocol.
Neutral: Being cryptographically secured and immutable - it cannot be controlled, changed or manipulated. Transactions and network activity is verified by the users in the network in real-time.
Open: Anyone, anywhere can own Bitcoin; you do not need to apply or gain permission. All you need is a phone or computer and an internet connection. There are even solutions in place that do not require an internet connection.
Global: Bitcoin is border-less and without any reliance on any particular country, government or party. Bitcoin transactions can happen to and from anywhere in the world.
Permissionless: Bitcoin gives control back to the people. Anyone can now be their own bank and do commerce globally. Permission is not needed to send or receive money. You can send or receive any amount, any time, to anywhere in the world for a very low cost, and no one can stop the transaction. You don't have to pay anyone to hold your money or ask permission to access your money.
Secure: Bitcoin is software that is encrypted. It is virtually impossible to hack. The network is backed by thousands of computers spread geographically all over the world.
Trustless: No biased third-party is required to facilitate transactions, as all transaction are secured and can be tracked on the network. Bitcoin transfers are non-reversible, therefore decreasing fraud and "charge backs" for services and products agreed upon and rendered.
Private: Transactions do not require the disclosure of person and/or sensitive information, if used correctly. Instead, wallets are controlled and accessed by privately held keys, which are a string of alpha-numeric code, instead of being tied to your identity/name. In this way, Bitcoin is pseudonymous.
Finite: Only 21 million Bitcoin will ever be in existence. A sound money should be limited in supply and should be difficult to acquire. The supply be fixed and unchangeable. Bitcoin is programmed to be exactly this.