The R Roundup Presents: Bitcoin 101 For Dummies — #10
Fundamentally when it comes to identifying the groundworks of the crypto economy, it starts with what people respect as the “King” Bitcoin. The consensus is that Bitcoin kickstarted the development of the multi-billion dollar ecosystem. There are still many questions that loom around what was once seen as a “peer-to-peer” payment system however the lack of a founder driving a mission has left many in question about what the asset will look like.
There are many angles to start dissecting Bitcoin however as a beginner finding the right place to explain the one coin that even people who don’t hold crypto know about may be harder than it seems.
When Was $BTC Founded?🗓
Historical context is vital as it explains the root growth of the crypto economy. Without a direct founder/source to verify the full historical details, we can only go off what’s widely reported: Bitcoin was introduced to the general public in 2009.
Whoever saw in 2009 that we would be seeing heights of $69,000 with a trillion dollar eco-system at the peak built on top of that, would probably still have a degree of shock.
As Bitcoin is an extension and monetisation of blockchain technology, many staunch believers reference the first block mined on January 3rd 2009 (Block 0) as the “Genesis Block”.
For someone who potentially heard about Bitcoin on a random podcast and stumbled across this article to learn more, the concept of how fast transactions are, the hashing algorithm and other fine details may be too much to get your head around. However, the mystic nature doesn’t stop there as one of the biggest arguments in the crypto economy simply lies in, who even created Bitcoin?
Who Is Behind Bitcoin?🤯
Without trying to satisfy conspiracists, the talking point 13 years later is still who is the single entity behind Bitcoin? How can someone create a multibillion-dollar sized currency in marketcap value, and not claim the achievement? These are all valid questions especially when we see how prominent other founders of other cryptocurrencies are when it comes to aligning their projects with the wants and needs of their users as well as achieving their goals.
If you google “Who Found Bitcoin?” it will appear with Satoshi Nakamoto as that is the consensual agreement of the name of the Bitcoin founder as that name was used when submitting the Bitcoin Whitepaper to a crypto mail list. Researchers have broken down the language used by Satoshi in the white paper and with a range of references to “we” and “I” many began concluding that there may be more than one person behind this orange creation.
Further adding to the mystery the CIA project claimed that “Satoshi Nakamoto” means “Central Intelligence” in Japanese.
Since there wasn’t one individual responsible for the creation of Bitcoin, we have seen a range of individuals claim that they are Satoshi Nakamoto.
Sceptics use this to often aid their negative outlook on the digital asset as it’s quite unheard of to have such an illustrious asset on global demand without a single “CEO or Founder” to credit.
In Hungary, a statue commemorating Bitcoin was designed to mimic the founder Satoshi in a way where the features were generic to conclude that despite we do not know how Satoshi looks or sounds, because of the creation of Bitcoin, we are all Satoshi.
What Was Bitcoin Intended To Be?🛠
The wording of this section may confuse some people as it may not be common knowledge that Bitcoin has gone through some realisations as it’s grown, making its true intention seem a bit more blurry behind all the news.
Bitcoin is often described as “digital gold & a store of value or a hedge against inflation” whereas initially Bitcoin was designed to be a peer-to-peer payment network that eluded the need of any centralised party or intermediary to officiate transactions.
People often cite competition and improvements in blockchain tech as an explanation for why Bitcoin may have moved from its original use case as Bitcoin transactions are often quite slow and the blocks used to verify transactions only can approximately guarantee around 4.6 tps (transactions per second) which isn’t suitable for 7billion people to use it as a form of day to day payment.
This led to once again people seeing Bitcoin almost as a digital gold that over time would appreciate due to the limited supply and high demand leading to all Bitcoins being mined and the value rocketing.
As you can imagine, a lack of a founder to direct the project can be seen as an explanation for why the direction of the asset has varied so much.
What Does The Future Hold For Bitcoin?🍊
2022 hasn’t been an easy year for anyone tied up in the world of risk assets and with fears of inflation growing and Bitcoin over 50% away from its previous ATH, many experienced investors let alone beginners may start to wonder what the future look like for Bitcoin.
When everything is cloudy, a step back can clear your vision and with countries looking to make $BTC legal tender following El-Salvador, how do you justify the potential or lack of for Bitcoin?
Well, that’s part of the characteristics of the asset. For years we have had people trying to map out some sort of ‘accurate’ timeline for the way that Bitcoin will or will not be globally adopted. The truth is that we just do not know.
Especially as a beginner the biggest mistake you could make is trying to tame the volatility of $BTC to suit you. No one saw Tesla accepting $BTC and then making a U-turn on their choice just as no one will see the next milestone for Bitcoin whether it adds to the bullish or bearish trajectory.
All we can do is just use what we have in front of us today and that is that $BTC is currently trading at the range of $20,000 which is 70% away from that $69,000 promise land we once saw.
How Can You Get Bitcoin?⛏vs💰
There are different methods to acquire bitcoin and the most common for a beginner would be to simply buy it.
Similarly to how you would invest in any other asset, you can invest in bitcoin despite the daunting price, you do not have to own a WHOLE bitcoin to get invested.
If you are keeping up with the series, you can reference 👇
To see the range of crypto exchanges you can use to buy Bitcoin for fiat or stablecoins.
Mining⛏
Just for some additional reference, the other way people will explore to get bitcoin is through mining.
Mining is slightly more complicated however it's the act of verifying transactions to the bitcoin network that essentially “creates” new bitcoins into circulation.
The act of mining can often be seen as heavy on electricity which has raised concerns however that won’t be important for today.
Conclusion🧠
If there is one important thing, it’s understanding bitcoin and all its suggested “dark” secrets that are underlying causing an impact on the entire crypto market.
Bitcoin has been in its heights, a commercial talking point and in its lows a laughing point however both perhaps don’t have a full understanding of how the asset works.
There is so much more than we could go into with Bitcoin however, for a beginner, we believe that is the touch basis knowledge needed to branch off your research.
As a reminder this is not a trading signal nor is it investment advice, it is an opinion and each trader/investor should know and understand the risks attached to trading cryptocurrencies. At no point should this be regarded as financial advice, feel free to familiarise yourself with our NFA disclaimer.
Additional links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RussianRoundup
Telegram Chat: https://t.me/RussianRoundupChat
Telegram Updates Channel: https://t.me/RussianRoundup
Russian Defi: https://twitter.com/RussianDefi
NFA DISCLAIMER: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AoWc3qanyzmzSiZFCGUaG1oiKRHmxvGj02JY3ibnIqg/edit
