What is Bitcoin? History

 

What is Bitcoin? History, characteristics, pros and cons

Bitcoin definition

Bitcoin (BTC) is a digital currency, which is used and distributed electronically.

Bitcoin is a decentralised peer-to-peer network. No single institution or person controls it.

Bitcoins can’t be printed and their amount is very limited – only 21 mln Bitcoins can ever be created.

Who created Bitcoin?

Bitcoin was first introduced as an open-source software by an anonymous programmer, or a group of programmers, under the alias Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009. There has been a lot of rumours about the real identity of BTC’s creator, however all of the people mentioned in those rumours have publicly denied being Nakamoto.

Nakamoto himself once claimed to be a 37-year-old male living in Japan. However, because of his perfect English and his software not being labeled in Japanese, there are reasonable doubts about this. Around mid-2010, Nakamoto moved on to other things, leaving Bitcoin in the hands of a few prominent members of the BTC community. Also Satoshi named Gavin Andresen a lead developer.