Bitcoin Prices-
About Bitcoin-
In 2008, a mysterious person going by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto published a paper to a mailing list discussion about cryptography. In 2009, he mined the first block of the chain, now known as the genesis block. He published the open source code for Bitcoin, and a phenomenon was born. Nakamoto’s real identity is still unknown, but he sent the first ten bitcoins to cyberpunk Hal Finney a few days after the software release date. The following year, bitcoin was afforded its first monetary valuation - two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoin. In today’s market that is roughly $80,000,000. Not a bad deal for the guy who decided the trade was fair and bought the pizzas, but it doesn’t seem like such a great deal for the hungry guy.
Bitcoin is the first successful execution of digital currency. It uses peer-to-peer technology to administer instant transactions. Individual users and companies own the hardware and computing power that preside over the network. Miners run the system, motivated by rewards paid in bitcoin. Miners are basically a decentralized enforcement network that authenticate bitcoin transactions. New bitcoin is released through these mining actions, but the total production is capped at 21 million bitcoin. Unlike fiat currency bitcoin and altcoins release rates are set ahead of time according to an algorithm. There are currently close to 3 million bitcoins left to mine.
Currently, bitcoins are the gold standard of cryptocurrency. At their highest value, they were worth over $10,000 per bitcoin. To date, they are fluctuating between $7,000 and $8,000 per bitcoin in value. After its inception, bitcoin was used mostly on the dark web. It developed a questionable and dirty reputation based on its usage on the Silk Road website. As time progressed, so did the practicality of bitcoin as a viable currency. Many online retailers accept bitcoin as payment, and some brick-and-mortar stores accept it as well. AT&T, Wikipedia, Microsoft, Expedia, KFC, Overstock, Subway, Twitch, Miami Dolphins, Dallas Mavericks, Virgin Galactic, CheapAir, NewEgg, and though not directly, there is a way to pay on Amazon using bitcoin. Countries like Zimbabwe dealing with political turmoil have turned to bitcoin to offer some stability and to plug liquidity gaps. Some countries are actually banning the use of bitcoin and altcoins. Zimbabwe has now actually enacted a ban on the trade fearing it could further destabilize the official economic system, but many challenge the legality of the ban. China has banned cryptocurrency trade altogether, citing fears of fraud. This did hurt the value of the bitcoin, but the practicality of actually being able to keep these trades from happening is questioned, even in the strict and oppressive policies of China.
Now for the big question… What happens when the final bitcoin is mined? There is much speculation about this question. Bitcoin mining can be compared to mining gold. The supply is finite, which is part of what makes it valuable. Because creation of new bitcoin is not the only job of miners, the role that miners play is integral to the success of the network. As explained in the Blockchain section of this site, many cryptocurrencies rely on the miners to authenticate transactions. In the process of this, new bitcoin is created, but once the gold is mined, what will the miners do? What motivation will they have to continue the work that keeps the network secure, accurate and transparent? Many experts point out that the act of transaction authentication comes with smaller bitcoin rewards than the mining of new bitcoin, but can still be substantial. Further, the last bitcoin is not projected to be mined until the year 2140. In that time, many changes and circumstances are possible that make the future role and reward of bitcoin miners impossible to predict.