What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a virtual cryptocurrency created by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 and released as open source software in 2009. The US Treasury categorizes bitcoin as a decentralized virtual currency because there is no central repository or single administrator. No one controls it and none of it is printed. Bitcoins are purely virtual and reside in either your digital wallet (residing on your computer’s hard drive, for example) or online.

How can I get it?

Beyond just exchanging your currency for bitcoin, you can use your computer power to verify and record bitcoin payments in the public bitcoin ledger. This is called mining and your computer can do most of the work for you. It all helps to make sure that all the bitcoins in creation are accounted for, which helps regulate the currency.

Can I Use It to Buy Things?

Acceptance of bitcoin has grown primarily because merchants enjoy the lower processing fees in comparison with debit and credit cards. It’s transferable almost instantly from your bitcoin wallet to the merchant you’re purchasing goods or services from. More and more merchants are seeing the benefits of accepting payments via the digital currency.

Can I Invest in Bitcoin?

Of course, you can. As with most currency exchanges, bitcoin investments can be made so long as it’s only a portion of your portfolio. It’s important to pick an investment firm, such as Atriark Bitcoin and Altcoin Investing Services, who you can trust to help you invest legally and safely. There’s a great deal of potential in trading bitcoin because digital currencies are a relatively new concept.

And Finally…

Investing in bitcoin has begun to garner interest by investment firms and regular people because of the potential the currency has for investors. One bitcoin, which started out at $5, currently stands at $242.50 so there is certainly money to be made in the growing area of cryptocurrency. With great risk, comes great reward in bitcoin investment.