Bitcoin (BTC) is a criptomoneda conceived in 2009. The term also applies to the protocol and the P2P network that supports it, and is commonly referred to as a digital currency. Usually Bitcoin is used to refer to the network or protocol and bitcoin to refer to monetary units. BTC symbols are used informally.
Bitcoin is characterized by being decentralized, that is to say, it is not backed by any government nor depends on the trust in a central emitter. On the contrary, it uses a system of test of work to prevent the double expense and to reach the consensus between all the nodes that integrate the network exchanging information on an unreliable and potentially compromised network (solves the problem of Byzantine generals). Similarly, transactions do not require intermediaries and the protocol is open source.
Bitcoin is an innovative project in constant evolution and change. While developers recommend investigating how they work before investing in them or opening a portfolio to use them, they also consider that it has the ability to change the world in economic terms.
Since the 1970s, the use of digital signatures based on public key cryptography has provided strong ownership control. On the basis of public key cryptography, in 1998 Wei Dai describes b-Money, a decentralized solution to the problem of electronic payments. Later, Nick Szabo and Hal Finney extend and complement Wei Dai’s work.
In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto published an article in the metzdowd.com cryptography list where he described the Bitcoin protocol.
On January 3, 2009 Bitcoin’s P2P network comes into operation with the publication of the first open source client program and the creation of the first bitcoins. Until the invention of bitcoin, it was required that all payments in e-commerce be channeled through centralized trust entities, generally banks and other financial companies, which managed to track all transactions.
