Some would say that Bitcoin is outdated because there are cryptocurrencies that work faster and have more functionality implemented on the protocol level. And these people would be right. Others will emphatically assure that Bitcoin is and will always be the number one cryptocurrency, no matter what new Altcoins appear. Hard to argue with that, as well. So, how can this be possible? Why do we outline Bitcoin among other cryptocurrencies? Is it just trivial or the best?
The appearance of Bitcoin
Most of you have probably heard the story about the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto, who invented and launched Bitcoin in 2009 and, yet, remained unknown.
Whats impressive, is that eight years ago Bitcoin was perceived as some weird and doubtful notion that just appeared, as if it fell from the moon. Who would trust it? The answer is: no one. However, less than a decade later, Bitcoin has formed a new industry as well as a new branch and approach to business. It has changed the way we think about our property and the approach to things we own. All because of a person whom we dont even know. It takes your breath away when you dive deep into this idea.
In a short lapse of time, Bitcoin came all the way from being called a pyramid or simply some weird program that deals with non-existent money to the Greatest Discovery of the 21st Century. Moreover, we are only at the very beginning of its long path
Hardships of Bitcoin
The core problem of the Bitcoin network now is the scalability issue. That is to say, the network is overwhelmed with users, thus you have to wait longer and fees are higher.
The necessity of an upgrade has provoked a hard fork (chain split). August 1st was the day when the Bitcoin blockchain was split. Meanwhile, some Bitcoin holders gained a great profit due to this hard fork. Especially, those who held their money on exchanges that did the coin splitting. Among them, CEX.IO exchange gave its users the same amount of Bitcoin Cash coins (forked Bitcoin) as the amount of BTC they had had before the hard fork and launched the trading of the second Bitcoin (BCH).
It was hard to say what would be the end result. However, the credibility of the first of its kind cryptocurrency has surpassed everyones expectations. So, days after the fork, Bitcoins price rocketed up more swiftly than anyone could imagine.
Cryptocurrency market
Bitcoin has triggered an unstoppable chain reaction the invention of hundreds of cryptocurrencies, the entire number of which have recently reached a thousand. The market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies, notionally, can be divided into two major groups: Bitcoin and Altcoins, where Bitcoin takes more than a half.