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Bitcoin (BTC) is the most popular and the first digital currency to be launched in the world. The digital currency was launched in 2009 by its anonymous Founder by the name Satoshi Nakamoto. Since the launch, Satoshi has never revealed his identity and little is known about him. To ensure that there was no inflation in Bitcoin Satoshi creation a system (Blockchain Technology) which ensured that the maximum number of Bitcoin that can ever be mined which is 21 million Bitcoins was developed.

Unlike national currencies which are controlled by central banks, Bitcoin was created to be fully centralized and not to have a regulatory authority. The generation of Bitcoin is done through Blockchain technology.

How can I own Bitcoin?

Owning Bitcoin can be done in two ways. The first method is by mining digital currencies. Miners are very influential in the Bitcoin market since they help in the generation of new coins. After successfully generating the new Bitcoins they are rewarded for their work through Bitcoin. The other method is by buying Bitcoin from Exchanges. There are many popular Exchanges from which you can easily buy your Bitcoin. Some of the best exchanges at the moment include EXCOINCIAL.com, Coinbase, Gemini, Binance, Kraken, Huobi, etc.

Buying Bitcoin through Exchanges is simple and the transaction can be completed within minutes. However, unlike in the early days of crypto where anonymous transactions were allowed at the moment, these Exchanges conduct what is called KYC (Know Your Customer) which is a compulsory process because Exchanges have been regularly targeted by hackers. Currently the crypto market is the most targeted market by hackers and some Exchanges such as Mt.Gox have become bankrupt because of hacking. You can also buy Bitcoin directly via peer-to-peer from LocalBitcoins.com.

Storing Bitcoin

Buying Bitcoin is not a problem, the problem is how to store them safely. Bitcoin is stored in digital wallets. Bitcoin wallets are popular but you must be careful because there are many fraudulent wallets. You must know that once Bitcoin is lost it cannot be recovered and therefore proper storage is very important. Before looking at the most popular wallets, note that leaving your coins in Exchanges can be harmful, therefore in case of a cyber-attack you could end up losing all your investment.

Storing Bitcoin can be done either online or offline. Offline storage is the safest because it cannot be subjected to online attacks. However in cases of offline storage when your hardware or paper wallet is lost you lose all your coins. Online wallets are of different types, the most popular wallets at the moment are:

AFCASH Wallet, Trezor, Electrum, Coinbase, Exodus, Freewallet, Coinomi, Mycelium and a few others. The two most secure wallets to use for the storage of your Bitcoin are AFRICUNIA BANK wallet (AFCASH) and Trezor. However, in all wallets, you must ensure that the private keys are well kept. Once you lose your private keys there is no way to recover them and therefore you lose everything you owned.

Where can I use Bitcoin?

At the moment the hype around Bitcoin has gone down because of the price drop. However, the digital currency is still popular and some of the world’s largest businesses accept it as an option of payment. Some of the popular companies that accept Bitcoin as an option of payment include Overstock.com, BitPlaza, Microsoft, and CheapAir.com among many others. There are many other upcoming online platforms such Vendasity.com where you can use AFCASH and Bitcoin to make purchases. The main reason why people are preferring Bitcoin and other digital currencies is because of its decentralization nature. With Bitcoin, you have direct control over your funds unlike in banks which make decisions on your behalf while limiting the amount you can withdraw at a particular time.

The future of Bitcoin

Predicting the future of Bitcoin or any other decentralized currency is hard because of their volatility nature. Despite the fact that Bitcoin has lost more than 80% of its value when compared to its all-time high in December 2017 when it almost hit the $20,000 mark, its popularity is still rising. Being the most popular digital currency Bitcoin has a great future especially because more business is adopting the digital currency. Bitcoin is moving in the right direction towards mainstream adoption which is a positive move for the crypto market.

About the Author: Don Chancellor is the Founder of AFRICUNIA BANK and is easily reachable on Telegram via this link: https://t.me/africunia or on Medium https://medium.com/@don.chancellor