Bitcoin, the peer-to-peer digital currency
I ran into a really exciting thing lately – the Bitcoin.
I will just quote from the Wikipedia article:
“Bitcoin [...] has no central issuer; instead, the peer-to-peer network regulates Bitcoins’ balances, transactions and issuance according to consensus in network software. Bitcoins are issued to various nodes that verify transactions through computing power; it is established that there will be a limited and scheduled release of no more than 21 million coins, which will be fully issued by the year 2140. Internationally, Bitcoins can be exchanged and managed through various websites and software along with physical banknotes and coins.”
“It is the most widely used alternative currency, with the total market cap at over 100 million US dollars.”
I have read a lot of articles about it. It is simply a self regulating, distributed (peer-to-peer), anonymous, transparent (i.e. everyone can see all the transactions from the beginning and can validate them at anytime) currency and payment method. And the most important thing: it is working.
Some links:
- bitcoin.pdf – the original white paper by Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin
- WeUseCoins – a Bitcoin portal
- Blockchain.info – the Bitcoin blockchain and all the transactions in a user friendly way
- Bitcoin article on Wikipedia
- Mt.Gox – one of the biggest BTC exchange site (from/to USD)