Bitcoins – what you need to know

Cryptocurrencies

True, decentralized cryptocurrencies mined and traded using blockchain technology are not in themselves questionable. However, speculating with Bitcoin and Co is like going to the casino. Use only the money you don’t need. You can lose everything.

Initial coin offering.

Buying tokens and other “vouchers” that companies raise capital by selling is too fraudulent and risky. Better to keep your hands away from him.

The secure cross chain decentralized exchange is more reliable.

The Dark Side of Bitcoin

In the past, bitcoin was mostly considered a currency for dealers who used it to erase weapons and drug deals on the dark web. The Dark Web is, literally translated, the dark side of the Internet, in which users can surf mostly anonymously. Bitcoin has also made headlines with ransom demands.

21 million bitcoins ran out

So far, according to the Coinmarketcap website, there are already 18.8 million bitcoins in circulation, 21 million should be over soon. However, growth is gradually slowing down. You can also trade bitcoin fractions, such as millibitcoins.

Other cryptocurrencies

Rising Bitcoin prices attract imitators. According to the CoinMarketCap platform, there are currently over 17,000 cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin is the market leader with a market capitalization – the number of coins times the current value – of around $750 billion. Ether Ethereum is in second place with $330 billion, followed by Tether with roughly $77 billion. About 80 digital currencies currently bring it to a market capitalization of over a billion dollars, including Polkadot, Solana, Ripple, and the fun coin Dogecoin. A few years ago, only about two dozen cryptocurrencies had a tenth market capitalization. There are many more small currencies that weigh less than a million dollars.

Buy and mine bitcoins

If you are looking for thrills and want to become a Bitcoin owner, there are various options for you.

Bitcoin wallet

The classic option is to get a bitcoin wallet, an electronic wallet that stores bitcoins. There are various providers for this. The wallet has a public account number and a private key with which you can block it. Investors should protect their computer well to avoid being the victim of theft.

Bitcoin account

Another possibility is to open an account with one of the many forms of bitcoin trading. In this case, the bitcoin is not stored on your computer or mobile phone, but on the form of the platform.

Current cost of btc to wbtc on a clickable link.

Mining is a computationally intensive task

Bitcoin payments must be confirmed. For example, it is necessary to clarify whether the person making the payment has enough bitcoins for this. In addition, new blocks of data must be associated with current payments with previous blocks of blockchain data. To do this, it is necessary to solve certain calculation problems. If you do this and confirm the payments, you will receive bitcoins as a reward. This is called mining. Miners need not only technical know-how, but above all, appropriate computer hardware.

Meanwhile, the requirements for computing power are so high that it is almost impossible to tamper with a home computer. Unlike the early days, mining is mostly in the hands of mining pools or purpose-built companies.

Bitcoins as climate killers

With technology requirements in mind, energy consumption is also increasing. Years ago, the Bundesbank pointed to calculations that one Bitcoin transaction corresponds to the monthly electricity consumption of a housewife of one family in Germany. Eco-friendly is different.