This article Will take you through everything you need to know about Bitcoin, how to join the train, how it works, how to buy and sell, and many more, so let’s dive right in.
Table of Contents
So, What Is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency (put, a digital currency) developed in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto.
Ever since Bitcoin was created, it has become famous and one of the most successful cryptocurrencies in the entire world.
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency that isn’t owned by any government, and a set of people doesn’t control it; instead, it is governed by the entire people who trade.
That is why most people prefer to adopt it because it is decentralized and at the same time anonymous.
Unlike other regular currencies in the world, bitcoin is generated via mining.
With the help of Bitcoin, one can make transactions in a few minutes, and one excellent advantage of transacting with Bitcoin is that you get to pay a low fee.
What Is The Special Thing About Bitcoin?
The considerable advantage Bitcoin has over regular fiat currencies is that Bitcoin is not produced or controlled by any central government and many more. Some of them are:
Anonymous
There is no way to identify the owner of a transaction being made with bitcoins; Bitcoin transactions are anonymous unless the owner publicly identifies him or herself with the transaction ID/Hash.
Unlike the regular currencies that the central banks easily identify, you will have to submit your details to these banks before making transactions.
Peer-To-Peer Transactions
With Bitcoin, you can send and receive bitcoins from another person without any interruptions and traces.
Lower Fees In Transactions
Sending a huge amount of money to the bank has its vast fees. With Bitcoin, you can choose how much you want to pay for the costs.
And the transaction fees are always low. Making Bitcoin is one of the best ways to make a payment instantly.
Like any currency that has its name for its currency, a unit of bitcoin is called Satoshi, the same way we have cents for Dollar, Pesewa for Cedis, and Kobo for Naira. A 1000,000,000 Satoshis makes 1 Bitcoin.
Can Bitcoin Make You Rich?
Bitcoin can make you rich if you know how to invest and have patience. In 2008, 1 Bitcoin was $0.50 (GHS 2.89)
In February 5, 2017, 1 Bitcoin was $1,010 (GHS 5482)
Today 1 Bitcoin costs 57,186 (GHS 330792).
So if you had bought 1 Bitcoin in 2008 and kept it, you would have $57,000+ in your Bitcoin wallet account.
Why Does The Price Of Bitcoin Keep On Increasing?
This is because it has become a valuable investment to make. Also, big institutions and companies have started investing in this cryptocurrency. One of these big brands is Tesla, which recently invested $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency.
Many people believe in Bitcoin and how it works, unlike years ago when people used to see Bitcoin as an unsafe investment.
Can Bitcoin Be Hacked?
Well, bitcoin hasn’t been hacked ever since it went live in 2009. Bitcoin is considered one of the most secure blockchain technologies in the entire world, which is very hard to hack.
Bitcoin can’t be hacked because the data isn’t stored on one central server. This means if someone wants to perform a hack, this person will have to find all the servers around the world that Bitcoin transactions are running on and start hacking each one of them.
This makes it very hard, and because of this, we have never heard of Bitcoin being ever hacked.
But there has been some news involving bitcoins being hacked from exchanges and people’s wallets.
When a hacker gets access to your private keys, they can perform a transaction from your wallet by sending all your bitcoins to his wallet.
Just like how you can’t hack mobile money in Ghana, if one of these fraudsters gets access to your pin, this fraudster can withdraw all your money from your mobile money wallet.
Where Is Bitcoin Stored?
Just like how you store your money in a bank, bitcoin is stored in a wallet. There are different wallets, and some can be mobile wallets or desktop wallets. And also, if you want to keep your wallet offline, we have Paper Wallet.
Types Of Cryptocurrency Wallets
Desktop Wallet
Desktop wallets are used on desktops, and they are used to send and receive coins. It also gives the user the ability to store their private keys and be accessible anytime.
List of Desktop Cryptocurrency Wallets
- Electrum
- Bitcoin Core
- Electrum
Mobile Wallet
On the other hand, mobile wallets operate on mobile, and mobile wallets are made to make payments easily wherever you find yourself. You can also use mobile wallets to scan a QR Code of a merchant and make payments.
List of Mobile Cryptocurrency Wallets
- Coinomi
- Electrum
- Trust Wallet
- Mycelium
- Several
You have to get yourself a wallet or create a wallet and then create a private key for that wallet.
We advise you to read about the security risks of mobile wallets, desktop wallets, and web wallets so that you get to know how to decide.
Like how you use your account number to send and receive money and use your mobile number to send and receive mobile money, bitcoin uses a Bitcoin address to receive money.
Web Wallets
These are the wallets that are created online. With a web wallet, you can send and receive bitcoins anywhere you find yourself when choosing a web wallet.
One must be careful, as some don’t allow you to have your private keys. With this, you can send and receive money, but if their website is not accessible, it will be tough to access your coins.
There are two trusted hosted wallet services that I can recommend: Blockchain and Coinbase.
These two services have been in the system for quite a long. These two websites manage your private keys for you, and you will secure them with a password, meaning there can’t be a transaction without your password. (This is always recommended for beginners who want to start trading bitcoins).
One advantage of a web wallet for beginners is that, as a beginner, you don’t have to think of someone hacking you to get access to your private keys.
Your private keys will be saved, and your login details are what you need to protect.
Even when someone gets access to your login details, you can prompt these services, and they will temporarily lock any transaction that will happen on your account.
What Is A Cryptocurrency Exchange?
Crypto exchanges are where you buy and sell your cryptocurrencies. Crypto exchanges are similar to stock exchanges, but you can only buy and sell cryptocurrencies with the crypto exchange.
Aside from buying and selling, these exchanges help you convert your cryptocurrency to another cryptocurrency, e.g., you can sell your Bitcoin for Ethereum or Litecoin.
Types of Cryptocurrency Exchanges
There are three types of cryptocurrency exchanges, and they are:
Decentralised exchanges (Also Known As DEX)
It is an exchange that does not rely on a company to control the assets or transactions, it is mainly peer-to-peer, and the trades are controlled by automated without any central presence.
List Of Trusted And Safest Decentralised Cryptocurrency Exchanges
- Binance DEX
- FolkDelta
- Idex
- DDEX
- Anyway
- Balancer
- Aave
- PancakeSwap
- Uniswap
- Bancor Network
Centralised Exchanges (Also Known As CEX)
Centralized exchanges are the type of exchanges that a company controls. With a centralized exchange, you will need to verify yourself before making huge transactions because these exchanges need to know your identity.
List Of Trusted And Safest Centralised Cryptocurrency Exchanges
- Bittrex.com
- Binance
- Kraken
- Coinbase
- Blockchain
- Kucoin
- OKEx
- Poloniex
- Cex
- CoinAll
With the centralized exchanges, we have a detailed article taking you through creating an account on the top trusted exchanges.
Hybrids
As the name suggests, hybrid exchanges combine both centralized and decentralized exchanges. With hybrid, users access both trades and choose where they want to buy or sell.
Is Bitcoin The Only Crypto Currency?
Bitcoin is not the only cryptocurrency, but it is the most popular coin among all the cryptocurrencies we know.
Types Of Other Crypto Currencies
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum
- Binance Coin
- Hydro
- Litecoin
- Bitcoin Cash
- Stellar
- Dogecoin
- Monero
- Polkadot
- Cardano
- Tether
- Ripple
- Dash
- Apollo and many more
Is There A Way To Earn Free Bitcoins?
There is a way to earn free bitcoins by doing simple tasks and getting rewarded in satoshis. Although you are awarded based on your tasks, it is worth it if you don’t have money to invest and want to receive free bitcoins. Blockchain.com is also known for giving out free cryptocurrencies, you can sign up and you might receive free cryptos when some become available.
We have an article covering the best sites that give free bitcoins for simple tasks.
So How Do You Buy And Withdraw your Crypto Currencies since it is not like Normal Currency?
We have various merchants worldwide where you can buy or sell your bitcoin. You can buy Bitcoin from these merchants and pay with mobile money or sell your cryptocurrency and receive your money in your mobile money account.
These merchants are Ebitcoinics, Paxful, Reminato, ecurrency4u, and many more. We have an article on how to buy Bitcoin pay with mobile money and sell your Bitcoin for mobile money.
If you want to own or start investing in Bitcoin, you must first learn how to create a Bitcoin account, and we have an article on how to create a Bitcoin account in Ghana and anywhere you find yourself.
Conclusion
Bitcoin is here to stay, and gradually it’s been adopted by big companies and institutions. This is the time to learn about it and decide whether to join the train or not.
In this article, we went through everything you need to know about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency as a whole. This article takes you through what bitcoin is, how it works, how to buy and store Bitcoins, how to earn free Bitcoins, and many more.
Like I always advise my readers, know what you are doing when it comes to investment, and try to invest what you can not afford to lose.
Although bitcoin can make you increase your money, as discussed in this article, if you don’t learn about it well, you might fall for some scams and lose your money.
That is why you must bookmark this website, as we have taken it upon ourselves to educate you so that you can make the best investment.
Also, if you have any questions about cryptocurrency or any topic that you will want me to cover for you, let me know in the comment section below.
