Bitcoin

What is it even?

$@!#% if I know…. I've even read up on it but I don't get it.

Same here

I think in the background it is based on solving mathematical equations which is called mining for which you get paid for and these are done by software/hardware.

There are many ways of mining and many currencies to mine.
The coins you've mined are held in a digital valet and sometimes this valet can earn you interest too.

To mine coins you can do it through apps on your phone, playing games, etc. and these apps mine different coins that have different values so before you do that check it.
There are other ways as well but I think the most profitable is to buy a mining computer; -the price can range from $70.00 to $5000.00 or more. Since the hardware uses a lot of electricity the efficiency and profit is based on that.

I don't have the money yet but I'm planning to buy one of these one day :D
This is what I have understood from reading about it, hope it helps somewhat and doesn't make it more complicated.

I'm gonna pass on that)

Thanks for explaining it tho!

While @Zsolt N. has made a great attempt at explaining bitcoin. It isn't really explaining bitcoin, but the technology that it is built from. This technology is called "blockchain" and it literally solves one problem. How to send an "original" digital product to another person.

You may ask what does that even mean? Well the easiest example is let's say you want to send someone a audio file to someone. You probably will just attach it to an e-mail and send it right? Well then you just sent a copy because you still have your audio and now they have a copy. Now for you audio file you might not think this is a big deal but if that was money… you'd be literally printing money yourself. This is an issue and so blockchain was brought into existence. As long as you know the use you can start to imagine where this would be useful instead of actually knowing how it actually works. Just need to know why the iPhone is popular to invest in Apple and not how it actually works.

As to bitcoin just understand it's finally a currency you can send to people without a third party bank involved and that's the novelty behind it. Recently it's been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as money. So I would trade it similar to the foreign exchange. In terms of foreign exchange you are always comparing it to the country of origin's economy, politics, etc. So, what would you compare Bitcoin to? You would compare it to the make believe country known as the Internet where Servers are the land your ISPs are the roads. So if you can abstract that in your mind then I'm sure you'll be able to trade bitcoin without a problem.

Well this is quite a ramble, I didn't spell or grammar check this, but I hope it helps people have a general understanding.

I would to see how this works in a step-by-step visual.

Coinbase has turned out to be a great app and a great learning experience also.

I would not advise mining unless you really know what you are doing. These days you need some top of the line hardware, the expertise to run it and the efficiencies of scale. It will be quite an energy consumer too and you'll want to have a contract with a provider just for that aspect.

While it is the most mature cryptocurrency and will likely dominate that landscape for a long time into the future it still is quite volatile - much more so than the top 10 fiat currencies in the world. It will likely be worth putting a small portion of your investment funds into and seeing where it goes over the next 10 years but in the meantime don't be surprised by 50% drops and similar magnitude spikes and retraces.

Here is an articles in ways to invest in crypto:

Good information

It's a secured cryptocurrency. It's actually really amazing, and I believe more people should look into cryptocurrency.

I just started using crypto currency through my paypal.

Getting close to all time highs, everything seems to be aligning to push BTC higher. It will be interesting to see where it goes after doubling in just a few months.

I've been hearing about Bitcoin but I don't quite understand it. I'd need to understand it and know if I do ivest how am I sure my money is secure

If you mean secure as in not being stolen by hackers I would recommend watching Crypto Kasey on Youtube. She has some good videos for all levels of cryptocurrrency investors/speculators.

If you mean secure as in financially secure there is no way to do that unless you can know the future. It doubled in recent months. From here it could drop by 50% or quadruple over the next year. I would only invest funds I am ok seeing cut in half or more. That said many "experts" say it is much more likely to increase by factor of 25 then drop by a factor of 5 over the next few years.

While @Zsolt N. has made a great attempt at explaining bitcoin. It isn't really explaining bitcoin, but the technology that it is built from. This technology is called "blockchain" and it literally solves one problem. How to send an "original" digital product to another person.

You may ask what does that even mean? Well the easiest example is let's say you want to send someone a audio file to someone. You probably will just attach it to an e-mail and send it right? Well then you just sent a copy because you still have your audio and now they have a copy. Now for you audio file you might not think this is a big deal but if that was money… you'd be literally printing money yourself. This is an issue and so blockchain was brought into existence. As long as you know the use you can start to imagine where this would be useful instead of actually knowing how it actually works. Just need to know why the iPhone is popular to invest in Apple and not how it actually works.

As to bitcoin just understand it's finally a currency you can send to people without a third party bank involved and that's the novelty behind it. Recently it's been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as money. So I would trade it similar to the foreign exchange. In terms of foreign exchange you are always comparing it to the country of origin's economy, politics, etc. So, what would you compare Bitcoin to? You would compare it to the make believe country known as the Internet where Servers are the land your ISPs are the roads. So if you can abstract that in your mind then I'm sure you'll be able to trade bitcoin without a problem.

Well this is quite a ramble, I didn't spell or grammar check this, but I hope it helps people have a general understanding.

This is a solid explanation: but be cautioned because bitcoin and other digital currencies aren't insured by the FDIC, any thing you lose is likely lost for good :\

1. There's basically no longer any money in mining for people who haven't already invested in the hardware.
2. BC is a spec, not an investment, so it may not have a future at all.
3. There is increasing institutional endorsement/engagement, so although the risk is high, it may have a future.
4. If you are on this site, you should probably buy an index fund or property instead.

it is much more likely to increase by factor of 25 then drop by a factor of 5 over the next few years.

Not sure what this means, as without leverage it could only drop by a maximum factor of 1. Also, increasing by a factor of 25 would put it at nearly a half-million dollars for a single coin, which seems highly dubious.

"Increase/rise by a factor of X" denotes direct proportional change (multiplication by X) whereas "decrease/drop by a factor of X" denotes inverse proportional change (division by X).

"Increase by a factor of 25" would imply BTC/USD valuations of 25x20k = 500k and yes, if you follow discussions by multiple respected individuals in the financial world this is a very real possibility.

It is also quite possible, but with lower projected probability in the cryptocurrency crowd, that it could decrease by a factor of 5 to 20k/5 = 4k.

You're right. Thanks for letting me know.

How do you use bitcoin?

Thanks for all the explanations! Gave me a better understanding of what crypto is all about.

Over $150 in free crypto at coinbase, including $5 btc.