In 2009 Bitcoin was created with the idea of building alternative currencies in response to the 2008 financial recession. The hope is to create an alternative financial system that is resilient to socio-economic changes and geo-political conflicts. The idea behind Bitcoin is actually simple, with the following characteristics.
First, decentralized and not controlled by any one person / entity (built through a decentralized network).
Second, the scarcity factor (the amount is limited to only 21 million units of Bitcoin [BTC]). At present, as of April 29, 2020, the total number of Bitcoin in circulation is around 18,351,387 BTC. The new Bitcoin units are "produced", through a mining process, on average every 10 minutes totaling 12.5 BTC.
Third, adheres to the deflationary model, where every 210,000 blocks (equivalent to 4 years), the amount of Bitcoin produced will be less and more difficult to produce. This standard mechanism is known as Halving, which reduces new Bitcoin rewards to miners by half.
First, decentralized and not controlled by any one person / entity (built through a decentralized network).
Second, the scarcity factor (the amount is limited to only 21 million units of Bitcoin [BTC]). At present, as of April 29, 2020, the total number of Bitcoin in circulation is around 18,351,387 BTC. The new Bitcoin units are "produced", through a mining process, on average every 10 minutes totaling 12.5 BTC.
Third, adheres to the deflationary model, where every 210,000 blocks (equivalent to 4 years), the amount of Bitcoin produced will be less and more difficult to produce. This standard mechanism is known as Halving, which reduces new Bitcoin rewards to miners by half.
