Bitcoin P2P Digital Currency
Bitcoin is an experimental new digital currency that
enables instant payments to anyone, anywhere in the world.
Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with
no central authority: managing transactions and issuing money are
carried out
collectively by the network.
Bitcoin is also the name of the open source software which enables the use of this currency.
The
software is a community-driven open source project, released under the
MIT license
as described by http://bitcoin.org/
Wikipedia describes it as
Bitcoin (sign:
BTC) is a
decentralized digital currency based on an
open-source,
peer-to-peer internet protocol. It was created by a
pseudonymous developer named
Satoshi Nakamoto in
2009.
[7][1]
One bitcoin is subdivided into 100-million smaller units called satoshis.
[3] There is a hard limit of 21-million bitcoins in total, which are released at a scheduled rate until the year
2140.
[8]
Internationally, bitcoins can be exchanged by
personal computer directly through a wallet
file or a
website without a intermediate financial institution.
[9] They can also be exchanged through physical
banknotes and
coins.
[10][11]
Unlike most
currencies, bitcoin does not rely on a
central issuer, like a
central bank or
government. Instead, bitcoin uses a
transaction log across a
peer-to-peer computer network to record
transactions,
verify them and prevent
double spending. The verification process awards effective bitcoin
nodes or "bitcoin miners" with a limited release of bitcoins and
transaction fees (if any). This process requires intense
computing power,
electricity and significant
investment as it solves
SHA256 hashes through
bruteforce to verify transactions and add them to the network's transaction log.
Currently, bitcoin is the most widely used
alternative currency:
[12][2] As of February 2013, the
monetary base of bitcoin is valued at over 275 million
US dollars.
[13][14]
More
So for a common man it is digital money that can be made by using computer saved on it or online and spent on sites like http://www.weusecoins.com and may more sites for purchasing gambling etc.
