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]
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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.
