What is Bitcoin?
Introduction
Bitcoin is a digital currency
Bitcoin came to life in January 2009
The creation and transfer of Bitcoin is based on a cryptographic protocol
All Bitcoin transactions are recorded in a public ledger called the block chain
Bitcoins are transferred through a peer to peer network
You can store your Bitcoins in a digital wallet
Mining is the process by which new Bitcoins are created
The number of Bitcoin is limited to 21.0 million
Each Bitcoin has 8 decimals which means that in total there are 2.1 × 1015 or 2.1 quadrillion currency units
Until today about 11.5 million Bitcoins have been mined
More about the Bitcoin wallet
Your Bitcoin wallet is the place where you store your Bitcoins
Be careful with your wallet - it's where your money is
You can either have a Bitcoin wallet installed locally on your computer or smartphone - choose one of these
You can also use an online wallet such as the one from Blockchain.info
There are also ways to create paper wallets but this requires more technological insight. I will post more links here later
Generally it's good to have your money distributed over more than one place - but don't forget to keep track of where your Bitcoins are!
Advantages of Bitcoin as a currency
Fast money transfer
Very low cost money transfer
Frictionless international money transfer
No charge-backs
No double spending
No money printing possible
Resources
The short list below is a collection of links to the most important Bitcoin websites. You can find a more comprehensive list of Bitcoin knowledge sources under Wiki Bitcoin.
Official Bitcoin website - this is where you can download your wallet and find further information
Dedicated Bitcoin wiki - one of the best detailed resources, covers also technical questions
Bitcoin Foundation - is there to standardize, protect and promote Bitcoin
bitcoin charts - price information of Bitcoin exchanges all around the world
