Bitcoin 101 – What is Bitcoin?
At Coincasinos.co.uk, we’re dedicated to giving you all the information you need on bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and the best gambling websites to spend them at. There’s a great chance that, seeing as you’re already here, you know a thing or two about bitcoin – but what if you’re entirely new to it?
Fear not. Here, in the following guide, you can learn everything you need to about the most well-known, groundbreaking cryptocurrency in the world: bitcoin. Read about its origins, its advantages, and how you can actually get your virtual hands on some… Our Bitcoin 101 – What is Bitcoin guide will give you all the basic information you need before you become a crypto investor or a crypto gambler.
Hitory of Bitcoin
Where did bitcoin begin?
The first sign of bitcoin’s arrival was the registration of the domain bitcoin.org way back in August 2008. Following on from this, in the October of that same year, a paper titled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System was published by one Satoshi Nakamoto. This outlined what the bitcoin system was and how it would work, before the network itself went live in January 2009.
Satoshi Nakamoto’s true identity is still unknown, which lends the history of bitcoin a real air of mystery and intrigue. He, she, or they mined the first bitcoin block (referred to as the genesis block) and went on to mine around one million bitcoins in the network’s beginning period.
Developer Gavin Andresen then became the lead developer at the Bitcoin Foundation, and the cryptocurrency has gone on to go from strength to strength. Though various other cryptocurrencies have been established and gained solid reputations of their own, bitcoin still holds a powerful position in the virtual-currency market.
bitcoin remains incredily attractive to fans of online gambling, for numerous reasons we’ll explore below.
Security is obviously a key concern for those of us who love to play casino games, whether you prefer to spend your time on classics like blackjack or roulette, or the latest video slots. With transcactions of varying sizes taking place, with money changing hands countless times a day, we all want to feel reassured that our funds are safe at all times.
bitcoin users maintain complete control over their payments – it’s simply not possible for merchants or others to add hidden charges (as they may do with alternative, more traditional payment options). bitcoin payments are made without any of your own personal details being connected to it, providing effective protection against such dangers as identity theft.
bitcon payments are also made using private keys, each a 256-bit number. These keys allow users to perform transactions without having to add any of their personal details.
Other advantages include the fact that transactions cannot be reveresed once they have been made. This means no bank or government can interfere with your spending and deny you the right to send money.
Anonymity is a benficial side-effect of the lack of personal details: you can spend bitcoins however you like without being connected to it. Though the process of handling bitcoin and finding sites where you can spend it may seem a little bit daunting at first, you’ll soon get used to it – and wonder how you got by without it for so long.
The process of generating bitcoin is referred to as ‘mining’. New transactions are continually added to the blockchain, kept in a queue, and individual blocks are removed as transactions are finalized.
Those users who take the time to mine will be creating new bitcoins, employing specific software to solve varied cryptographic puzzles; rewards will be given to miners, which provides ample incentive to do so. These rewards are typically agreed upon by the network’s users.
The puzzles that need to be solved can be tweaked, and this is done with every 2016 blocks which are processed (what equates to a two-week period).
The number of bitcoins which get released with every block mined (known as the ‘block reward’) is halved with each 210,000 blocks. This usually equates to around each four years, and though it started at 50 in 2009, it became 25 in 2014; eventually, a maximum of 21 million bitcoins will circulate.
So, you want to start spending bitcoin – where do you begin?
First of all, you need to get yourself a bitcoin wallet. These are used to store the private keys you need to spend your bitcoins, and there are different types available, across desktops and mobile.
Desktop wallets are downloaded to your computer, and give you total control. Mobile wallets come in the form of an app you install on your phone, and you can take it with you wherever you go. This enables you to make payments from your smartphone at any time, any place, rather than limiting you to wherever your computer is.
You can use these to make payments in brick-and-mortar establishments too, with a growing number of businesses supporting bitcoin.
Web wallets are just as they sound: online storage for your bitcoin private keys. These are a popular option as there is no physical downloading involved.
Once you have a wallet set up, you then need to find a bitcoin broker to buy from. There are a number of different options available, such as Coinbase, while there are peer-to-peer services too, including BitQuick or LocalBitcoin.
The value of bitcoins changes frequently, so be sure to check on this when you’re buying.
You can learn more about setting up a wallet and buying bitcoins elsewhere on coincasinos.co.uk.
Using bitcoin for gambling online is a quick, easy, secure option. You can find a growing range of websites accepting bitcoins as a form of payment, though the number of domains based in the UK is small at the moment (unsurprising considering that the Gambling Commission only recently permitted its use).
Online casinos are increasingly important to the gambling industry and consumers, and virtual currencies obviously tie-in well. If you’re looking to start using bitcoin for your online gambling and casino gaming, take a look at the other in-depth articles we have here at coincasinos.co.uk – we cover everything you need to know.