A bitcoin wallet is software that connects you to the bitcoin network. This is the first step in acquiring bitcoin. You know how it is when you send someone an email. You have to have an email address, a password, and a way of connecting to the network. It can be webmail or a program such as Thunderbird or Outlook. You open up your email program and send an email to someone, using the email address that they gave you. The email is sent using your email […]
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The size of the bitcoin block has bothered a number of developers, miners, and others involved in the popular cryptocurrency. It seems that the limit of 1 megabyte as the block size means that only 7 transactions can be handled in one second. Because of the number of transactions increasing, this can cause the system to lag. On August 1, 2017, the protocol was changed making the block size limit 8 megabytes. The result was that the new currency was not the same as the bitcoin core […]
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We learn from our mistakes. In the world of bitcoin, there have been some real doozies of mistakes. Anyone who has ever lost or misplaced a password can relate to the common problem of bitcoin owners who have lost their private key. There is no second chance of recovering from this blunder. This is why it is recommended to write it down on paper and store a copy of it in several safe digital places. Of course, once someone has your keys, they can have your coin. […]
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The images on the internet show bitcoin mining in a form reminiscent of the old gold rush miners, pickaxes digging out the gold. The actual mining is not quite like that and it changes over time. Bitcoin miners are a special necessity in the bitcoin network. When a bitcoin is spent, a transaction occurs. Your transaction is verified by checking back through the transactions to ensure that you have the bitcoin available to spend. Your wallet synchronizes with the network to make sure that it is up-to-date […]
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There is a slight difference between how to buy bitcoins and where to buy them. How to is all about the wallet and exchanges and the typical sources. Where to buy bitcoins digs a little deeper into some of the alternatives to exchanges and setting up your own shop that takes bitcoins. Some larger areas have bitcoin ATMs. The prices are comparable to exchanges. This is a convenient process. Looking at the prices for the middle of November 2017, these are the prices at a bitcoin ATM […]
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Forking is when the basic protocol of bitcoin has been changed and suddenly the blockchain splits. There is a fork in the road. One of the limitations of bitcoin that seems to plague many users is the size cap on the block. One megabyte seems to be too small to make sense. In 2010, it might have been okay but in the streaming world of today, it seems to be prohibitive. Developers tried to find ways to improve bitcoin, at least to their way of thinking, their […]
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The first step in buying bitcoins is acquiring a wallet. This is what the software that contains your bitcoins is called – a wallet. It is this wallet that allows you to join the bitcoin world. Think of it like getting a bank account. You need it to participate in the money world. Even if you stash your cash under your mattress, usually it comes to you in checks and money orders or direct deposit. You need to have someplace where you can access this cash. Once […]
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Bitcoin is in the news, usually with some startling information about some guy tossing out his old computer for recycling with his only bitcoin wallet on the hard drive. His old wallet has the only access to hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of bitcoin. And it’s gone. Or you read the predictions about the bitcoin that was worth 39 cents in 2010 and $500 in 2016 skyrocketing to $100,000 by the end of 2018. Online stories about the unregulated aspect of digital currency open up scenarios […]
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In November 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto published a white paper that began “Commerce on the Internet has come to rely almost exclusively on financial institutions serving as trusted third parties to process electronic payments.” The solution, as Nakamoto saw it, was an electronic cash system “based on cryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any two willing parties to transact directly with each other without the need for a trusted third party.” The 8-page white paper then went on to explain the electronic payment system that could serve this […]
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Built into the bitcoin protocol from the beginning was a limit to the number of coins that will ever be created. The limit is 21 million. Technically, the limit is 20999999.9769, short of 21 million by 3 bitcents. Without a limit to the possible number of bitcoins, they would become like fiat money and decrease in value as more and more and more bitcoins were created. With a limit on it, bitcoin should increase in value. Bitcoin creation begins with a transaction. The transaction synchronizes with the […]
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