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What makes Bitcoin unique is that the supply of the currency is limited (at 21 million coins) and transactions of the currency occur peer-to-peer (i.e. without the need of a central entity, such as the Bank of England).
What makes Bitcoin unique is that the supply of the currency is limited (at 21 million coins) and transactions of the currency occur peer-to-peer (i.e. without the need of a central entity, such as the Bank of England).
The main benefit of transacting on a peer-to-peer, decentralised network (rather than a centralised network) is that there is no real single point of failure. In a centralised network, if the central entity fails, then the whole network fails (i.e. there is a single point of failure in the network), whereas in decentralised network, becasue there is no central entity, there is no real single point of failure, and therefore the currency is likely to last for much longer, possibly forever.
Another key benefit of a decentralised network is that transaction costs are lower.


==Competition==
==Competition==
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{| class="wikitable sortable"
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Currency competition
|+ Cryptocurrency competition
|-
|-
! Item !! Bitcoin !! Ether !! US Dollar
! Item !! Bitcoin !! Ether !! XRP
|-
|-
| Does the currency operate on a decentralised network? || style="background: green; color: white;" | Yes|| style="background: green; color: white;" | Yes|| style="background: red; color: white;" | No  
| Does the currency operate on a decentralised network? || style="background: green; color: white;" | Yes|| style="background: green; color: white;" | Yes|| style="background: red; color: white;" | No  

Revision as of 14:58, 20 March 2022

Bitcoin.png

Summary

  • Bitcoin is a currency.

What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a currency.

What's unique about Bitcoin?

What makes Bitcoin unique is that the supply of the currency is limited (at 21 million coins) and transactions of the currency occur peer-to-peer (i.e. without the need of a central entity, such as the Bank of England).

The main benefit of transacting on a peer-to-peer, decentralised network (rather than a centralised network) is that there is no real single point of failure. In a centralised network, if the central entity fails, then the whole network fails (i.e. there is a single point of failure in the network), whereas in decentralised network, becasue there is no central entity, there is no real single point of failure, and therefore the currency is likely to last for much longer, possibly forever.

Another key benefit of a decentralised network is that transaction costs are lower.

Competition

Currency competition
Item Bitcoin Ether US Dollar
Does the currency operate on a decentralised network? Yes Yes No
Is the supply of the currency limited? Yes No No
High likely is the currency to act as a store of value? High Low Low
Cryptocurrency competition
Item Bitcoin Ether XRP
Does the currency operate on a decentralised network? Yes Yes No
Is the supply of the currency limited? Yes No No
High likely is the currency to act as a store of value? High Low Low

Actions

To invest in Bitcoin, click here.