Hisham Sarwar
From Barter to Bitcoin
When man began to rear domestic livestock, bartering became a way of purchasing goods. In 600 BC, the first known currency was created by King Alyattes in Lydia. The coins then evolved into banknotes around 1661 AD. Money became essential for the development of trade. It was an up-gradation from the barter system and proved as an intermediary substance enabling the seller to become a buyer whenever he wanted.
Developing from its early roots, money has developed into payments and bitcoins. Bitcoin is the world’s first decentralized cryptocurrency. “Bitcoin Technology” is set to disrupt the world of money once more.
History of Bitcoin:
Bitcoin was proposed by Satoshi Nakamoto, a software developer, in 2008. He devised an electronic payment system that was based on mathematical proof. He wanted to develop a currency that was independent of any central authority, and transferred electronically instantly with low transaction fees. The first bitcoins were issued in 2009 against a backdrop of the international financial crises.
Process:
Bitcoins are not produced by the banks; these are digitally created by a community of people. This currency is mined using computer technology in a distributed network. These are flexible, decentralized, secure, and give more control of the currency. A bitcoin address can be set up in seconds without any payable fee unlike jumping through hoops in a conventional bank.
Bitcoins are not linked to names, addresses, or any other personal information and a user can hold multiple bitcoin addresses. The blockchain holds every detail of the bitcoin’s every single transaction. The publically used bitcoin addresses can easily reveal to anyone the number of bitcoins stored at that address. It is the fastest way of sending payments across the network but once the bitcoins are sent, they are gone forever until the recipient returns them to you.
Current status:
The bitcoin is purely a digital asset and allows value to be moved as easily as information. Bitcoins can now be bought and sold on exchanges where their price is determined by the market forces. Many entrepreneurs have built huge businesses providing services that evolve around bitcoin. More than ever, people are using bitcoin for daily transactions all over the world with current price trading at $11,300 at the time of writing this article in early August 2020.
All throughout history, most of the transactions took place on the speculation that the price of bitcoins would rise.
Future of the bitcoin:
Bitcoin has grabbed a lot of attention recently after a cold 2018 and most part of 2019. Its blockchain technology is really helpful to reinvent the exchange of stock and various financial securities. Despite many pundits predicting a promising future of Bitcoin, financial giants such as Warren Buffett have openly opposed Bitcoin calling it a real bubble.
Regardless of massive rise and fall in its price, the truth remains – bitcoin has surfaced back ever so strongly in the year 2020 amid COVID-19 Pandemic and it seems like the future may not be as volatile for this cryptocurrency that resulted is massive price sink in the last couple of years.
