Bitcoin is a type of virtual currency and is the most popular cryptocurrency at the moment. The technology was first introduced in 2008 as an open-source software.
Read more about Bitcoin on our blog here!
Learning resources for beginners
If you are new to Bitcoin and wish to understand how it works, we highly recommend visiting the following links:
1. WATCH: Weusecoins.com's intro video
Weusecoins.com's concise animated video outlines the advantages, and simply introduces the concept of wallets and ledgers.
2. VIEW: Visual Capitalist's infographic
Visual Capitalist published this infographic entitled the Definitive History of Bitcoin, which gives an excellent overview of how it all started and what it took for Bitcoin to get to where it is now.
3. LISTEN: Freakonomics Radio podcast
Freakonomics Radio (the podcast of Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, authors of the Freakonomics books) ran a very interesting episode in March 2014 called “Why Everybody Who Doesn’t Hate Bitcoin Loves It." The episode covers most of the basics, and also addresses some of Bitcoin’s most controversial aspects.
The episode was posted back in March 2014, but you can still download the episode from iTunes, or stream it off Freakonomics’ official website.
4. READ: Yevgeniy Brikman's blog post
Software engineer Yevgeniy Brikman put together an excellent post on his blog entitled “Bitcoin by analogy" where he works his way through the tough basic questions, including:
- what gives Bitcoin validity?
- what is meant by “decentralized” currency?
- how does Bitcoin mining work?
He delves into the technical aspects without being overly technical, and sheds light on the more mysterious aspects of Bitcoin.