When Bitcoin was created by its mysterious pseudonymous developer Satoshi Nakamoto on the 3rd of January, 2009, the world was introduced to a completely new form of currency - cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is a form of binary data which acts as a payment medium. Since then, thousands of cryptocurrencies have been launched taking the current total to over 7,812. However, Bitcoin remains the most popular and traded cryptocurrency in the industry. In fact, the price movement of Bitcoin strongly impacts the entire cryptocurrency market.
Bitcoin was initially created to be an electronic, peer-to-peer cash system but now it is also viewed as a store-of-value currency, such as gold. The concept of this cryptocurrency was introduced in a white paper in 2008 under a pseudonym. To this day, the identity of the author is unknown; in fact, it is not even known whether this paper was by a single person or a group of people. What makes Bitcoin so valuable is its scarcity. With the maximum supply set at 21 million, there will not be any more Bitcoins - no one can create or duplicate them, not even the original inventor(s). As with all cryptocurrencies, the parameters (for example, the rules of buying and selling, the total amount, how new Bitcoins can be added to the market, etc.) for Bitcoin have been set.
Today, Bitcoin is not only significant because it is merely at the top of all cryptocurrencies. It is crucial because it established an altogether new financial ecosystem. Cryptocurrencies offer multiple benefits, some of which are as follows. They provide anonymity which is paramount for many when it comes to financing. With the world economy shifting to digital currency in the future, the worth of cryptocurrencies will only increase. With cryptocurrencies, settlements are instant, transactions extremely simple, and availability is high due to easy internet access for many.
The launch of Bitcoin created a digital currency ecosystem that has just truly begun and will inevitably transform the world economy in the future.