Understanding Bitcoin

Bitcoin is often the first place many people start when it comes to blockchain and cryptocurrencies. So we thought it’d be a good place for us to start our new publication!

What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency and a way to pay for goods and services. Everything from sandwiches to houses can be bought using Bitcoin. It’s built using blockchain. (If any of these terms throw you, that’s totally fine. Our site, Aysha.io has a built in glossary for these technical terms)

A brief history

In November 2008, a paper called Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System was published on a small mailing list for cryptography fans. The author went by the name Satoshi Nakamotoand he/she/they explained how the currency works.

For more information on who Satoshi is — and isn’t — head to our article exploring the topic.

What was so special about it?

• Decentralised — no-one person or group owns or controls it
• Trustless (peer-to-peer) — No more third parties
• Borderless — no need for exchanges to move currency across borders
• Immutability — It can never be changed or reversed unlike all of today’s financial systems.
• Double-spending — it solved the problem many digital currencies had tried to crack
• It’s a proof-of-concept for blockchain a technology that will change literally everything.

There’s so much more to learn about the technology that powers Bitcoin. Not to mention its applications, limitations and how its being used out in the real world.

The Aysha platform is designed to help you get to grips with this ground breaking technology through super simple, easy-to-read guides.

Head to Aysha.io to discover more.