Crypto
1:40
What is Bitcoin? | Bitcoin Explained
Bitcoin is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies. In this video, Titan's Emily Cherkassky explains Bitcoin and what you might need to know about it.
Video Transcript
Bitcoin is the first and most well-known cryptocurrency by far. You've seen it all over the news. You might have friends who are Bitcoin millionaires and in 2021 it was adopted as legal tender in El Salvador. So, how did Bitcoin become so prominent? In 2008 Satoshi Nakamoto, an alias used for Bitcoin's inventor or group of inventors, brought the innovation of peer to peer electronic cash systems outside of the banking system for the first time ever. This means that instead of having a centralized bank where all transactions in the network run through, Bitcoin created a decentralized network of computers that financial transactions could run through, with no one needing to be in charge of it because all of the permissions and constraints were baked into the system.
This set the stage for every other cryptocurrency and decentralized finance technology out there. You can think of Bitcoin as a pioneer coin in crypto. There will only ever be 21 million bitcoins. That's it. Once they're all mined, which should be around the year 2140, no new bitcoins will enter circulation. This type of scarcity provides an argument for Bitcoin's long term value. And it's why Bitcoin often gets compared to gold, which is also scarce. I'll leave you with one more interesting, fun fact. Did you know that the FBI owns one of the largest Bitcoin wallets? In 2020, the FBI shut down Silk Road, a black market site where Bitcoin was frequently used to make purchases. In doing so, all of the Bitcoin circulating on the site, which is about 1.5% of the world's total Bitcoin was seized by the FBI.
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