What is Bitcoin? (BTC)

Bitcoin is the best known and most widely-adopted cryptocurrency. It’s a technology native to the internet, and is often referred to as the future of money. Bitcoin, while technically complex, is a simple concept: Bitcoin is a globally accessible digital currency that allows for secure and transparent peer-to-peer transactions.

Bitcoin is a revolutionary technology because it allows people anywhere in the world to store their value and make payments without trusted third parties. It’s the first currency of the internet, and everyone in the world is free to use it.

Bitcoin was created in 2009 by an anonymous person or group of people using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, and it was first outlined in the 2008 Bitcoin white paper. In 2021, Bitcoin collided with mainstream consciousness and became a household name.

Unlike centralised government currencies such as USD, AUD, GBP etc. (called fiat currencies), which are created and issued under the control of central banks and governments within the traditional financial system. Bitcoin is not affiliated or controlled by any centralised masters. Meaning, Bitcoin cannot be inflated or manipulated in any way like traditional fiat money.

Bitcoin can be used as a form of payment like cash. However, there will only ever be 21 million Bitcoin. Because of this scarce supply, and due to its 13 year battle-tested fundamentals, Bitcoin has become an increasingly attractive investment.

You can think of Blockchain and Bitcoin as an open accounting system, where a network of high powered computers around the world work together to track ownership of digital tokens known as Bitcoins.

When you send Bitcoin to someone, the transaction is broadcast to the entire Bitcoin network. After the transaction is verified, it is recorded in a public ledger called the blockchain. The blockchain contains a record of every Bitcoin transaction that has occurred since the system came online in 2009.

While traditional currencies are issued by a central authority, Bitcoins can only be created and issued by the network to Bitcoin miners who process transactions. Miners are powerful specialised computers that do the processing required to manage transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain. Miners earn Bitcoin as a reward for this work, and this is how new Bitcoins enter circulation.

The Bitcoin system is immutably programmed so that only 21 million bitcoins will ever exist. As time goes by, the reward for miners decreases, and the result is a predictable supply, governed by scarcity.

The Bitcoin market cap is over $440 billion AUD and the current price per Bitcoin sits at over $33,600 AUD as of August 8th 2022*.

*Bitcoin (BTC) Market Cap 8/8/2022

Bitcoin can be broken down to 8 decimal places, meaning you can buy or send just a fraction of a full Bitcoin. So any amount of money can be represented in Bitcoin.

The introduction of Block Earner Invest provides Australians with the simplest way to buy and sell any amount (even fractional) of Bitcoin. With no lock-in periods, no minimum deposit amounts, and low fees — you can track performance live in the app or withdraw your holdings at anytime, anywhere.

Learn more about the History of Bitcoin