Bitcoin (BTC): Price, Charts and Market Cap

How to describe bitcoin in plain English? It’s the first and currently most popular decentralized digital currency, which was created in 2008. The technology behind it is blockchain, a public ledger payment technology which takes intermediaries (such as banks and other service providers) out of the financial equation. Bitcoin’s emission is not controlled by anybody, the currency issue occurs through “mining” – the work of powerful computer processors around the globe using a program for calculating mathematical algorithms. This decentralization, i.e. absence of controlling institution, makes bitcoin independent from state regulators, banking and finance institutions and that is both an advantage and a drawback for the coin. As most financial regulators are still forming their position on this and other cryptocurrencies this year’s price rally has resulted in Wall Street gurus calling bitcoin a “fraud” and “bubble”. However, investors’ interest in bitcoin is seemingly unstoppable as more and more brokers and hedge funds are offering investment opportunities for crypto fans. If you want to add bitcoin in your investment portfolio, there are plenty of options for you: mining, trading bitcoin on one of cryptocurrency exchanges, accepting payment for your services in bitcoin, trading cryptocurrency using CFDs and event getting paid in bitcoin.