{"id":4510,"date":"2017-12-11T10:46:25","date_gmt":"2017-12-11T17:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nigerianews.ca\/?p=4510"},"modified":"2017-12-11T10:47:24","modified_gmt":"2017-12-11T17:47:24","slug":"bitcoin-digital-currency-surging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nigerianews.ca\/bitcoin-digital-currency-surging\/","title":{"rendered":"What is bitcoin and why is the digital currency surging?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Lightcoin have seen unprecedented growth in 2017, despite remaining extremely volatile. (Dan Kitwood\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Transactions in bitcoin are tracked on a public digital ledger<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Here’s a look at what bitcoin is and why there’s so much excitement around it.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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So what is bitcoin?<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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How does it work?<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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How are bitcoin made?<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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How and why would you use it?<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Why is the value increasing so much? Is it a bubble?<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The bitcoin frenzy shows no sign of letting up, with the price of the digital currency soaring\u00a0and bitcoin futures set to start trading on Sunday. Here’s a look at what bitcoin is and why there’s so much excitement around it.<\/p>\n
So what is bitcoin?<\/h2>\n
It’s a fairly new type of currency, not controlled by any government or centrally processed by any bank or company. You can use it to buy things, though don’t expect your corner store to necessarily take it, and increasingly it’s used as an investment.<\/p>\n
You could think of it as a sort of gold for the digital era. Like gold, no one centrally controls production, supply is limited in part by the effort required to produce it, and you can hold on to it as a store of value.<\/p>\n
But because it’s digital it can be sent anywhere easily, and each bitcoin can be divided up into fractions much easier than trying to cut up a gold bar, making it potentially much easier to use for actual transactions and to act like a currency.<\/p>\n
How does it work?<\/h2>\n
The biggest challenge to a digital currency is what’s called double-spending.<\/p>\n
Without a bank or credit card or other intermediary acting as a trusted third party, confirming that the same number of dollars come out of one person’s account and go into another, it’s hard to make sure people aren’t spending the same digital money in multiple places or multiple times.<\/p>\n
Bitcoin solves this with a public digital ledger that records every transaction, and which forms the basis of the blockchain. Specialized computers around the world crunch complex mathematical problems that incorporate information from a transaction, then once solved, other computers verify the math. The solved equation, with the transaction incorporated, is then added to the blockchain as a permanent record.<\/p>\n
The combination of collective confirmation, and the public record of the transaction, combine to solve the lack of centralized clearing.<\/p>\n
How are bitcoin made?<\/h2>\n
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Dan Ingram sets up some of his new bitcoin mining machines in a warehouse he’s renting in B.C.’s Lower Mainland. (Glen Kugelstadt\/CBC)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
New bitcoin is produced as the reward for trying to solve the complex equations involved in every transaction.<\/p>\n
Specialized computer farms are set up to solve the equations, with the first network to actually solve the equation rewarded with new bitcoin. While in the early days after bitcoin was launched in 2009 this could be done by hobbyists from personal computers, the increased complexity of the blockchain means it requires more energy and computing power to solve the equations and produce new coins.<\/p>\n