Bitcoin functions as a kind of “internet money” and has a virtual wallet as well as a dedicated website for commercial transactions.
Bitcoin (BTC) is a type of virtual currency also known as cryptocurrency. It can be thought of as an internet currency, which has no centralized system of control over its exchange (such as a central bank), unlike “real world” currencies.
The name bit does not refer to bytes, as many might think, but to a peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing network called BitTorrent, where each user is anonymous and has equal value. This is what happens with virtual currencies.
Despite being the best known and most widely recognized in the internet world, Bitcoin is not the only cryptocurrency in existence. Litecoin and Mastercoin stand out from the competition, but neither can really compete with Bitcoin, the leading virtual currency in the world today. We won’t go into the background of Bitcoin because you’ve probably read about it at some point. Yes, Nakamoto! We will discuss how to use Bitcoin on a “practical level”.
How to buy Bitcoin?
The first thing that comes to mind when you decide to “play with Bitcoin” is how to buy it?
To earn money in bitcoins, either for investment or for fun, you first need to sign up for your own virtual wallet, which serves as a kind of virtual point where all your Bitcoins are stored. You can think of it as a sort of bank account for your Bitcoins but free of fees and taxes.
Such wallets can only be created on official blockchain websites. Each unit has a specific number, which is protected by encryption.
What about potential fraud and cheating?
To prevent fraud or cheating, such as copying or duplicating coins, as well as fraudulent transactions and other types of crimes, there are strong security systems and controls in place. Basically, when a commercial exchange occurs between two virtual wallets, it is published on the blockchain website in the form of a code, which is verified by specialized software designed for this function.
Now, how to get your first Bitcoin?
You can do a commercial transaction, receiving Bitcoins in exchange for a service or product you provide, like a normal negotiation. Another method is to buy bitcoins directly, exchanging official currencies (such as AUD) according to market value, so the more expensive the bitcoins, the more money you will need to acquire them. This process can only be done online on the blockchain website itself, just like a virtual wallet, in addition to ATMs created for this purpose, which, fortunately, are already more and more numerous in our country.
As such, there are many people who use bitcoin as a form of speculation, buying coins when they are devalued and cheap, then reselling them when they increase in value compared to official currencies. There are reports of people quickly becoming wealthy from this type of speculation. For us Australians, there are a few platforms specifically designed to help with simple Bitcoin transactions, such as when you need to sell Bitcoin. One of them is MoonPay, the most favorite platform for selling Bitcoin and converting it to AUD.
Basically, with MoonPay, even a beginner can sell their Bitcoin in 5 simple steps:
– Input the amount of BTC you want to sell.
– Inputting the card details where the AUD will be transferred to.
– Clicking “Sell”.
– Transferring BTC according to the input.
– Waiting for the BTC transfer to be confirmed by MoonPay. Once it is confirmed, the AUD will be sent immediately.
An alternative way to earn Bitcoin is to become a miner. In the security process mentioned above, the software used to guarantee the legitimacy of exchanges between virtual wallets requires support in order to operate. In this way, all miners need to do is “borrow” the processing capacity of their computers to keep the blockchain functioning properly. The greater the support capacity, the greater the profit, although users with ordinary computers are unlikely to be able to make sufficient contributions, so the most common thing is for friends to join forces among their machines to be able to make contributions and accumulate a large number of coins. However, we do not advise you to mine because these days it is increasingly difficult and it may not be worth the money you have to spend.
Before deciding to invest in this most popular cryptocurrency, you should know that the price is very volatile so it is not wise to invest a large amount without careful consideration, but regardless of the benefits and risks, Bitcoin has grown rapidly in recent years, although some governments do not recognize its use and some are strongly against this kind of practice, such as Russia. In our country, with the growth of this alternative currency (which is officially considered a type of stock, and not a currency itself), there is research to ensure that Bitcoin is included in the tax declaration system.
