What is Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies? What are their benefits?How to store it safely?

in #bitcoin6 years ago (edited)

What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin was created in 2009 during the financial crisis. The creator hopes that Bitcoin will be another currency for people to use daily and that the currency will not be affected by another financial crisis anymore. Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency. It can be transferred from person A to person B through the internet without going through an intermediary such as banks or central authority. This means that person B can receive Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies($$) even if he/she is on the other side of the world, within a few seconds.
It can also be a store of value, which means that the value of Bitcoin may be predicted to increase in value over time.

What are the benefits of using/holding bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies?

Users can eliminate huge fees that are normally charged by banks for transferring and converting different currencies.

Secondly, many people buy bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in hoping that the value will rise and they could sell for a profit, and retire happily.
Another advantage of using bitcoin is that no one can control your money because you hold the money in your private wallets such as Ledger Wallet and MyEtherWallet(MEW). It is important to make sure that you keep your bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in your wallet which you own the private keys. It is because anywhere that you keep the coins at, it is not yours, yet. One example is keeping your bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies in exchanges such as CoinBase/ Binance/ Bittrex. If the exchanges are hacked, so are your coins. Thus, it is crucial to understand that you should keep your coins($$) in your own wallet that you have your private keys.

One way is to buy a hardware wallet which may cost anywhere from US$94(Nano S) - $274(Ledger Blue). It may seem expensive at first, but security is the most important thing in cryptocurrency world where you could lose all your money if your coins are hacked or stolen.

To buy Ledger Wallet:
Ledger Nano S - The secure hardware wallet