Bitcoin – The Oldest Cryptocurrency
Finally, in this section, we will discuss the most popular and the oldest cryptocurrency: Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency which was created in 2009. It is the most popular cryptocurrency and is known by the abbreviation “BTC”. Hundreds of cryptocurrencies were launched after the introduction of Bitcoins. All those cryptocurrencies (other than Bitcoin) are collectively known as “Altcoins”.
As is the nature of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoins are also created, distributed, stored and traded through the use of blockchain technology.
Bitcoin is mined by miners across the world. Balances of bitcoin tokens are stored using public and private keys which are linked to the mathematical algorithm that was used to create them. The public key is the address of the owner of the bitcoin (similar to a bank account number) and the private key is the secret number owned by the owner for using the bitcoin (similar to an ATM PIN).
The historical price movement of Bitcoins
When Bitcoins were introduced in 2009, they were worth nothing. Yes, that’s true. Their value was 0. Since then there was a negligible movement for some time. The first significant price movement happened in July 2010 when the value of 1 bitcoin moved from USD 0.0008 to USD 0.08. And this was the beginning of a success story. The value of Bitcoins has moved up, up and up, turning many early movers into millionaires. As on 27th Dec 2021 (1 Bitcoin = 50,762 USD/ ₹37,48,592 Indian Rupees).
Historical Price Movements of Bitcoin
In 2020, when the world was fighting with the deadly Covid-19 pandemic and economies and stock markets from around the world were down, the prices of Bitcoins continued to go up. At the beginning of 2020, Bitcoins were still not considered a popular investment option with experienced investors such as Warren Buffet labelling it as a “no value” investment. But as economies started struggling to cope up with the pandemic and currencies started falling (USD reached its 3-year lows in 2020), people started moving towards Bitcoins since they are relatively unaffected by economic downturns. All in all 2020 proved to be quite a good year for Bitcoins with both prices and volume traded going up sharply.
Also in 2021, the prices continued to rise further but the volume started to decrease.
Bitcoin can be bought and sold through exchanges like Coinbase, Binance etc.
