Bitcoin is money. Bitcoin moves an amount from one place to another place. For example, move five money from me to you.
Moving money follows rules. Bitcoin’s rules are written in computers, and a lot people can see them. So when I want to move an amount of Bitcoin money to you, then other people can make sure that move follows the Bitcoin rules.
The more people that make the choice to check the rules, the more you are sure that the rules were followed.
There are a lot of people in the world who use their computers to check the rules each time someone tries to move an amount of Bitcoin. So you can trust Bitcoin is moving money for you properly and fairly. For example if you have seven and give me four, you now have three. So if you try to give someone else four the rules will not allow it. The most you can move now is three.
Bitcoin started with its rules. Also at the start a tiny amount of Bitcoin was made to enable the first people to start sending amounts. Since then people got copies of the rules, and they started moving amounts to each other while checking and following the rules. People checking the rules can ask for a fee for checking them. Also the rules include something clever to create more amounts. At random someone who checks the rules gets a new gift of an amount of Bitcoin.
Getting the gift used to be easy, but now requires a lot of luck, and a lot of computers using a lot of electricity. Also the rules say the gift gets less over time. The fees someone gets for checking the rules are still there though. Overall the idea was to create enough amounts so people could move Bitcoin as money, and reward people to check the rules. Most of the Bitcoin gift amounts that will be created have already been created. That is ok, because having good rules on how to move amounts to people around the world is really helpful.
It is possible for people to check part of the rules to make sure they are followed, without getting a gift or a fee. People do this because it helps them trust no one is trying to break the rules. It is being a good citizen if you help check the rules.
Because of the good rules and lots of people checking them, Bitcoin is considered valuable. That means you can move an amount of Bitcoin as money to get something you want, such as food or a place to live. However, right now while there are lots of people using Bitcoin, there are many more people who do not use it. Most of the world uses different money that follows different rules, usually by the country they live in. It is interesting to think about other rules for other money. That is a bigger story. For now, remember Bitcoin is money.
[link] [comments]
No comments:
Post a Comment