#What is it? How does it work?
Created in 2008 by Gavin Andresen, Bitcoin was invented as a peer-to-peer system for online payments that does not require a trusted central authority.
Traditionally, the secure online payment is done by having a trusted central authority (cf. PayPal) that verifies all of the transactions. The core innovation that makes Bitcoin unique is that it uses consensus in a huge peer-to-peer network to verify transactions.
Check the great video made for beginners by 99bitcoin.com > here.
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#Who's managing?
There is no central person in charge of Bitcoin. Programmers give their time developing the open source Bitcoin software and can make changes subject to the approval of lead developer Gavin Andresen. Some users put their computers to work verifying transactions in the peer-to-peer network mentioned above.
These users are rewarded with new bitcoins proportional to the amount of computing power they give to the network. It results in a system where payments are non-reversible, accounts cannot be frozen, and transaction fees are lower.
The individual miners then choose whether to install the new version of the software or stick to the old one, essentially “voting” with their processing power. It is in the miners' best interest to only accept changes that are good for the Bitcoin currency in the long run. These checks and balances make it difficult for anyone to manipulate Bitcoin.
Can’t wait to start? Read this complete article from bitcoinsimplified.org: read here.
#What's the current value?
The last update concerning the Bitcoin is that Bitcoin has reached out its best levels since the beginning of the year: $1101.70 per coin on the 21st of Feb and ended up to $1162.68 on the 23rd, higher level since November 2013.
The market has good days ahead. However, 2017 didn’t start that well, it rallied more than 20% in the first week of the year, pushing by speculations in China. Then, it experienced a crash of 35%, decreasing the value below $800.
Source (c): UkBuisinessInsider.com, 99bitcoins.com, Bitcoinsimplified.org