Bitcoin hit a record high above $62,000 on Tuesday, as the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase prepares to launch shares on Wall Street.
Bitcoin reached $62,377, a huge gain of 114 percent since the start of the year.
The Cryptocurrency Market in 2021
The cryptocurrency market has grown exponentially in 2021 and is now worth a staggering $2.0 trillion as it increasingly attracts interest from big names on Wall Street.
As digital currency exchange Coinbase prepares to list Wednesday in New York, we take a look at a sector built from scratch just 12 years ago.
What is Bitcoin?
The world saw cryptocurrency turning into a (virtual) reality from an academic concept back in 2009, when Bitcoin, the world’s first modern cryptocurrency, was launched.
Despite facing some strong opposition and a few serious roadblocks, Bitcoin was able to grab significant attention in only a few years after its launch, bringing cryptocurrency into limelight on a global scale. Today, millions of people spread all across the world are not only aware of it, but are also involved in cryptocurrency mining and investment.
On October 31, 2008, in the wake of the financial crisis, one or more anonymous people, hidden behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, published the founding white paper of bitcoin. The goal was to create a means of payment, the security of which would not be overseen by a central bank or financial organisations, but instead regulated by software with rules almost impossible to alter.
While anybody can “mine” for new bitcoins, to do so requires giant data centres — leading to platforms such as Coinbase providing a way of trading in cryptocurrencies. Banks and payment services such as Paypal allow transactions in certain digital currencies. Almost 18.7 million bitcoins have been created since the first block of 50 in early 2009. A limit of 21 million bitcoins has been set by Nakamoto.
Other cryptocurrencies
Numerous cryptocurrencies seek to compete with, or complement, bitcoin. Number two in the market is ethereum, which this week hit an all-time high above $2,000. The cryptocurrency market as a whole is worth more than $2.0 trillion, according to specialist site Coinmarketcap, which lists more than 9,000 different cryptocurrencies. Some are known as “stablecoins” as their value is tied to a traditional asset such as the dollar, helping to avoid the volatility shown by bitcoin.
Meanwhile with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies minted by solving puzzles using powerful computers that consume enormous amounts of electricity, environmental concerns cast a further shadow.
Fahad is an entrepreneur and a marketing enthusiast who loves to write on trending topics. He loves travelling & playing tennis is what he does in his leisure time. He tweets @fahad164.
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