In 2008, on October 31, a person or a group of people called Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin whitepaper that was originally started in 2006. Even though attempts to create a digital currency have been made before, October 31 has become a starting point for the entire blockchain and cryptocurrency world.
Bitcoin (or BTC) is a digital currency, based on the form of distributed ledger technology – blockchain. Its major advantage is that information about all transactions is stored in an unchangeable encrypted ledger, that is accessible to everyone. The system is transparent and anyone can check the transaction history, while no one could ever falsify these records. Thousands of merchants now accept BTC as a payment method, starting with Microsoft and ending with Subway. There are plenty of advantages of using Bitcoin, however, there are many cons too. That’s why after Bitcoin an incalculable number of alternatives were proposed by cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
The Bitcoin network has a finite maximum supply of BTC 21 million, which approximately will be fully mined sometime around 2140. The said finite supply makes BTC more appealing to investors.