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Bitcoin is a virtual currency, or cryptocurrency, that’s controlled by a decentralized network of users and isn’t directly subject to the whims of central banking authorities or national governments. Although there are hundreds of cryptocurrencies in active use today, Bitcoin is by far the most popular and widely used – the closest cryptocurrency equivalent to traditional, state-minted currencies.
Like traditional currencies, such as the U.S. dollar, Bitcoin has value relative to other currencies and physical goods. Whole Bitcoin units can be subdivided into decimals representing smaller units of value. Currently, the smallest Bitcoin unit is the satoshi, or 0.00000001 Bitcoin. The satoshi can’t be broken into smaller units. However, Bitcoin’s source code is structured to allow for future subdivisions beyond this level, should the currency’s value appreciate to the point that it’s deemed necessary.
Bitcoin is the most versatile cryptocurrency around. It can be used to purchase goods from an ever-growing roster of merchants (including recognizable companies like Expedia and Overstock.com) that accept Bitcoin payments. It can be exchanged with other private users as consideration for services performed or to settle outstanding debts. It can be swapped for other currencies, both traditional and virtual, on electronic exchanges that function similar to forex exchanges. And, unfortunately, it can be used to facilitate illicit activity, such as the purchase of illegal drugs on dark web marketplaces like the infamous (and now-shuttered) Silk Road.
For all its promise, Bitcoin remains a niche currency that’s subject to wild value fluctuations. Despite the wild-eyed pronouncements of hardcore proponents, it’s certainly not a legitimate investment or trading vehicle, as is the case with stable national currencies, such as the U.S. dollar and Japanese yen.
How Bitcoin Works
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, meaning it’s supported by a source code that uses highly complex algorithms to prevent unauthorized duplication or creation of Bitcoin units. The code’s underlying principles, known as cryptography, are based on advanced mathematical and computer engineering principles. It’s virtually impossible to break Bitcoin’s source code and manipulate the currency’s supply.
Although it was preceded by other virtual currencies, Bitcoin is known as the first modern cryptocurrency. That’s because Bitcoin is the first to blend certain key features shared by most subsequently created cryptocurrencies.
User Anonymity
Intense privacy protections are baked into Bitcoin’s source code. The system is designed to publicly record Bitcoin transactions and other relevant data without revealing the identity of the individuals or groups involved. Instead, Bitcoin users are identified by public keys, or numerical codes that identify them to other users, and sometimes pseudonymous handles or usernames.
Additional protections allow users to further conceal the source and flow of Bitcoin. For instance, special computer programs available to all Bitcoin users, called mixing services, privately swap a specific Bitcoin unit for another Bitcoin unit of identical value, and thereby obscure the source of the owner’s holdings.
Bitcoin Exchanges
Bitcoin exchanges allow users to exchange Bitcoin units for fiat currencies, such as the U.S. dollar and euro, at variable exchange rates. Many Bitcoin exchanges also exchange Bitcoin units for other cryptocurrencies, including less popular alternatives that can’t directly be exchanged for fiat currencies. Most Bitcoin exchanges take a cut, typically less than 1%, of each transaction’s value.
Bitcoin exchanges ensure that the Bitcoin market remains liquid, setting their value relative to traditional currencies – and allowing holders to profit from speculation on fluctuations in that value. That said, Bitcoin users must understand that Bitcoin’s value is subject to wild swings – weekly moves of 50% in either direction have occurred before. Such swings are unheard of among stable fiat currencies.
Block Chain
Bitcoin’s block chain is vital to its function. The block chain is a public, distributed ledger of all prior Bitcoin transactions, which are stored in groups known as blocks. Every node of Bitcoin’s software network – the server farms and terminals, run by individuals or groups known as miners, whose efforts to produce new Bitcoin units result in the recording and authentication of Bitcoin transactions, and the periodic creation of new blocks – contains an identical record of Bitcoin’s block chain.
Because new Bitcoin transactions constantly occur, the Bitcoin block chain, though finite, grows over time. As long as miners continue their work and record recent transactions, the Bitcoin block chain will always be a work in progress. In other words, there’s no predetermined length at which the block chain will stop growing.
On average, miners create a new block chain, which includes all prior transactions and a new transaction block, every 10 minutes. Every two weeks, Bitcoin’s source code is designed to adjust to the amount of mining power devoted to creating new block chains, preserving the 10-minute average creation interval. If mining power increased during the most recent two-week span, new block chains become more difficult to create during the subsequent two-week span. If mining power decreases, new chains become easier to create. For most of Bitcoin’s history, the trend has been toward greater mining power.
Bitcoin’s block chain is the sole arbiter of Bitcoin ownership. No complete record exists anywhere else. The block chain also serves as a payment processing system, like Visa or PayPal, with the miners functioning as the system’s employees.
A Bitcoin transaction hasn’t technically occurred until it’s added to the block chain, at which point it becomes irreversible – unlike traditional payment processors, Bitcoin doesn’t have any standardized facility for chargebacks or refunds. During the window between the transaction itself and the moment it’s added to the block chain, the relevant Bitcoin units are essentially held in escrow – they can’t be used by either party to the transaction. This prevents duplicate transactions, known as double-spending, and protects the system’s integrity.
Private Keys
Every Bitcoin user has at least one private key (basically, a password), which is a whole number between 1 and 78 digits in length. Individual users can have multiple anonymous handles, each with its own private key. Private keys confirm their owners’ identities and allow them to spend or receive Bitcoin. Without them, users can’t complete transactions – meaning they can’t access their holdings until they recover the corresponding key. When a key is lost for good, the corresponding holdings move into a sort of permanent limbo and can’t be recovered.
Users either manually create their own private keys or use a random number generator to do the same. Keys can be stored online (either in private cloud storage or on public Bitcoin exchanges), on physical storage media (such as thumb drives), or on paper, and only entered online during transactions.
Since private keys essentially give Bitcoin holdings value, security experts advise against storing private keys in easily accessible online locations or keeping only one private key copy. Savvy users store identical key copies on paper printouts and physical media not connected to the Internet.
Wallets
Actual Bitcoin units are stored in “wallets” – secure cloud storage locations with special information confirming their owners (Bitcoin users) as the guardians of the Bitcoin units contained within. Though wallets theoretically protect against the theft of Bitcoin units that aren’t currently being used, they’re vulnerable to hacking – particularly public wallets used by Bitcoin exchanges, online marketplaces, and specialized websites that exist solely to store Bitcoin wallets known as “wallet services.”
The largest and most notorious Bitcoin hack involved wallets held by Mt. Gox, a Japanese Bitcoin exchange that shut down after hackers stole hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin (in contemporary valuations) from its supposedly secure servers. Hackers often target public wallets that store users’ private keys, enabling them to spend the stolen Bitcoin. Ars Technica has a nice rundown of Bitcoin hacks large and small, current to late 2017.
Like keys, copies of wallets can be stored on the cloud, an internal hard drive, or an external storage device. Unlike keys, they can’t be stored on paper. As with keys, it’s strongly advised that users have at least one wallet backup. Backing up a wallet doesn’t duplicate the stored Bitcoin units, only their ownership record and transaction history.
bitcoin cryptocurrency virtual wallet
Miners
Miners play a vital role in the Bitcoin ecosystem. As keepers of the block chain, they keep the entire Bitcoin community honest and indirectly support the currency’s value.
Miners are individuals or cooperative organizations with access to powerful computers, often stored at remote, privately owned “farms.” They perform incredibly complex mathematical tasks in an effort to mint new Bitcoin, which they then keep or exchange for fiat currency.
In an elegant twist, Bitcoin’s source code harnesses this computing power to collect, record, and organize previously unverified transactions, adding a new block to the block chain about every 10 minutes. This work also verifies the accuracy and completeness of all previously existing blocks, preventing double-spending and ensuring that the Bitcoin system remains accurate and complete.
Each time a new block chain is created, a predetermined number of fresh Bitcoin are minted. Miners are “rewarded” these Bitcoin for their effort and often also receive transaction fees paid by buyers. Sellers have an incentive to charge transaction fees, which usually amount to less than 1% of the transaction amount, because miners are permitted to prioritize the recording of fee-loaded transactions irrespective of transaction order. In other words, sellers who charge transaction fees usually get paid faster. Unsurprisingly, Bitcoin transaction fees are quite common.
Did You Know: As Bitcoin grows more valuable (albeit amid gut-wrenching market volatility) and more commonly accepted, so too does the business of mining Bitcoin. But it comes at a notable cost: the consumption of vast amounts of electricity, often powered by non-renewable sources. According to the Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index, Bitcoin mining consumed approximately 51 trillion terawatts of electricity per year as of February 2018. That figure has risen steadily and inexorably over time, irrespective of day-to-day market movements, prompting policymakers to take a closer look at Bitcoin’s carbon footprint.
Finite Supply
Bitcoin’s own source code places a strict limit on the number of Bitcoin units that can ever exist: 21 million. This is achieved by slowing, over time, the rate at which the creation of new block chain copies produces new Bitcoin. Every four years or so, this rate halves. The last Bitcoin is projected to spring into being sometime around 2140 – that is, if the currency still exists and people still care enough to mine it. After that, miners’ sole compensation will be Bitcoin transaction fees.
This enforced scarcity is a key point of distinction between Bitcoin and traditional fiat currencies, which central banks produce by decree, and supply of which is theoretically unlimited. In this regard, Bitcoin has more in common with gold than the U.S. dollar.
Security Issues & Risk of Theft
Taken together, the security risks around Bitcoin are the currency’s single greatest drawback, and are worthy of special consideration for anyone considering converting U.S. dollars into Bitcoin.
The fact that Bitcoin units are virtually impossible to duplicate does not mean that Bitcoin users are immune to theft or fraud. The Bitcoin system has some imperfections and weak points that can be exploited by sophisticated hackers looking to steal Bitcoin for their own use. The Mt. Gox incident, as well as a host of smaller, less publicized incidents, underscore that Bitcoin exchanges are particularly vulnerable to theft by hacking.
Two of Bitcoin’s perceived strengths – its political independence and strong anonymity protections – actually make it more attractive to thieves and fraudsters.
In many jurisdictions, Bitcoin occupies a legal gray area, meaning local law enforcement authorities view theft prevention as a relatively low priority. Moreover, it’s often difficult for the authorities to prosecute those responsible for Bitcoin heists, many of which originate in politically unstable or unfriendly nations and affect a global population of Bitcoin holders.
Those who use Bitcoin for illicit purposes face additional risks. Dark web marketplaces – online, international black markets whose users buy and sell illicit substances, stolen goods, and prohibited services – are frequent heist targets. Bitcoin users who participate in the dark web are likely already breaking the law, and thus have limited recourse in the event of a hack or theft. After all, they can’t very well contact local authorities and say that the funds they received for selling illegal drugs were stolen.
Common Modes of Bitcoin Theft
It usually takes more technical skill to steal Bitcoin than physical cash. Most Bitcoin heists involve sophisticated hack attacks by highly accomplished outsiders or rogue exchange employees.
Common modes of Bitcoin theft include the following:
Stealing Private Keys. Private keys stored in publicly accessible digital repositories, such as Bitcoin exchanges or personal cloud storage drives, are vulnerable to theft by hacking. The thieves use these private keys to access and transfer the corresponding Bitcoin holdings, relieving their rightful owners of their funds.
Exploiting Wallet Vulnerabilities. Some Bitcoin wallets have security flaws that render them vulnerable to attack. As a convenience, some service providers store private keys in the same virtual wallets as Bitcoin funds themselves, allowing hackers to steal the funds and keys in one fell swoop.
Operating Fraudulent Exchanges and Investment Funds. Some seemingly legitimate companies dealing in Bitcoin are actually fronts for financial crimes. For instance, a boutique “Bitcoin investment fund” called Bitcoin Savings & Trust made a name for itself in the early 2010s by providing outsize returns to early investors. However, Bitcoin Savings & Trust was actually a run-of-the-mill Ponzi scheme. When it went belly-up, it wiped out about $4.5 million (at then-current exchange rates) in investor value.
Attacking Legitimate Exchanges Directly. Since they attract thousands of users and store millions of dollars in Bitcoin, exchanges are attractive targets. Bitcoin can be stolen from exchanges’ own Bitcoin wallets (which they use to store Bitcoin units taken as exchange fees), from users’ wallets (as many users store Bitcoin balances with exchanges for convenience, similar to a brokerage account’s cash balance), or during exchanges and transactions themselves.
Attacking Dark Web Marketplaces. The vulnerabilities of dark web marketplaces are similar to those of Bitcoin exchanges. Another huge Bitcoin heist, not as well publicized as the Mt. Gox hack, affected a dark web marketplace called Sheep Marketplace. Losses approached $100 million at then-current exchange rates.