Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer payment system and digital currency introduced as open source software in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto pseudonymous developer. It is a cryptocurrency, so-called Because it uses cryptography to control the creation and transfer of money.

Users send payments by broadcasting digitally signed messages to the network. Transactions do not explicitly identify the payer and payee by name. Instead, a transaction transfers ownership from one location to another Bitcoin. Approximately every ten minutes a bundle of transactions, Called a "block", is confirmed to a public transaction record Called the block chain. This confirmation process, known as "mining", carries a reward of 25 bitcoins per block added to the block chain. [16] acting as an incentive for individuals and groups to maintain the integrity of the Bitcoin system by allowing THEIR computers to be used to confirm transactions, the 25 bitcoins reward is also the way in new bitcoins are priority enter circulation.

Software

Electrum - Bitcoin client sample
Bitcoin wallet software, sometimes Called a Bitcoin client, allows a user to transact bitcoins. At its most basic, a wallet program generates and stores private keys and communicates with peers on the Bitcoin network. The first, Bitcoin-Qt, was released in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto as open source code. [17] The so-called "Satoshi client" can be used as a desktop wallet for regular payments or as a server utility for merchants and other payment services. Bitcoin-Qt is sometimes Referred to as the reference client Because it serves to define the Bitcoin protocol and acts as a standard for other implementations,

Wallets

A paper wallet with QR Codes
Bitcoin uses public-key cryptography, are priority in pairs of cryptographic keys, one public and one private, are generated. [19] A collection of keys is Called a wallet. Note that this term is sometimes used to mean the software itself in the sense of the digital wallet. A Bitcoin transaction transfers ownership to a new location, an alphanumeric string of the form random letters and numbers derived from public keys by application of a hash function and encoding scheme. The corresponding private keys act as a SAFEGUARD: a valid payment message from an address must Contain the associated public key and a digital signature proving possession of the associated private key. Because anyone with a private key can Spend all of the bitcoins sent to the corresponding address, the essence of Bitcoin security is protection of private keys.