{"id":7988,"date":"2013-12-18T10:02:42","date_gmt":"2013-12-18T02:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/?p=7988"},"modified":"2015-04-07T15:54:43","modified_gmt":"2015-04-07T07:54:43","slug":"investing-in-bitcoin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/investing-in-bitcoin","title":{"rendered":"Investing in Bitcoin: What does it take?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Richard<\/a>The recent buzz about Bitcoin has many people talking about it, but not many understand what it is and how it can potentially change the landscape of financial transactions. You can probably find hundreds of articles online explaining what Bitcoin is, many of which can be too technical for laymen to understand.<\/p>\n

If you are thinking of transacting or investing in Bitcoin, or are just intrigued by how it works, here are a few things you should know.<\/p>\n

<\/span>What is bitcoin?<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

Bitcoin (BTC\/XBT) is a virtual currency with its own financial network that is similar to Visa credit card or PayPal. However, unlike these networks, Bitcoin is decentralised, meaning no entity (individual, company, government or country) owns or controls the Bitcoin network.<\/p>\n

It is completely unique from other financial networks because it is the first open financial network in the world. When it comes to setting up a new financial network, Bitcoin does away with the norm of partnering with an existing bank and complying with a set of complex rules.<\/p>\n

Since Bitcoin has no such restrictions, users or owners of Bitcoins do not need to gain permission or assistance to create new Bitcoin-based financial services.<\/p>\n

And unlike cash, Bitcoin is more transparent and is fixed at 21 million coins that will be released incrementally and predictably over time.<\/p>\n

It all started in 2008 when a pseudonymous programmer known as Satoshi Nakamoto posted a\u00a0paper<\/a>\u00a0explaining Bitcoin\u2019s design to a cryptography e-mail list.<\/p>\n

Click on the video below for an explanation:<\/p>\n