What Is Bitcoin and How Does It Work? | Mashable Explains

It's hard to deny that Bitcoin is changing the way we use money, and our concept of how currency should work. So what is Bitcoin exactly? Credits: Photo of different currencies: http://simplecurrencyconverter.blogspot.com/p/currencies.html Decentralized/Centralized Illustration: Mashable composite. iStockphoto, betamax; nicoolay; johnwoodcock; retroimages; aristotoo; 4x6; Patrick Damiano Blockchain: Courtesy of Silicon Angle; Blockchain.info Miner 1: http://bitell.sinaapp.com/show.php?tid=938 Miner 2: http://bitcoinexaminer.org/20-insane-bitcoin-mining-rigs/ Miner 3: http://www.openmobilefree.net/?p=1308 Bitcoin Stock Video: iStock, Movie Elements Bitcoin Stock Photo: http://www.coindesk.com/information/what-can-you-buy-with-bitcoins/ Bitcoin Creation Rate Chart: Wikipedia Bitcoin ATM: ABC 10 News http://www.10news.com/news/worlds-first-bitcoin-atm-coming-to-san-diego-050213 Bitcoin Value Graph: Blockchain.info TechKNOWledgy you can use from Verizon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq1cUYYvoTI&list=PLrbQTM5j6LLDQ1ll81ryTW6bVtGvOZeRU http://www.mashable.com LIKE us on FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/mashable FOLLOW us on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/mashable FOLLOW us on TUMBLR: http://mashable.tumblr.com FOLLOW our INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/mashable JOIN our circle on GOOGLE PLUS: http://plus.google.com/+Mashable Subscribe!: http://bit.ly/1ko5eNd Mashable is the leading independent news site for all things tech, social media, and internet culture. http://www.youtube.com/mashable http://www.mashable.com LIKE us on FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/mashable.video FOLLOW us on TWITTER: http://twitter.com/mashablevideo FOLLOW us on TUMBLR: http://mashable.tumblr.com FOLLOW our INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/mashable JOIN our circle on GOOGLE PLUS: http://plus.google.com/+Mashable Subscribe!: http://bit.ly/1ko5eNd Mashable is the leading independent news site for all things tech, social media, and internet culture. http://www.youtube.com/mashable

Comments

1. I am laughing right now. Today China has announced Bitcoin as legal currency. 2 weeks
   ago Russia announced it as legal currency. Bitcoin is around $1071 right now.
   Blockchain technology is proliferating in financial institutions and big
   businesses all around the world. You can use bitcoins to purchase
   airline tickets on Branson's Virgin Airlines. There are Bitcoin ATM
   machines in stores all over the world. I can go on and on and on. Sorry
   people, you were WRONG! @TheJapanChannelDcom says 5 years from 2014,
   "we will be laughing...". Actually 3 years later, we are laughing at the
   naysayers.
2. Anything digital can be manipulated
3. I'm Russian, but I speak a little English. Bitcoin is not just a new money. Bitcoin is a new format of money that name is cryptocurrency.
   Bitcoin is a first but not unique. Exist more than 700 cryptocurrency. Bitcoin offer 1-3 (%) per day today. But some coins gives 10 and 20 (%) per day.
   If you are interested in investing in Crypt, please write me at WhatsApp +79111313131
   We are created Ethereum and more 3 another cryptocurrency. We are preparing one more startup with new criptocurrency and the bigest socialization plan that Bitcoin not even dreamed.
4. How does the miner receive more currency? Who sends it to him? Why do we don't consider miners as the 'controllers' of bitcoin?
5. https://bitminer.io/708697
   free bitcoin 0.0006 per day....
6. I just wanna buy drugs from Silk Road...
7. Note this video is 2014. Now a days a lot of shops/businesses accept bitcoin and more and more are joining worldwide. For example Netflix is thinking about accepting bitcoin as payment.
8. but if it varies between 0,56$ and 1200$..how can something have a price? it costs like 400 Bitcoins..so sometimes that would be 480000$ and sometimes it would cost about 230$?? how does that work?
9. what is bitcoin
10. If I go back in time I'm buying so many fucking bitcoins
11. Lmao
12. So it's digital money that requires a powerful system to grab and then trade with consumers and traders a like, pretty nice and convenient i guess, since it allows people to be in control of the circulation of the currency and price.
13. 06-24428769 Polat, T Watermunt 85 5931TE Tegelen
14. im confused, so why would people keep devoting processing power to verify bitcoin transactions after 2040? once all the mintable coins are paid to the trackers in 2040 wouldnt they lose all incentive to track/mine? i guess they would have a stake in what bitcoins they were paid thus far but bitcoin isnt keeping lights on in the home and the processors running
15. a bully tries to get some geeks lunch money but gets bitcoins
16. There's still a lot of room for fraud in here. For the people responsible for bitcoin at the central database they can manipulate it like crazy.
17. 1000 like!!!
18. sounds like they still have a central banking system, it just isn't federal
19. Han Solo dies.