What is Bitcoin(BTC)?

Bitcoin (BTC) is the world’s first and biggest cryptocurrency, a peer-to-peer payment system built on Blockchain Technology, an open-source, decentralized, and distributed ledger technology. It is designed to act as a regular cryptocurrency with no platforms like Banks, governments, or financial institutions managing it. 

BTC was first introduced in 2008 through a whitepaper published on the mailing list website metzdowd.com by an anonymous person or group of developers named Satoshi Nakamoto. The founder's identity remains unrevealed. 

The first block of Bitcoin ‘Block 0’ also known as ‘ Genesis block’ was mined in January 2009, using the proof of work (PoW)consensus mechanism that runs on the SHA-256 hash algorithm. This consensus mechanism of blockchain helps generate Bitcoin addresses, sign transactions, and verify payments. Later in 2010, BTC was first seen available for purchase on the Bitcontalk forum.

BTC has the maximum supply of 21 million BTC, meaning that only 21 million BTC will ever exist. As of 2024, about 19.76 million BTC are in circulation and still 1.24 million BTC has to be mined. 

Bitcoin mining involves, solving the mathematical problem to create a new block every 10 minutes using a proof of work mechanism. Miner(Computers and mining rigs set by miners) ensures that the transactions are valid to add to the blockchain. To ensure progressive growth in new bitcoins, the reward for solving a block is halved every 4 years, a process known as “halving”, reducing the block reward by 50%.

Bitcoin’s Halving Events:

• Bitcoin halving 1st event took on November 2012, reward was reduced from 50BTC-25BTC/ block.

• 2nd halving on July 9, 2016, the reward value reduced from 25BTC-12.5BTC per block.

• 3rd Event was on May 11, 2020, reducing from 12.5 BTC- 6.25 BTC.

• 4th Bitcoin halving on April 29, 2024, reduced from 6.25 BTC-3.125 BTC.

• The Next halving event takes place on March 26, 2028.

Bitcoin Price History:

• The first Bitcoin exchange for dollars was recorded in 2009 on the New Liberty Standard Exchange.

• Same year, About 5,050 bitcoins were traded for $5.02 via Paypal by users on the BitcoinTalk form, the bargain basement price was $0.00099/BTC.

• In 2010, the two pizzas were purchased for 10,000 BTC making it the first use of BTC as a virtual currency in the real world.

• MT. Gox, the largest BTC exchange was hacked in 2014 and declared bankruptcy losing (744,400 BTC), leading to a stoppage of withdrawals of funds by users.

• In December 2017, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) introduced a Bitcoin futures contract.

• In February 2018, china banned Bitcoin, and the BTC price was severely impacted by a fall of 90% in September 2017 to less than 1% in June 2018, hacks and thefts also impacted the cryptocurrency.

• By February 2021, the market cap reached $1 trillion for the first time.

• Bitcoin price recorded an all-time high of 1 BTC to USD 99,645 on November 23, 2024.

• The all-time low price of Bitcoin was $0.04865 on Jul 15, 2010, the earlier phase of its trading. 

Bitcoin Price Prediction:

• According to Coinpedia, the Bitcoin price prediction in 2025 is expected to vary between a potential low of $61,357 and a high of $135,449, with an average value of $95,9032024). 

• In 2026, the BTC price potentially ranges between $82,522 and 155,283,  the average cost is projected to be approximately $115,569.

• Bitcoin price in 2027 is expected to scale from $152,837 to $169,046, with an average of $160,942.

• By 2028, the BTC price prediction would fall between $174,063 and $192,907, the average price is expected to be about $183,485.

• The average Bitcoin price is estimated at around $222,096 with a potential low of $204,634 and a high of $239,558 by 2029.

• Bitcoin price prediction in 2030 indicates an average price of $312,767. The asset may vary between a potential low of $277,751 and a high of $347,782. 

How to buy Bitcoin? 

Bitcoin has maintained a dominance of 50%+ in whole crypto market trading, as the asset is the most reliable crypto asset. BTC pairs are a default in all crypto exchanges and the exchange with good BTC trading volume grabs greater authenticity. 

Centralized Exchanges: Bitcoin can be purchased through almost all cryptocurrency exchanges namely Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, Gemini, CoinDCX, Coinswitch, Mudrex, and WazirX, and also through Bitcoin’s ATMs and brokerages like Robinhood. eToro.

Decentralized Exchanges Dex’s: Bitcoin is supported on cryptocurrency dexs like Kineprotocol, Dexalot, Birake exchange, viteX, and Balanced.

Bitcoin Wallets: 

Based on user reviews related to security and accessibility here are some of the best Bitcoin wallets:

Hot wallets: These are cryptocurrency online wallets for sending, receiving, and storing BTC, like Metamask, Exodus, and Trust wallets.

Cold wallets: Physical storage devices or wallets for storing BTC mainly include Ledger Nano X, Trezor Model T, CoolWallet Pro and Keep key.