Companies FT technology reporter Sally Davies explains how the “blockchain” technology behind bitcoin works.With the digital currency’s volatility, investors have focused on the public ledger and its potential to remove third parties in a range of transactions.Bitcoin A peer-to-peer digital currency system introduced by Satoshi Nakamoto in January 2009.Nakamoto's true identity was always undisclosed; however, articles attributed to him were written in flawless English.In 2016, Australian computer scientist Craig Wright surfaced as the Bitcoin inventor.Bitcoin is a "virtual currency" that is not sanctioned by any government.It is also known as a "cryptocurrency," because transactions are encrypted with public key cryptography.There are thousands of companies selling products as well as people willing to work in exchange for Bitcoins.Bitcoins can be divided into minuscule fractions of a single coin (up to eight decimal places), and every Bitcoin fraction has a unique address for identification.

They can also be bought and sold for real money at a Bitcoin exchange.No Third Party Bitcoin eliminates the trusted financial institution as a go-between, and transactions cannot be reversed.Precisely because Bitcoin operates outside a central banking system, and there is no trusted third party, it is often considered a "digital Ponzi scheme."The value of a Bitcoin (BTC) fluctuates very wildly.For example, on January 1, 2013, one Bitcoin was worth USD $13.38.It swung up and down to a top of $1,137 on November 29, 2013 only to drop to less than half that amount within a week before climbing back.By late 2015, a Bitcoin was worth around USD $230 but by the spring of 2017, it had reached more than 10 times that amount.No Central Repository There is no central repository.The Bitcoins and the transactions are stored in each user's digital wallet, and every transaction is published to the Bitcoin network with encrypted source and destination addresses, making them untraceable.The strangest thing about Bitcoins is the way they come into existence.

Bitcoin "miners" are computers that maintain the integrity of the network by adding past transactions to the "blockchain," a shared and continuously growing distributed database of transactions.bitcoin settlement layerIn so doing, their accounts receive transaction fees, and after an extraordinary amount of computation are rewarded new Bitcoins.10-bitcoin 1-ounce silver roundThe Bitcoin algorithm ensures that a uniform number of coins are generated each day.bitcoin bits to usdIn 2015, there were approximately 15 million Bitcoins in existence; however, the total is capped at 21 million around the year 2140.deposit bitcoin coinbase

The Bitcoin algorithm makes it more difficult to mine coins in each subsequent year.For details, visit http://en.bitcoin.it.bitcoin mac menu barBitcoin Generation When people argue that Bitcoins are no less valid than the U.S.bitcoin seminar ukdollar, they are missing an important difference.bitcoin sinks after chinese actionBitcoins have nothing to back them up but the faith of the people using them.bitcoin mining quad coreThe United States has the IRS, the Army, the Navy and a raft of other federal agencies to ensure people contribute to the system by paying taxes.litecoin cnyTraction - Then Hacking In late 2010, Bitcoins were becoming popular in the open source and underground communities.

By mid-2011, there was an attack on the Japan-based Mt.Gox Bitcoin exchange, and someone claimed a hacker extracted 25,000 Bitcoins from his personal computer worth nearly $500,000.In early 2014, Mt.Gox filed for bankruptcy, because it was revealed that the exchange concealed the loss of hundreds of thousands of Bitcoins via hacking.In 2013, Germany recognized Bitcoins as a financial instrument, and the U.S.Department of Justice said Bitcoins were a valid means of exchange even though members of Congress had tried to invalidate them two years earlier.As time passes, countries are expected to announce their official acceptance or rejection of this currency.See blockchain, Silk Road, Web payments service and digital wallet.∧Top See More See MoreBitcoin is a digital asset and payment system with approximately $9.1 billion in global circulation as of August 2016.It is considered by many to be the most successful and game-changing crypto currency ever created.Last week, Bitcoin Value crossed all time high $1,500 mark on May 4, 2017 and it has remained above this mark till Sunday.

The latest hike in the Bitcoin Value has attracted a lot of traders and investors buying and selling Bitcoin in India.But, if you are looking out to invest in this currency, you need to consider the best options available in India.Here are the top 4 Bitcoin exchanges in India where you can buy, sell, transfer and invest.Started in 2013, Unocoin is a Bangalore based technology startup which operates India’s largest BTC-INR trading platform which enables Indians to buy, sell, store, use and accept bitcoin.Every month, Unocoin processes transactions worth more than INR 250M for its 210,000+ customers.In FAQs mentioned in their website, Unocoin states that - As all transactions occur between bank accounts, it is a self-regulatory requirement for us to know the sender/ recipient within a transaction.To comply with KYC/ AML regulation and to protect users from illegal activities we are required to collect a copy of your PAN card.It uniquely identifies you as an individual or institution performing a particular transaction.

When filling out your profile, please ensure your name should match the one on your PAN card.In just 3 years since inception, the company has drawn more than 30 top investors from 5 countries.Unocoin is responsible for industry leading innovations such as the Bitcoin Systematic Buying Plan(SBP), Bitcoin Point of Sale (POS) App and Bitcoin Over-The- Counter trading (OTC).In April 2017, Unocoin announced its partnership with PayUbiz, a leading payment gateway, to facilitate Unocoin users in buying Bitcoin using the net banking feature.Set to simplify the entire process of buying Bitcoin, the feature is live on Unocoin.Zebpay has been involved in bitcoins since its early days in 2011.Claiming to have started India’s first bitcoin exchange in 2012, Zebpay guarantees fast transaction processing and the best bitcoin rates.The company states in its website, - Your KYC details are essentials for us to maintain your Zebpay account.This is to secure your bitcoins in you Zebpay account.After 7 May '17, only KYC verified accounts will be able to use Zebpay, even to send, receive or store bitcoins, recharge airtime or buy vouchers.

Please verify account now.SearchTrade is a search engine company which uses bitcoins to pay users every time they search on the platform.They also allow users to 'own ' keywords which earn income for them every time the words are used as part of a search query by any person worldwide.The Singapore-based startup, SearchTrade, has introduced a system to allow all parties in the Internet search engine process – the searcher, the owner of the key word being searched, the builder of the app using the search engine, and the advertisers – to profit from the process using bitcoin.Using bitcoin, the system redistributes the revenue among the stakeholders in the process, rather than allowing all the profit to flow to the big search engines like Google and Bing.Founded in July 2014, Coinsecure is registered as Secure Bitcoin Traders Pvt.An ISO certified company, Coinsecure offers Bitcoin wallet, exchange, trading and merchant services along with other Blockchain based services.Blockchain consists of data structure blocks that maintain the transaction records against tempering and revision.