Introduction

• Bitcoin is a digital currency


• Bitcoin came to life in January 2009


• The creation and transfer of Bitcoin is based on a cryptographic protocol


• All Bitcoin transactions are recorded in a public ledger called the block chain


• Bitcoins are transferred through a peer to peer network


• You can store your Bitcoins in a digital wallet


• Mining is the process by which new Bitcoins are created


• The number of Bitcoin is limited to 21.0 million


• Each Bitcoin has 8 decimals which means that in total there are 2.1 × 10¹⁵ or 2.1 quadrillion currency units


• Until today about 11.5 million Bitcoins have been mined


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  More about the Bitcoin wallet

  
  
  
  
  • Your Bitcoin wallet is the place where you store your Bitcoins
  
  
  • Be careful with your wallet - it's where your money is
  
  
  • You can either have a Bitcoin wallet installed locally on your computer or smartphone - choose one of these
  
  
  • You can also use an online wallet such as the one from Blockchain.info
  
  
  • There are also ways to create paper wallets but this requires more technological insight. I will post more links here later
  
  
  • Generally it's good to have your money distributed over more than one place - but don't forget to keep track of where your Bitcoins are!