Sumati Bengani
Quick Summary
Scope of Today's discussion vis-à-vis BITCOIN
- Brief Intro of - what it is, it's working mechanism, etc;
- Recent developments both nationally & globally;
- Cyber attack & sustainability issues;
- Recognition & regulatory framework across globe & in India;
- Taxation of gains from Bitcoin;
- Other issues relating to Cryptocurrency.
What's Bitcoin?
- On Visiting www.bitcoin.org the first thing that is displayed is:
- "Bitcoin is an innovative payment network and a new kind of money."
Who created Bitcoin?
- A person believed to be mysterious and pseudonymous whose name is 'Satoshi Nakamoto';
- It was created in the year 2009;
- Various FAQs at: https://bitcoin.org/en/faq
What is Block Chain Technology?
Summary: Blockchain is a distributed ledger system that is decentralized and trustless, meaning that no parties participating in the Bitcoin market need to establish trust in one another in order for the system to work properly. This is possible thanks to an elaborate system of checks and verifications which is central to the maintenance of the ledger and to the mining of new Bitcoins. Best of all, the flexibility of blockchain technology means that it has utility outside of the cryptocurrency space as well.
What is Bitcoin Mining?
- Summary: Bitcoin mining is performed by high-powered computers that solve complex computational math problems; these problems are so complex that they cannot be solved by hand and are complicated enough to tax even incredibly powerful computers.
- When someone sends bitcoin anywhere, it's called a transaction. Transactions made in-store or online are documented by banks, point-of-sale systems, and physical receipts. Bitcoin miners achieve the same thing by clumping transactions together in 'blocks” and adding them to a public record called the 'blockchain.” Nodes then maintain records of those blocks so that they can be verified into the future.
- Because bitcoin mining is essentially guesswork, arriving at the right answer before another miner has almost everything to do with how fast your computer can produce hashes. Just a decade ago, bitcoin mining could be performed competitively on normal desktop computers. Over time, however, miners realized that graphics cards commonly used for video games were more effective and they began to dominate the game. In 2013, bitcoin miners started to use computers designed specifically for mining cryptocurrency as efficiently as possible, called Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC). These can run from several hundred dollars to tens of thousands but their efficiency in mining Bitcoin is superior.
To read the full article, find the enclosed attachment
FAQ :
Bitcoin is described as an innovative payment network and a new kind of money, created in 2009 by a pseudonymous individual named Satoshi Nakamoto.
Blockchain is a decentralised, trustless distributed ledger system. It uses an elaborate system of checks and verifications to maintain the ledger and mine new Bitcoins, allowing participants to transact without needing to establish trust in one another.
Bitcoin mining involves high-powered computers solving complex computational problems to group transactions into 'blocks' and add them to the public 'blockchain'. This process verifies transactions and creates new Bitcoins.
No, initially Bitcoin mining could be done on normal desktop computers. Over time, graphics cards became more effective, and eventually, specialised hardware called Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) became dominant due to their superior efficiency.
The article touches upon recent developments, cyber attacks, sustainability issues, global and Indian recognition and regulatory frameworks, and the taxation of gains from Bitcoin.
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