Bitcoin

Nickname
BTC
Plural Name
Bitcoins
Parent Asset Class

A decentralized digital currency without a central bank or single administrator, Bitcoin was released as an open-source software created as a reward for a process known as mining. Bitcoin offers the promise of lower transaction fees than traditional online payment mechanisms and is operated by a decentralized authority, unlike government-issued currencies. As the earliest cryptocurrency to meet widespread popularity and success, Bitcoin has inspired a host of other projects in the blockchain space. Bitcoin charts high on popularity, and has triggered the launch of hundreds of other virtual currencies collectively referred to as Altcoins.

Asset Classes

Cryptocurrency
Litecoin

Entities

ALEX
Abra
Adamant Capital
Alkemi
Ampleforth
Andreas M. Antonopoulos
BadgerDAO
Bidali
Binance
Binance.US
BitFlyer
BitGo
BitMEX
Bitcoin Foundation
Bitcoin Magazine
Bitpanda
Bitstamp
Blockchain Capital
Blockchain.com
Blockfolio
Blockstream
Blockworks
Bluzelle
BnkToTheFuture
ByteTree
Cambrian Asset Management
Casa
Celsius Network
Chainalysis
Chainstone Labs
Chamber of Digital Commerce
Coin Center
Coin Metrics
CoinFLEX
CoinFlip
CoinShares
Coinbase
Cointelegraph
Compass Mining
Crusoe Energy
Crypto Banter
Decrypt
DeerCreek
Deribit
Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals
Digital Currency Group
Domain Money
ETC Group
Elementus
Elwood Technologies
Equity Management Associates
Fidelity Digital Assets
Floating Point Group
GSR
Gemini
Genesis Capital
Glassnode
Grayscale Investments
GreenBlocks
Hartmann Capital
Hiro Systems
IOV Labs
InvestAnswers
KUNA Exchange
Kenetic Capital
Kraken Exchange
Ledger
Lukka, Inc.
Marathon Digital Holdings
Mercury Digital Assets
Messari
MiningStore
Money Map Press
Moran Tice Capital Management
NGRAVE
Off the Chain Capital
Pomp Investments
Prime Trust
QCP Capital
Qredo
RULEMATCH
River Financial
SFB Technologies
ShapeShift
Slow Ventures
Sovryn
Sustainable Bitcoin Protocol
Swan Bitcoin
Swarm Network
Sygnum Bank
Tezos
The Block
The Dollar Vigilante
Three Arrows Capital
Toniq Labs
Tornado Cash
Trammell Venture Partners
True Insights
UTXO Management
Unbounded Capital
Vailshire Capital Management
Vailshire Partners
WazirX
Xapo
Xverse
Zap
inflxion.io

Industries

Internet
Software
Technology

Publication Types

Newsletter

Terms

Blockchain
Blockchain Technology
Crisis Currency
Web3

Aaron Kaplan

Aaron Wright

Alex Batlin

Alex Saunders

Alex Thorn

Alexander Leishman

Anatoly Yakovenko

Anders Brownworth

Andreas Antonopoulos

Anil Lulla

Anish Mohammed

Anthony Pompliano

Anthony Scaramucci

Antonio Juliano

Arthur Falls

Arthur Hayes

Austin Arnold

Balaji Srinivasan

Barry Silbert

Ben Weiss

Ben Whitby

Benjamin Cowen

Bill Barhydt

Bob Bodily

Brad Mills

Bradley Duke

Brendan Blumer

Brian Estes

Brian Kelly

Bruce Fenton

Cameron Winklevoss

Can Gürel

Casey Kuhlman

Chad Barraford

Chad Cascarilla

Changpeng Zhao

Charles Hoskinson

Charles d'Haussy

Charlie Lee

Chase Lochmiller

Checkmate Bitcoiner

Chris Burniske

Chris Giancarlo

Chris Spadafora

Christine Duhaime

Christine Kim

Christopher Calicott

Cooper Turley

Dan Held

Dan Roberts

Dan Tapiero

Daniel Cawrey

Daniel Masters

Dave The Wave

David Hoffman

David Riegelnig

Diego Gutiérrez Zaldívar

Donald Bullers

Dylan LeClair

Edan Yago

Eric Wade

Erik Voorhees

Ethan Buchman

Fabian Schär

Fabian Vogelsteller

Felix Hartmann

Fred Thiel

GMoney eth

Gavin Wood

George McDonaugh

Graeme Moore

Guy Swann

Hudson James

Ian King

Isaiah Jackson

JG Savoldi

Jack Laskey

Jack Mallers

Jack Neureuter

James Cox

James Putra

Jameson Lopp

Jamis Johnson

Jason Leibowitz

Jean-Marie Mognetti

Jeff Berwick

Jehan Chu

Jesse Knutson

Jesse Powell

Jessica Walker

Jill Carlson

Jim McDonald

Jimmy Song

Joe Lubin

Joey Krug

John Deaton

John Dwyer

John Quinn

JohnPaul Baric

Jordan Kruger

Josh Olszewicz

Kain Warwick

Kathleen Moriarty

Keld van Schreven

Larry Lepard

Laura Shin

Leah Wald

Leo Mizuhara

Leslie Lamb

Luca Cosentino

Marc Bhargava

Marco Krohn

Marco Santori

Marco Streng

Marco Wutzer

Mark Lamb

Mark Moss

Marshall Hayner

Marty Bent

Mason Nystrom

Matthew Roszak

Max Song

Maxine Ryan

Meltem Demirors

Michael Casey

Michael Chobanian

Michael Flight

Michael Moro

Michael Sonnenshein

Michaël van de Poppe

Mike Alfred

Mike Dudas

Mike Novogratz

Mike Paleokrassas

Miles Deutscher

Muneeb Ali

Natalie Brunell

Nathaniel Whittemore

Nic Carter

Olaf Carlson-Wee

Paul Veradittakit

Perianne Boring

Peter Brandt

Peter McCormack

Peter Van Valkenburgh

Philippe Bekhazi

Pierre Rochard

Piers Kicks

Plan B

Preston Pysh

Punk 6529

Riccardo Spagni

Richard Kim

Robert Breedlove

Rolf Hoefer

Roman Storm

Ryan Dinse

Ryan Selkis

Saifedean Ammous

Sang Lee

Satoshi Nakamoto

Saum Noursalehi

Seb Bunney

Sebastian Bürgel

Sebastian Moonjava

Sergey Nazarov

Seth Connors

Seth Ginns

Shingo Lavine

Silvio Micali

Stefan Thomas

Stephan Livera

Sunayna Tuteja

Tim Beiko

Tim Broekmans

Tim Draper

Trace Mayer

Travis Kling

Tuur Demeester

Tyler Winklevoss

Vijay Boyapati

Vinny Lingham

Vitalik Buterin

Wences Casares

Whit Gibbs

Will Clemente

Willy Woo

Witek Radomski

Yassine Elmandjra

Yves La Rose

Zach Resnick

Make sure to read about Crypto Currencies in general:

Bitcoin Facts (2018)
  • Bitcoin is still only owned by a small  fraction of the world's population (< 1%)
  • Bitcoin became popular in Venezuela and Turkey when their currencies' collapsed in 2017 and 2018

Bitcoin Criticisms
NOTE:  These are legitimate criticisms.  Newer cryptocurrencies have solved many of these
  • Bitcoin mining uses up a great deal of electrical energy - resulting in waste and pollution (not sustainable)
  • It can't handle many transactions and is generally slow (not scalable)
  • Has high transaction costs
  • Still lacks general acceptance
  • Serves as a tool for criminals, tax evaders and the like

Scarcity is baked into the system; there will be a maximum of 21 Million Bitcoins by 2140.

Every 4 years, the number of new bitcoins mined every goes down by half.