STEEM CRYPTO CHALLENGE #5: I LOVE BITCOIN

It’s great to be back here, friends. I have been away for a while because of my baby. I needed to take out time in his first one month and take care of him. Now I can create time to join the challenge.

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For my first entry I will be looking into the advantages and disadvantages of using bitcoin as a means of financial transaction.

First, what is bitcoin?
Bitcoin is an electronic or virtual money that can be sent and received between people using the blockchain technology.

It is a peer-2-peer money system that is decentralized. That is, there is no third party regulations in the transaction processes involving bitcoin.

Advantages of Bitcoin
The following advantages is obtainable when transacting with bitcoin:

Security and Control
 Bitcoin blockchain is secured by allowing users to be in control of their transactions: As there are no third parties involved, users have the freedom to transact and monitor their money without fear. This makes bitcoin very secured.

 No personal information is needed to do a transaction: Unlike in the banking system where full personal details are shown on each transaction, bitcoin transactions does not need the name of the person sending or receiving. Thus, the privacy of users is secured.

 Identity theft is avoided since no personal information is tied to transactions in bitcoin blockchain.

 Since the transaction is under an open source ledger, merchants can not charge extra fees without being noticed. As such any changes in charges has to be discussed with customers first.

 Users can back up and encrypt their bitcoin to ensure security of funds.

User Friendly Payment Process

 It can easily be transferred to individuals and changed to fiat around the world.

 Total control of your money without interference by bank rules.

Transparent Transaction Information
 Although personal information are not displayed on transaction records, every other information is available for everyone to see and as such there is no room for fraud.

 Anyone can verify transaction information on the blockchain.

 Bitcoin is cryptographically secured, thus it can not be manipulated by individuals, organization or government.

Low transaction fees

 Transaction fees are very low, but users can choose to increase fees to ensure faster transactions.

 Converting from bitcoin to fiat attracts very low fees compared to other transactions involving credit cards or PayPal.

Disadvantages of Bitcoin
The major disadvantages of bitcoin are:

 Lack of awareness and understanding among people on the use case of bitcoin.

 Poor education level of people on what bitcoin can be used for.

 Risk and volatility is also an issue with bitcoin. This is because demands and limited supply fluctuates the price.

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That is it for today on my entry.

The price of Bitcoin will be 15098.78 USD