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Bitcoin (BTC) is one of the most sought after assets amongst investors. But, despite its surging popularity, news covering BTC often quote gossip and hearsay.
And due to their massive reach, people consider them as official information.
It is essential to glean facts from the fluff. BTC’s design heavily borrows from mathematics and cryptography. The protocol functions with code and calculations.
Therefore, every discussion surrounding bitcoin should be logical and rational. And that can only happen by shunning ‘myths’ and ‘rumors’.
In this article, we intend to do exactly that. So that you can see BTC for what it is, and not how it appears.
Bitcoin Has No Intrinsic Value
Naysayers say that BTC doesn’t have any intrinsic value. They also say that bitcoins just ‘appear out of thin air’.
An asset or a currency derives value out of people’s faith, e.g: the INR. More the trust, the more is the value.
Contrary to misconceptions, a large section of people has faith in BTC. This is perfectly visible from the latest Edelman Trust Barometer Survey.
As per the report, 73 percent of Indians trust cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
60 percent say that the impact of crypto/blockchain will be positive.
Apart from this, bitcoin’s value has exponentially appreciated over the last several years. This couldn’t have happened if investors didn’t think of BTC as ‘valuable’.
Also, bitcoins don’t ‘just happen’. A process called mining creates BTC. Folks with advanced hardware compete within themselves to quickly solve complex mathematical puzzles. To know more, check out the video below:
Criminals Use BTC
Some believe that bitcoin transactions are anonymous. And that makes BTC a suitable vehicle for all sorts of illegal activities.
Bitcoin operates on a blockchain-based protocol. It is a decentralized public ledger that records all BTC transactions. What this means is that all activities are openly visible to everyone.
An alphanumeric address masks the details of transacting parties. But, everything else like the transaction value, date, time is completely accessible.
That makes bitcoin ‘pseudo-anonymous’. As opposed to ‘pro-criminal’ claims, this feature helps law-enforcement authorities in nabbing felons. See the below video to know more:
Bitcoin Was Hacked
No, that’s not true. If Bitcoin was hacked, it wouldn’t have gained the trust of millions of investors across the country.
Hacking Bitcoin is near impossible. Because of its blockchain.
A ’51 percent attack’ could help gain control of the Bitcoin network. But, going by how much the ecosystem has matured, a 51 percent attack will be a very costly proposition. How costly?
According to data, it would cost almost USD 500,000 an hour to carry it out. No hacker would shell out that kind of money. Plus the chances of breaking in are minuscule to zero.
It’s a Ponzi Scheme
Normally a Ponzi scheme has a hierarchical arrangement with a boss at the top. The person who starts it all. Investors are guaranteed fixed returns on their capital but the underlying mechanism is fraudulent.
Although Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin in 2009, he remains unknown. He/She designed the network so that anyone can participate and either contribute to its growth or just invest in BTC.
No central authority controls Bitcoin. There are no ‘middlemen’ facilitating transfers. And it will continue to remain that way in the foreseeable future.
BTC Investment is Costly
A lot of people, especially in India don’t buy bitcoin because they think it’s costly. They think they have to buy one whole BTC. Going by the ongoing market rates they bow out.
Here’s the fact. Despite rumors of a ‘highly-priced investment’, anyone can buy bitcoin. Why? Because 1 BTC is divisible into 100 million parts. That’s right. Because of its divisibility, investors can buy fractions of bitcoin.
It is not at all necessary to buy 1 full BTC.
Only Technically Proficient People Can Use It
This was said about the internet and email too. Initially, nobody understood how these two technologies would be utilized in the real world. But eventually, both have become widely popular and now life is very difficult to imagine without the two.
This holds for bitcoin too. There is a learning curve involved but it’s not rocket science. We at WazirX have put together an intuitive interface in place so that using BTC becomes a seamless experience.
See the below video to know how to use the WazirX phone app in detail:
These were a few bitcoin myths, but there are many more. BTC and the cryptocurrency ecosystem is paving the way for a bright future. To become a part of this future, you need to question everything that you come across, even hard facts. Only by ‘verifying’ and not blindly trusting, you can truly contribute to Bitcoin’s growth.
Further Reading:
5 Ripple (XRP) Myths you Should Stop Believing
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are The Chances Of Bitcoin Crashing?
Two Yale University economists (Yukun Liu and Aleh Tsyvinski) produced research titled "Risks and Returns of Cryptocurrency" in 2018. They looked at the possibility of Bitcoin crashing to zero in a single day. The authors discovered that the chances of an undefined tragedy crashing Bitcoin to zero ranged from 0 percent to 1.3 percent and was around 0.4 percent at the time of publishing, using Bitcoin's history returns to determine its risk-neutral disaster probability. Others claim that because Bitcoin has no intrinsic value, it will inevitably crash to zero. On the other hand, Bitcoin advocates argue that the currency is backed by customer confidence and mathematics.
How To Create Bitcoin Account?
Firstly, Go to the WazirX website and sign up. Then, a verification mail will be sent to you. The link sent via verification mail would be available only for a few seconds so make sure you click on the link sent to you as soon as possible, and it will verify your email address successfully. The next step is to set up security, so select the most suitable option for you. After you have set up the security, you will get a choice to either proceed further with or without completing the KYC procedure. After that, you will be directed to the Funds and Transfer page, where you could start depositing Bitcoins to your wallet. You can also deposit INR and then use it to buy Bitcoin for your WazirX Bitcoin wallet.
How Does Bitcoin Technology Work?
The blockchain is the foundation of Bitcoin. It is a decentralized, distributed ledger that tracks the provenance of digital assets. The data on a blockchain can't be changed by design, making it a real disruptor in industries like payments, cybersecurity, and healthcare.
Is Bitcoin Mining Free?
Bitcoin mining isn't free, but it can be tried on a budget. Bitcoin mining is an essential part of the blockchain ledger's upkeep and development and the act of issuing new Bitcoins. It is accomplished by the use of cutting-edge computers that tackle complicated computational arithmetic problems. The effort of auditor miners is rewarded. They're in charge of ensuring that Bitcoin transactions go off without a fuss and that they're legal.
How To Invest In Bitcoin?
Bitcoin may be invested in two ways: through mining or exchanges. Bitcoin mining is carried out by high-powered computers that solve challenging computational arithmetic problems that are too difficult to complete by hand and complex enough to tax even the most powerful computers. WazirX, a Bitcoin exchange, is another alternative.
Is Bitcoin A Good Investment For The Future?
Some investors are afraid of the risks or devastation, but others are very eager to pursue the possibility of profit from a Bitcoin investment. A Bitcoin investment is similar to stock investing, except it can be more volatile.
How To Make Bitcoin?
Bitcoin mining is not just the process of putting new Bitcoins into circulation, but it is also an essential part of the blockchain ledger's upkeep and development. It is carried out with the assistance of highly advanced computers that answer challenging computational math problems. Miners are rewarded for their efforts as auditors. They are in charge of ensuring that Bitcoin transactions are legitimate. Satoshi Nakamoto, who is the founder of Bitcoin, innovated this standard for keeping Bitcoin users ethical. Miners help to prevent the "double-spending problem" by confirming transactions.
Is Bitcoin Cash A Good Investment?
Bitcoin Cash is a hard fork of Bitcoin formed in 2017 to address Bitcoin's scalability and challenges. Bitcoin Cash seeks to make global transactions faster, cheaper, and more secure. Bitcoin Cash is now accepted by thousands of online and offline businesses all over the world. Studied correctly, Bitcoin Cash may be an investment worthy of consideration.
Who Created Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is the first application of the concept of "cryptocurrency," first articulated in 1998 on the cypherpunks mailing list by Wei Dai, who proposed a new form of money that relies on cryptography rather than a central authority to manage its creation and transactions. Satoshi Nakamoto published the initial Bitcoin specification and proof of concept on the cryptography mailing list in 2009. Satoshi exited the project in late 2010, with little information about himself available. Since then, the community has evolved, with numerous people working on Bitcoin. Satoshi's anonymity has sparked unfounded fears, many of which may be traced back to a misunderstanding of Bitcoin's open-source nature.
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency is not a legal tender and is currently unregulated. Kindly ensure that you undertake sufficient risk assessment when trading cryptocurrencies as they are often subject to high price volatility. The information provided in this section doesn't represent any investment advice or WazirX's official position. WazirX reserves the right in its sole discretion to amend or change this blog post at any time and for any reasons without prior notice.
