Bitcoin Price, News and Analysis (BTC)

Balances - block chain The block chain is a shared public ledger on which the entire Bitcoin network relies. All confirmed transactions are included in the block chain. This way, Bitcoin wallets can calculate their spendable balance and new transactions can be verified to be spending bitcoins that are actually owned by the spender. The integrity and the chronological order of the block chain are enforced with cryptography. Transactions - private keys A transaction is a transfer of value between Bitcoin wallets that gets included in the block chain. Bitcoin wallets keep a secret piece of data called a private key or seed, which is used to sign transactions, providing a mathematical proof that they have come from the owner of the wallet. The signature also prevents the transaction from being altered by anybody once it has been issued. All transactions are broadcast between users and usually begin to be confirmed by the network in the following 10 minutes, through a process called mining. Processing - mining Mining is a distributed consensus system that is used to confirm waiting transactions by including them in the block chain. It enforces a chronological order in the block chain, protects the neutrality of the network, and allows different computers to agree on the state of the system. To be confirmed, transactions must be packed in a block that fits very strict cryptographic rules that will be verified by the network. These rules prevent previous blocks from being modified because doing so would invalidate all following blocks. Mining also creates the equivalent of a competitive lottery that prevents any individual from easily adding new blocks consecutively in the block chain. This way, no individuals can control what is included in the block chain or replace parts of the block chain to roll back their own spends. (Description provided by CryptoCompare)

Bitcoin can be purchased or sold on the following cryptocurrency exchanges: OKEx, Binance, Bitfinex, Huobi, bitFlyer, Bitstamp, BTCC, Upbit, BTCBOX, Lbank, GDAX, Bithumb, HitBTC, BCEX, Simex, EXX, OEX, CoinBene, itBit, Bit-Z, Kraken, Coinsuper, Gemini, Coinhub, CoinEgg, fex, Bibox, Bittrex, TOPBTC, RightBTC, CoinsBank, B2BX, Bitbank, Livecoin, CoinTiger, Tidex, Poloniex, BtcTrade.im, BitBay, Trade By Trade, Coinrail, YoBit, Exmo, LakeBTC, OOOBTC, Iquant, Coinone, Korbit, Bitinka, WEX, Kucoin, ZB.COM, IDAX, Gate.io, Exrates, Fatbtc, Paribu, Hotbit, Sistemkoin, CEX.IO, Negocie Coins, C2CX, OTCBTC, Coinroom, Ethfinex, Luno, CoinEx Market, Octaex, DragonEX, xBTCe, Omicrex, GOPAX, BitForex, BitMEX, Quoine, Fisco, Zaif, Neraex and Cobinhood.

Bitcoin produces its own wallet software that is available for download on its website, which allows you to store Bitcoin on your computer. For maximum security, you can store your cryptocurrencies on a dedicated hardware wallet such as a TREZOR wallet or a Ledger Nano S. If you do not wish to buy a hardware wallet, you may consider using a mobile wallet such as Jaxx or Coinomi to store multiple cryptocurrencies with some added security benefits.

One Bitcoin (BTC) is currently worth $6,728.87 on major cryptocurrency exchanges. The value (or market capitalization) of all available Bitcoin in U.S. dollars is $115.09 billion.

Bitcoin is a proof of work (PoW) coin that uses the SHA-256 algorithm.

Bitcoin and other SHA-256 coins can typically only be mined profitably with a piece of specialized mining hardware called an ASIC, which stands for application-specific integrated circuit. Major manufacturers of ASICs include BitMain (AntMiner), Butterfly Labs, Canaan (AvalonMiner), FutureBit and GridSeed. ASIC hardware can be purchased directly from the manufacturer or from resellers on Amazon and eBay.

The following coins use Bitcoin's SHA-256 algorithm and proof of work (PoW) proof-type: Bitcoin Cash, Steem, Counterparty, Unobtanium, Namecoin, Crown, ATBCoin, CHIPS, Terracoin, UnbreakableCoin, Zetacoin, Titcoin, SoonCoin and Dollarcoin.

The official Reddit community (subreddit) for Bitcoin is r/bitcoin.