On May 2, 2016, Australian businessman "Craig Wright" appeared on the BBC and the pages of "The Economist" and "GQ", widely spread, announcing that he is the inventor of the digital currency "Bitcoin", whose appearance has long been associated with a kinetic name. Its creator called it "Satoshi Nakamoto".
At the time, the world thought that the identity of the inventor of "Bitcoin" was known, especially since Wright presented what he claimed to be "technical evidence" that confirms his allegations, and even signed "live" e-mails using encryption keys he said he used to send 10 Bitcoins to the crypto expert. " Hal Finney "in January 2009 as the first transaction in Bitcoin, but soon many doubted Wright's claims, so we return to square one, and the inventor of that famous digital currency remains unknown.
As for the only truth, "Satoshi Nakamoto, whether it was" Wright "himself or someone else who accepted life in the shadows, or even if it was an institution or an economic entity, may never have crossed his mind that the technology he invented in 2008 and caused the existence of Bitcoin It will develop over 9 years to exceed the size of the cryptocurrency market of 700 billion dollars.
The blockchain story
In 2008, Nakamoto published a paper explaining the "blockchain" technology, how it works, and how it will change the mechanism of physical transactions around the world.
And in 2009, the same person launched Bitcoin, the first real application based on the blockchain technology that they invented.
Blockchain technology is based on the idea of ​​decentralization, as it represents a decentralized and participatory digital book that is used to save and store digital transactions such as transactions and financial transfers, without the possibility of making any modifications to the information that was stored, which reduces the possibility of fraud or fraud, or in other words. "A common record that stores information in a multiple way between the concerned parties (linked to an information network) without the need for a central authority controlling the course of financial transactions, such as central banks, for example."
Bitcoin is obtained using Visa Card and Master Card, through world famous sites such as "Indacoin", which has the feature of using the Arabic language, and "paxful", which allows the use of multiple payment methods, such as "transfers." Bank "and gift cards" from "Amazon, iTunes" and "Western Union", in addition to "Coinmama".
Ice mountain
Tamer Ahmed - an economist specializing in the field of blockchain and entrepreneurship - told "science": "The blockchain is the snow mountain that is still hidden under water, and only Bitcoin appears on the surface of it," stressing that we are waiting for a real technological revolution, whose idea is based On the decentralization and distribution of roles between multiple persons who trust to conduct transactions between them through this technology, which leads to ending the role of intermediaries in transactions, such as banks, insurance companies, stock exchange companies and brokerage clients, according to his description.
Ahmed points out that using Bitcoin at the present time is more an investment than a trading currency, which leads to the price of its currency constantly fluctuating up and down, according to the supply and demand policy.
The total number of Bitcoin around the world is 21 million currencies, and its value varies in relation to the value of other currencies from day to day. For example, the value of Bitcoin was $ 13,203.49 at the time of writing the report, and dealing with it is not traceable, meaning the identity of the seller and buyer cannot be known, which gives Its financial operations are strictly confidential, in short, it is a virtual cryptocurrency.
A burstable bubble
Bitcoin is obtained, sold and used in buying and selling via the Internet, and it differs from traditional currencies in that it is not printed on paper or minted on a metal, and the most is that it can be bought and sold using traditional money, and it has no specific and existing geographical centers. To purchase them, they are bought through specific websites on the Internet.
What is more, entering her world is not a complicated process, and it only takes 15 minutes, according to what the sites concerned with buying and selling them indicate, a person only needs to create an electronic wallet through these sites, and write his credit card number, phone and date of birth, and then a message arrives on the phone. The cell phone includes a four-digit code, so that the entire financial world becomes "king of his right hand."
But some specialists in the business market believe that Bitcoin is nothing but a bubble, which will soon burst like the real estate market bubble that caused the "mortgage" crisis and led to the collapse of the "money market" in 2008, while others see that digital currencies represent a development. Logical methods of financial transactions, and that there is no longer the possibility of it to be a bubble; Due to the recognition of many companies and institutions, and their acceptance of "Bitcoin" as a currency in exchange for their services and products, such as Microsoft and Kentucky Restaurants in Canada, and many other companies.
Security concerns
At the same time, there are global warnings and concerns against digital currencies, due to the inability to track their transactions, which turned them into the main currency of the dark web transactions, or what is known as the "dark internet" and the financing of terrorist operations.
In mid-December, the US Justice Department announced the trial of an American woman of Pakistani origin, 27-year-old Zobia Shanaz, accused of transferring more than $ 85,000 in digital currencies to ISIS.
Also, US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin said, during his recent participation in the Economic Club conference in Washington, that the US administration is focusing on tracking the activities of digital currencies so that they do not turn into another version of "anonymous Swiss bank accounts," according to his description.
Mohamed Abdel Basit - Director of Cybersecurity and Security Projects Development at the "Security" company - believes that one must be careful when conducting transactions of this business through trading platforms, explaining that "its trading information is stored in blockchain loops, which are confidential and encrypted information, which cannot be viewed." On the identity of the owners, as for trading platforms, transactions and their parties can be tracked, such as the identity of the seller and the buyer and the value of the trading process, and this depends on the security system of each platform and its ability to preserve the data of its traders.
"There are many programs that protect the devices of digital currency dealers, such as" Adblock Plus "," Noquins "and" Miner Blocker ", according to" Al-Alam ", which block the appearance of annoying ads, and prevent anyone from exploiting their browsers."