Digital Mints: Know the Factory

Bitcoin, a digital currency, created and held electronically. Bitcoins are not printed, like any other currency. They are produced by people, and businesses running computers all around the world using software that solves mathematical problems. These can be used to buy things electronically.

The most important characteristic and the thing that makes Bitcoin different to conventional money is that it is decentralized. No single institution controls the bitcoin network. This puts some people at ease, because it means that a large bank cannot control their money.

Talking to PC Quest, the Bitcoin players like Unocoin and Bitxoxo shed some light on the digital currency working and usage.

Sathvik Vishwanath, CEO & Co-Founder, Unocoin says,"Unocoin is working on mobile applications as of now, and net banking is there for bitcoin (the key areas basically). The bitcoin industry is going positive in India. We are looking forward towards the result and support for Bitcoins and not only this but also the digital going as well. We are right now trying to face the technical difficulties coming in with Bitcoins. Initially it was challenging to make people aware about it but now it’s improving day by day.

There were too many technical things need to be understood, because of the media exposure it’s getting good now. Earlier it was not like that.

Now you don’t have to introduce this much as earlier. Funds can be raised through this currency. People will be donating throughout the world. Transactions are made easier.

All online transactions are getting late, bitcoin being a payment medium will be really helpful in that matter. Leveraging bitcoin technology will really help India grow digitally”.

Bitxoxo CEO & Co-founder, Hesham Rehman says, "We are about to launch our app, in 3rd Q of this year, we will be branding our company this year. We are working in Bitcoins since 2013, seeking support from government on the same.

Talking about this currency particularly; more and more customer data finding is important. We are just focusing on people’s awareness about Bitcoin, in terms of security also.

The bitcoin industry is still at a nascent stage with not many regulations as such, but that does not make it illegal. It is a virtual currency which has been there for quite some time now. In fact, many countries have been adopting blockchain based currencies which might even be replacing physical currency in the coming years. In many countries bitcoins are treated as private currency or private property and market has been well -sustaining in this segment. There is no doubt that RBI needs to step in this domain and add structure to the concept offering it the due recognition.

We are hopeful that there will be positive developments in this regards soon.

We appreciate the initiative taken by the government to set up a panel to recommend regulations for Bitcoin Industry. However, it would be great if the panel could consider suggestions from Bitcoin exchanges running in India. A similar procedure was followed in China as well.

Furthermore, one of the major expectations would be to penalize cash trading in bitcoin exchange by the panel.

This would cut down all the negatives like money laundering, terrorism funding, hawala etc.

All the transactions would be through legal bank accounts and all the transactions would be duly recorded”.

Be aware

Bitcoin is different than any currency you have used before. Unlike government issued money that can be inflated at will. The supply of bitcoin is mathematically limited to twenty one million bitcoins, and that can never be changed.

Bitcoins are impossible to counterfeit or inflate. You can use them to send or receive any amount of money, with anyone, anywhere in the world at very low cost.

Bitcoin payments are impossible to block, and bitcoin wallets cannot be frozen. Short of turning off the entire world's internet, and keeping it turned off, the Bitcoin network is unstoppable and uncensorable.

Bitcoin's Creation

A software developer called Satoshi Nakamoto proposed bitcoin, which was an electronic payment system based on mathematical proof.

The idea was to produce a currency independent of any central authority, transferable electronically, more or less instantly, with very low transaction fees.

Working of Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a digital currency that is not tied to a bank or government and allows users to spend money anonymously.

The coins are created by users who 'mine' them by lending computing power to verify other users' transactions. They receive bitcoins in exchange.

The coins also can be bought and sold on exchanges with U.S. dollars and other currencies.

Base of Bitcoin

Conventional currency has been based on gold or silver. Bitcoin is not based on gold; it’s based on mathematics.

Around the world, people are using software programs that follow a mathematical formula to produce bitcoins.

The mathematical formula is freely available, so that anyone can check it.

The software is also open source, meaning that anyone can look at it to make sure that it does what it is supposed to.

Popularity of Bitcoins

Bitcoins are basically lines of computer code that are digitally signed each time they travel from one owner to the next.

Transactions can be made anonymously, making the currency popular with libertarians as well as tech enthusiasts, speculators and criminals.

Do anonymous Bitcoins exist?

Yes, to a point. Transactions and accounts can be traced, but the account owners are not necessarily known. However, investigators might be able to track down the owners when bitcoins are converted to regular currency.

Who's using bitcoin?

Some businesses have jumped on the bitcoin bandwagon amid a flurry of media coverage. Still, its popularity is low compared with cash and cards, and many individuals and businesses won't accept bitcoins for payments.

Important features

Bitcoin has several important features that set it apart from other currencies.

1. Its decentralized

The bitcoin network isn’t controlled by one central authority. Every machine that mines bitcoin and processes transactions makes up a part of the network, and the machines work together. That means that, in theory, one central authority cannot tinker with monetary policy and cause a meltdown – or simply decide to take people’s bitcoins away from them. And if some part of the network goes offline for some reason, the money keeps on flowing.

2. It’s easy to set up

Conventional banks make you jump through hoops simply to open a bank account. Setting up merchant accounts for payment is another task. However, you can set up a bitcoin address in seconds, no questions asked, and with no fees payable.

3. Its anonymous

Well, kind of. Users can hold multiple bitcoin addresses, and they are not linked to names, addresses, or other personally identifying information.

4.  It’s completely transparent

Bitcoin stores details of every single transaction that ever happened in the network in a huge version of a general ledger, called the blockchain. The blockchain tells all.

If you have a publicly used bitcoin address, anyone can tell how many bitcoins are stored at that address. They just don’t know that it’s yours.

There are measures that people can take to make their activities more opaque on the bitcoin network, though, such as not using the same bitcoin addresses consistently, and not transferring lots of bitcoin to a single address.

5. Transaction fees are miniscule

Your bank may charge you for international transfers. Bitcoin doesn’t.

6. Its fast

You can send money anywhere and it will arrive minutes later, as soon as the bitcoin network processes the payment.

Technology behind Bitcoin

The Blockchain is the technology running bitcoin. A blockchain is a distributed database that maintains a continuously growing list of records called blocks secured from tampering and revision.

The blockchain is a secured protocol enabling peer-to-peer exchanges on a distributed network in a secured, public and non-repudiable way.

Some Bitcoin Players worth Knowing:

Zebpay

Zebpay is the mobile application available on android and IOS through which Bitcoins can be purchased electronically. Zebpay is the app offered by the company Zeb IT services Private Limited based in Ahemedabad, Gujrat. Zebpay is in the Bitcoin exchange business since 2012. Earlier it was operating by the name of BuySellBitco.in founded by Mahin Gupta, Sandeep Goenka and Saurabh Agrawal. They later re-named from BuySellBitco.in to Zeb IT Service Private Limited.

Coin secure

Another Bitcoin exchange based in New Delhi . With Coin Secure’s mobile app, Coin secure offers buying/selling/trading bitcoins through smart phones as well as over the desktop.

Coin secure began its journey in 2012 and was later acquired by Delhi-based industrialist Mohit Kalra, now CEO in June 2014. The advancement focus is in Bangalore drove by Benson Samuel who is the CTO and Founder

Btcxindia

Btcxindia.com a Bitcoin wallet and exchange providing real time trading of Bitcoin and INR and operating at the highest levels of security and reliability, based in Hyderabad. BTCXIndia is promoted by S Capital Solutions Pvt Ltd, incorporated on 25th Nov 2013

BTCXIndia is a certified member of NASSCOM.

GB miners/Gainbitcoin.com

GB Miners, founded by Amit Bhardwaj, is the fastest growing Mining pool. GB miners a product of Amaze Mining & Blockchain Research Ltd.is the biggest bitcoin mining pool in india with its complete mining set up based in China.

Amit Bhardwaj is one of the early believers of Bitcoin in India and has also invested many first generation entrepreneurs here. Finance is in his DNA and his fascination with Blockchain as a concept is what keeps him up at night. He is building an ecosystem of products on Bitcoin, Blockchain and Cryptocurrency. He has built an online retail marketplace called HighKart.com in 2013, India’s first e-commerce website to accept ‘Bitcoin payment’ for products.

Gainbitcoin.com is a sister concern of GB Biners with its head office based in Singapore, offering investors to invest in the company are mining pool and in return receive Bitcoins. At present, Gainbitcoin.com in association with GB Miners offers the highest return with nearly 10% per month of the numbers of Bitcoin invested in their mining pool.