If you’ve buy bitcoin with bank card paying close attention to digital currency, then you’ve probably heard about how high the value of bitcoin was. In 2018, the value of a single bitcoin reached almost $20,000. That value has since gone down, but it still hovers around the $3,000 mark making bitcoin one of the most valuable cryptocurrencies in the world.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency value can fluctuate. If you time it right, you can make a lot of money trading cryptocurrency.

What is cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrency isn’t easy to explain, but we’ll give it a shot. Basically, it’s a form of digital currency. Bitcoin is the most well-known one but there are lots of other ones.

To work, cryptocurrency uses cryptography to make sure that the transactions are secure. Cryptography is the process of converting ordinary text into unintelligible text, which is how it stays secure.

A small history of cryptocurrency
There have been lots of attempts to create digital currencies. In 2009 an anonymous programmer-or a group of anonymous programmers-known as Satoshi Nakamoto came up with bitcoin. Satoshi Nakamoto said that bitcoin was invented to be a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system.”

Cryptocurrency is decentralized. This means that there are no centralized servers involved. There is no controlling body or authority such as government to regulate it. This is one of the main reasons why bitcoin has become so popular and is being touted as the currency of the future. It may be the first global currency.
Cryptocurrencies make use of Blockchain technology where every participant has access to the public ledger that records all the transactions within the network. If you were to buy or sell cryptocurrency today, you would be assigned a digital wallet where that currency is held. It also gives you a public and private key you can use to authorize transactions.

To complete a transaction, you input your private key. All the details of the transaction, except your private key, are available in a public ledger that can be accessed by everyone in the network.

In short, cryptocurrency allows you to trade online without third party involvement. It can be as anonymous as you want it to be.

Can you buy bitcoin with a credit card?
Yes, you can buy bitcoin with a credit card, although it’s not as simple as providing your credit card information to the website. You have to go through a platform called an exchange where your real-world money is exchanged for bitcoins. The problem is that many exchanges are just scams that are meant to steal your credit card information. That’s why it’s important to only use an exchange platform that you have thoroughly researched.