Lesson 15

Bitcoin is a global peer-to-peer secure messaging system, where messages represent transactions and are recorded forever in a decentralized database, called blockchain. All transactions are stored as a chain, that cannot be changed. Verification of the messages and their distribution across the network is supposed to be done by each system member, making the system extremely robust. Built-in rules in the software allow the system to stay in a consistent state unless 51% of participants are honest. All this features make Bitcoin a global accounting and online payments system at the same time. Payments work peer-to-peer without a central repository or single administrator, which has led the US Treasury to call Bitcoin a decentralized virtual currency.

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