Browsing: Bitcoin

By 2018, it seemed like Blockchain tech was completely dominated by males. Over time, the percentage of women in blockchain…

"The future of money". That's how crypto was heralded. And the markets seemed to agree. At one point in time, in November 2021, it hit close to $70,000. Then, there was an FTX debacle in 2022 that seemed to hurt the sentiments around crypto. A stablecoin called Terra and its sister token Luna collapsed, wiping out about half a trillion dollars from crypto markets. And after peaking at $3 trillion in November 2021, the crypto market plummeted in 2022, hitting a 2-year low of about $795 billion. So, Bitcoin got to a point as low as about $16,000 in 2022 after its high point of about $70,000.

Though, since then, Bitcoin gradually began to rise. In April 2024, it hit the $71,000 mark. Yet, it's fallen a bit since then.

And at a time that's being considered the golden age of AI, is something like crypto a neglected child? How relevant is it in 2024?

So, in April 2024, there was a Bitcoin halving event, which is said to occur approximately every 4 years. 
If you're into puzzles, this is for you. Because if you like solving complex math puzzles, you could be a Bitcoin miner. In the Bitcoin network, as a miner, not a minor, you get rewarded with newly-created Bitcoins when transactions are verified and added. For every block that gets mined, there's a set amount of Bitcoins rewarded. So, if it were 12.5 bitcoins per block, it'd be halved to 6.25 bitcoins per block.

Still not in with the jargon? There's a public ledger called Blockchain, which you may have heard of. And Bitcoin mining is how transactions are verified and added to this ledger. If there's a transaction on the Bitcoin network, Bitcoin gets transferred from one user's digital wallet to another. Miners are said to collect these individual transactions from the network and organize them into a block. This means verifying each transaction to make sure the sender has the authority to transfer them. And by forming a block, multiple transactions could be simultaneously processed efficiently. And if you're able to tell Pat you can solve the puzzle, you get rewarded with newly minted Bitcoins.