The Bitcoin network is a peer-to-peer system that allows users to send and receive payments. It was created by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, and has been the subject of intense media attention ever since. The Bitcoin network is a peer-to-peer system that allows users to send and receive payments. It was created by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, and has been the subject of intense media attention ever since. The idea resembles DigiCash, which was a digital currency project first proposed in the 1990s. However, unlike DigiCash, which was an attempt to create a currency based on the ideas in the 1994 paper "Eliminating the Requirements of a Trusted Third Party" by David Chaum, Bitcoin was created as a completely separate system which happens to use some of the ideas from that early paper.

The media's early enthusiasm for the currency, and its treatment of Nakamoto as a revolutionary who created it, helped it attract users and value. Despite the high degree of media exposure, however, Nakamoto's true identify remains unknown. As of 2013, over Bitcoins have been sent to over nineteen thousand different locations worldwide. Ten thousand of these are believed to belong to Nakamoto himself. In addition to the Bitcoins he holds, Nakamoto has also accepted tens of thousands of dollars worth of the currency from early users.

On September 10, 2011, the first major financial transaction using the Bitcoin system occurred when Newegg, an online computer hardware retailer, allowed customers to use Bitcoins as a means of payment. In late 2012, the Bitcoin community was struck by a major civil war. One side, which supported the idea of "premine" (giving a predefined number of coins to the developers to kickstart the system) was vastly outperforming the other side, which favored "no Premine". This led to a drop in the' value of Bitcoins, which were traded in the low forties US dollars until the civil war was resolved. Since then, the currency has slowly regained its value.

The Future of Bitcoin

As the currency moves towards wider adoption, the future for it is unclear. Some in the community have called for a massive expansion of the Bitcoin system, to the extent that it could be considered a new 'internet'. However, Nakamoto's original vision for the system seems more likely to become a reality in the future.?

Many in the community are of the opinion that as long as enough people continue using the system, Nakamoto's original vision will be fulfilled. Whether or not that will be the case is another question. The currency has attracted the attention of governments the world over, and in some cases they have outright banned it. Many other governments, including the US government, have indicated that they see Bitcoin as a potential tool for tax avoidance and possibly money laundering.