Check out the Winzum £50 Bitcoin Voucher Giveaway

A lot has changed over the last few decades, and the emergence of the Internet as a bona fide global platform is by far the biggest reason for this. Nonetheless, in the context of money, things have remained largely the same for hundreds of years, at least in regard to its physical form.

That’s all starting to change now though, as new online computing technology and the concept of money have combined to create one of the 21st century’s most exciting new innovations – cryptocurrencies. As far as massively mainstream phenomena go cryptocurrencies have still got a little way to go, however in the case of Bitcoin (the first and most famous) the popularity has been skyrocketing over the past few years in particular.

You must have heard the stories, right? A particularly savvy person buys $100 worth of Bitcoin back in 2009 and ends up with $48 million in 2021. Or, on the other hand, a hopeful investor buys £1000 worth and ends up selling it for a whole lot less.

It still seems as though cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are more of an investment asset then genuine currency these days, however with figures like Elon Musk recently declaring that his Tesla cars can be bought with Bitcoin it all seems likely to change very soon indeed.

Winzum always want to be at the forefront of these types of technological revolutions, as you can see from other articles on our blog [Winzum Tech Radar: Apple Iphone 12]. And what better way to get involved with the fascinating rise of Bitcoin then to run one of our popular giveaways with the cryptocurrency as a prize?

Oh yes, we have decided to put a £50 Bitcoin voucher up for grabs, and as always entering this Winzum competition could not be easier. All you need to do is click the image below to get started. We operate with a strict “no spam on the menu” policy too, so you needn’t worry about a clogged email inbox – it’s just not our style.

Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general are things that most of us have heard of by now, but may not properly understand. That’s what we’re here for though, so get ready to tuck in to a Bitcoin and cryptocurrency deep dive.

Bitcoin: The basics

Ask most people what Bitcoin is and the most they could probably muster is that it is a cryptocurrency, but what does that actually mean? In all honesty it can be difficult to get your head around, because at the crux of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies’ existence is the fact that they don’t actually exist in objective reality.

Whereas all other forms of currency are available as physical notes or coins, with cryptocurrencies everything is completely digitalised using a mammoth amount of computing power. The basic framework surrounding Bitcoin, for example, is called a blockchain, something that refers to “a public ledger of all transactions in the Bitcoin network”. It is basically how Bitcoin and other cryptos can remain decentralised; because when you own them in your “wallet” they are actually still stored in a blockchain.

But here’s the thing: it is important to remember that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies aren’t just magically conjured out of nothing, in fact they need to be “mined” through solving vastly complex mathematical equations. Furthermore, unlike traditional state regulated currencies, there is only a finite number of Bitcoins that can ever exist – 21 million to be exact. As of today there are roughly 18,614,806 in existence, with 2,385,193 left to be mined.

One of the main points behind Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is to create a decentralised method of financial exchange that is not controlled by anyone. This is why the decentralised nature of blockchain protocol and finite availability of Bitcoin is so important. In effect the system controls itself through a vast and almost infinite number of mathematical algorithms, something that makes it very appealing in an age where banks and governments regularly stumble into financial crisis, largely of their own doing.

Because of this, Bitcoin users can send money directly to one another without the need for a bank or other financial transaction service like PayPal to mediate it. This is known as a peer-to-peer transaction, and is just another example of the decentralised nature of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. It’s also why governments around the world are extremely cautious of it, but we’ll get to that later…

The history of cryptocurrencies

For all this talk of decentralisation, there is one fact that still stands: somebody must have created Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the first place. The ideas behind these ground breaking financial inventions were being sewn back in the 20th century, with figures such as the American cryptographer David Chaum imagining a system called ecash in the 1980s.

Chaum followed through on his idea in 1995, launching Digicash, a rudimentary type of cryptographic electronic payment system, but one that still ultimately required users to withdraw cash from a bank first. Towards the end of the 20th century people like Wei Dai and Nick Szabo described something very similar to Bitcoin, “bit gold”, however they never actually managed to implement it.

And then along came Bitcoin in 2009, the world’s first decentralised cryptocurrency. It was created by Satoshi Nakamoto, but here’s the catch: nobody knows who he is. In fact, Satoshi Nakamoto doesn’t even necessarily have to be one person – it could be a group, a particularly tech-savvy whale or even a piece of toast. Okay, those last two things are a joke, but you get the idea. Nobody knows who Satoshi Nakamoto is, and the mysterious entity has since completely disappeared off the map.

The beauty of Bitcoin is that it doesn’t really need its creator to be there to oversee how it is used, simply because everything is already mapped out in its algorithmic and cryptographic coding. A couple of years after Bitcoin’s initial inception in 2009 a few more cryptocurrencies appeared using the same concept, for example Namecoin and Litecoin in April 2011 and October 2011 respectively.

Over the next decade the popularity and use of cryptocurrencies has grown considerably. By 2013 a popular crypto payment processer called Coinbase sold over $1 million in just one month, and in November of that year Bitcoin price rocketed up to $1,242 from a starting point of $200. People were steadily finding more and more real-world uses for Bitcoin too, with a notable platform being Silk Road, an online marketplace that operated outside of the law where anything from drugs to fake IDs were being sold.

Cryptocurrencies were firmly on the map by now, and the next big development was Ethereum, a popular crypto that was launched in 2015. This was an important event, because the emergence of Ethereum changed the conversation somewhat when it comes to Bitcoin and blockchains, using the latter to make things like “smart contracts” possible (whereby a contract is cemented in a mathematical algorithm that releases the funds as soon as the conditions are met without the need for a traditional legal contract).

If you want an example of exactly how valuable cryptocurrencies were becoming in the latter half of the 2010s just consider this: in 2017 the price of Bitcoin shot up by over 1000%, a market event that sent investors to the currency in droves. The next year, however, the harsh reality of financial trading hit home, as Bitcoin prices plummeted and many people wrote it off as a fad.

But fad it was not, because on average Bitcoin prices are still steadily rising, and cryptocurrencies in general are now firmly on the map of most global governments and banks. In the last several years there has been a notable influx of new cryptocurrencies too, with things like Dogecoin and ThunderSwap being just a couple of the thousands of new cryptos hitting the market pretty much every day.

Hang on a minute: Why are cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin so popular?

All of this still doesn’t exactly explain why cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have got so popular, and to the casual observer it can often seem as though the whole concept is nothing more than an investment tool. Obviously, a huge part of their popularity is to do with investing, but you can trace the causality far deeper than this.

Take a look at a few of these reasons behind the steadily growing popularity of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies:

1. Decentralisation: Sure, it might just sound like a clever word, but the decentralised nature of cryptocurrencies is a massive reason why they have become so popular. Off the back of things like the 2008 financial crisis people in general are somewhat lacking in trust for financial institutions like banks and governments, which make the idea of a decentralised and algorithmically programmed currency very appealing.

2. Insulation: The other great thing about Bitcoin’s decentralisation is that it means it and other cryptos are insulated from financial crises in a way that mainstream currencies are not. For example, during the Greek financial crisis the government imposed a limit on how much an individual could withdraw, and closed the banks altogether for one week in 2015. This sent people flooding to Bitcoin, a currency that isn’t directly connected to the “real world” market.

3. Anonymity: In the early days of Bitcoin it was favoured on the so-called “dark web” because of its anonymity. Whereas pretty much every other method of financial transaction requires the disclosing of identity, with Bitcoin transactions are completely anonymous. One way of looking at it is that it facilitates crime, however are several other reasons why you would want to stay anonymous whilst making payments, especially in the surveillance-heavy modern world.

4. Instantaneous: Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency transfers are instantaneous because of the peer-to-peer method that they use, and this is understandably appealing to pretty much everybody. Why wait for your money to come through when it could be immediate?

5. Excitement: One overarching reason behind the popularity of cryptocurrencies is really quite simple – they are exciting. Buying into crypto is the chance to be an active part of a genuinely exhilarating technological revolution. For example, the concepts derived from things like blockchain protocols are integral to what forecasters are calling Web 3.0, basically a levelling up of how the whole online world works. Imagine winning our Winzum £50 Bitcoin giveaway and being a part of that?

What does the future hold for cryptocurrencies?

It is difficult to pin down what will happen in the future of cryptocurrencies with 100% accuracy, however due to their innate mechanics we do know that one day there won’t be any more Bitcoin to mine. One thing that is pretty much certain is that cryptocurrencies will remain a valuable (but also volatile) way to invest for a long time in the future, but in terms of its real world application there is a lot less clarity.

For example, in order for things like Bitcoin to be fully assimilated in our day-to-day lives as a method of financial transaction rather than just an investment tool there will need to be considerable support from governments and corporations. Whether that will actually happen is difficult to predict, although it is no secret that these organisations are cautious about releasing their control on money, especially if it into the abyss of decentralisation.

Regardless, as technology improves the number of new cryptocurrencies is going to keep rising, and so too will the real world applications of these things too. In very recent history there have already been a couple of incredibly exciting developments that promise to boost the real world function of cryptocurrencies into the stratosphere. For example, on the 30th of March 2021 PayPal announced that Bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin will all be integrated into PayPal digital wallets. That means you will be able to pay in crypto at any of the 29 million and counting PayPal merchants operating. As CEO Dan Schulman said himself, “this is the first time you can seamlessly use cryptocurrencies in the same way as a credit card or debit card inside your PayPal wallet”.

The gargantuan financial services provider Visa also announced recently that they would accept the use of cryptocurrency USD Coin in transactions, which is a huge move in support of cryptocurrencies. In a sign of weariness, however, USD Coin is directly linked to the market value of the US Dollar – it remains to be seen whether or not a company like Visa would place their trust in the more volatile world of Bitcoin and other completely disconnected cryptocurrencies. Regardless, the big players are evidently now taking crypto very seriously, and there are some genuinely stirring things happening right now.

Furthermore, it is exciting to look at the crypto revolution as an example of how we can create an entirely new way of doing things, especially in the context of the online world. Just take the concept of Web 3.0, for example, an evolution of the Internet that is already underway, and is slated to change our lives for the better. The idea is that through things like AI, complex algorithms and machine learning we can create an Internet that is hyper-connected, omnipresent and omnipotent. It is a paradigm shift that is difficult to understand without it happening in earnest, precisely because it is such a vast evolution on what we all know today.

How can I get my hands on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies?

Is all of this making you want to get your paws on some Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies? If so we suggest entering our Winzum £50 Bitcoin voucher giveaway, as it could be the perfect way to kick-start your crypto wallet. Aside from this there are also various ways to purchase Bitcoin and other cryptos too, with the best platform in the UK generally regarded as being Coinbase.

Coinbase is by no means the only place to buy Bitcoin though, as there other highly reputable sources out there like eToro, for example. eToro is perfect for beginners that are looking into trading things like cryptocurrencies, mainly because they offer a virtual $100,00 fund for you to practise with.

Aside from these two the London based CoinBurp is another rapidly growing crypto exchange, especially in the UK. It is rated at No. 1 on Trustpilot, which means it is one you can definitely trust. Indeed, wherever you ultimately go in order to buy Bitcoin, the main thing to be sure of is that it is a platform you can trust.

A few additional cryptocurrencies to be aware of

As we have mentioned earlier in this article, Bitcoin is by no means the only cryptocurrency available in 2021, in fact there are thousands out there nowadays. If you win the Winzum £50 Bitcoin voucher giveaway you may well want to add a few more cryptos to your portfolio, so here are a few additional cryptocurrencies to be aware of:

Ethereum: Ethereum was launched in 2015 by Vitalik Buterin, running on its own open-source blockchain system that notably includes “smart contract” functionality. Its currency Ether is 2nd place to Bitcoin in the proverbial crypto leader board, however the really cool thing about Ethereum is its commitment to developing Web 3.0 framework for app developers.

Litecoin: Litecoin is very similar to Bitcoin, and was created in 2011 by former Google employee Charlie Lee. It promises faster transactions, lower fees and a more concentrated mining system.

Dogecoin: Dogecoin was founded back in 2013 by Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus in order to try and further the demographic of traditional crypto like Bitcoin. It uses the popular Shiba Inu dog meme, and has received support from celebrities such as Elon Musk and Snoop Dogg. As a result its value has skyrocketed over the last few months in particular.

What you could win with the Winzum £50 Bitcoin Voucher Giveaway

By now you must be able to appreciate the awesome power and complexity of cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin being the flag-bearer. It brings us back to our Winzum £50 Bitcoin voucher giveaway, something that probably sounds even more tantalizing now you know a bit more about it.

But what could you win with the Winzum £50 Bitcoin voucher giveaway? Well, the clue is quite literally in the title, and winning this will be your ticket into the wonderful world of crypto. Who knows? It could be the initial starting point of a wildly lucrative journey…

So, what are you waiting for? Head over to the competition entry link and get cracking!

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