Bitcoin 101

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Don't trust. Verify! Public ledgers are Immutable. Which means it cannot be changed once it's created. This is a key component of a blockchain.  The Bitcoin public ledger is backed by the network's "Proof of Work" Mining. The phrase Proof of Work (POW) was created in the mid 1990's. It's simply a system that requires a certain amount of effort to obtain something and is easily verifiable by others.

Cryptocurrency never leaves it's blockchain. Meaning your coins are always available no matter where you are. Think of it like a web email (Gmail / Hotmail, etc.); you can log into your email from anywhere in the world on any device and still have access to your emails. This is because your emails are stored on a server that is maintained by a company. Gmail is maintained by Google (Alphabet), Hotmail or Outlook is maintained by Microsoft. Your cryptocurrency is stored on it's blockchain network that is maintained by a peer-to-peer (P2P) network of thousands of computers.

 Cryptocurrency does not care who you are or where you are. The purpose of the Blockchain is to remove control from a central or 3rd Party.  No one can stop you from sending and receiving money anywhere in the world.  Money without borders confirmed onchain via Block Explorers within minutes.  

 Every computer that has Bitcoin's open sourced software running is considered a Node. A Node is capable of creating, receiving, and transmitting information across the Bitcoin Network by competing to create or add the next block of information to the Blockchain. This process is what people refer to as "Mining." The winner receives the Block Reward and included transaction fees.

 At the time of this writing, Bitcoin's $BTC is divisible up to 8 decimal points. Just like 100 cents are equal to one US Dollar, there are 100,000,000 Satoshis to a single Bitcoin.

Rob Rhinehart, founder of Soylent envisioned a world where one could get food as easily as turning on your kitchen faucet. We aren't quite there yet with food, However using crypto faucet sites can earn you real money. Faucets provide crypto for free while making money from displaying ads to the users. As these sites are giving away free money, they have become extremely popular.