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What Is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that you can buy, sell and exchange directly, without an intermediary like a bank. Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, originally described the need for “an electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust.” Each and every Bitcoin transaction that’s ever been made exists on a public ledger accessible to everyone, making transactions hard to reverse and difficult to fake. That’s by design: Core to their decentralized nature, Bitcoins aren’t backed by the government or any issuing institution, and there’s nothing to guarantee their value besides the proof baked in the heart of the system. “The reason why it’s worth money is simply because we, as people, decided it has value—same as gold,” says Anton Mozgovoy, co-founder & CEO of digital financial service company Holyheld.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky following recent volatility, with crude oil prices providing support in what has been an otherwise tough month. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.The TSE finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and property stocks.For the day, the index sank 15.09 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 3,061.35 after trading between 3,057.84 and 3,089.78. Volume was 1.39 billion shares worth 1.30 billion Singapore dollars. There were 285 decliners and 184 gainers.