n the U.S. people generally use Bitcoin as an alternative investment, helping diversify a portfolio apart from stocks and bonds. You can also use Bitcoin to make purchases, but the number of vendors that accept the cryptocurrency is still limited. Big companies that accept Bitcoin include Overstock, AT&T and Twitch. You may also find that some small local retailers or certain websites take Bitcoin, but youβll have to do some digging. That said, PayPal has announced that it will enable cryptocurrency as a funding source for purchases this year, financing purchases by automatically converting crypto holdings to fiat currency for users. βThey have 346 million users and theyβre connected to 26 million merchants,β says Spencer Montgomery, founder of Uinta Crypto Consulting. βItβs huge.β
How Does Bitcoin Mining Work?
Bitcoin mining is the process of adding new transactions to the Bitcoin blockchain. Itβs a tough job. People who choose to mine Bitcoin use a process called proof of work, deploying computers in a race to solve mathematical puzzles that verify transactions.To entice miners to keep racing to solve the puzzles and support the overall system, the Bitcoin code rewards miners with new Bitcoins. βThis is how new coins are createdβ and new transactions are added to the blockchain, says Okoro.
