Culture Kings have been named as the first major Australian online retailer to accept Bitcoin! You may have heard about Bitcoin as this futuristic cryptocurrency trend, but it's about time you actually learn the ins and outs of what is about to come the new way of shopping online at Culture Kings.

What Is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency. It was invented in 2008 by a secret internet user known as Satoshi Nakamoto and went live in 2009. Its decentralized technology allows for secure payments and money storing and doesn't utilize banks or personal details. so basically, no one controls and it's not printed like traditional currencies; it's completely electronic and is the first example of cryptocurrency.

Key Characteristics:

Decentralized - The Bitcoin network isn't controlled by any one central authority. This is what most people love about Bitcoin because they hate banks and authority, but it's also what some people find unsettling. Every Bitcoin transaction is recorded with the data making up what is called a Block and forming a Blockchain, similar to a ledger. This, combined with the fact that only 21 million Bitcoins can ever be created, forms a sort of self-regulated system.

Anonymous - Bitcoin users can hold multiple Bitcoin addresses (a single-use token) that aren't linked to your personal information like names, phone numbers and addresses etc.

Easy Set Up - Bitcoin is also super easy to set up. Unlike commercial banks, you don't have to go through a lot of paperwork and give all your history away, you simply set up a Bitcoin wallet and address with no fees.

Transparent - As previously mentioned, Bitcoin stores all transaction info in the Blockchain. Because of this, anyone can tell how many bitcoins are stored at a specific Bitcoin address and where the Bitcoin has been, they just don't know it's yours.

No Transaction Fees - There are also no transaction fees with Bitcoin. So you can use it in any country and it transfers to that currency with no extra fees.

Fast - You can send money anywhere in the world and it will arrive within minutes. There's no 3 to 5 working day waits for transfers.

How Does It Work?

The first thing you have to do as a Bitcoin user is create a Bitcoin wallet on your computer or mobile phone. This will create your first Bitcoin address. Using this address you can have people send you money and vice versa. Each Bitcoin wallet has a private key which is basically used to sign off on transactions.

The entire Bitcoin network relies on the Blockchain which is a shared public ledger. This is how Bitcoin wallets calculate their spendable balance and new transactions can be verified.

Unlike traditional monetary systems, Bitcoin doesn't simply get printed if we need more, it must be found through a process called mining. As a Bitcoin miner, it is your job to confirm and record all Bitcoin transactions. When a block of transactions is created, miners take the information in the block and apply a mathematical formula to it to create a hash which is a shorter sequence of numbers and letters stored at the end of the Blockchain to verify it.

Every time a miner creates a hash, they get a reward of 12.5 Bitcoins. This is the incentive to keep mining and keep the transactions working and legitimate. But it's not that easy. The Bitcoin network has made it a little more difficult, otherwise everyone would be doing it, by having a protocol called 'proof of work'.

A miner can't just produce any old hash from the Blockchain data, it has to be a certain kind of hash created by changing the data they're using. They do this by using another piece of data called a 'nonce'. This, used with the transaction data of the Bitcoin, is how miners create a hash. It can take many attempts to correctly complete this process but once successfully done, the miner is granted 12.5 Bitcoins and that is how they have essentially found it through mining.

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There's obviously many benefits to using Bitcoin and it's clearly not just the fad you may have once thought it was.

So start using Bitcoin now and make your purchase at Culture Kings by selecting BitPay at the checkout.