Back in November 2013, I wrote an article on Consett Magazine about the price of bitcoin reaching £200. Today that same bitcoin has a price of £975 – a tidy investment in less than four years. It’s a 387.5% increase in value.

So, what is bitcoin? and how do you invest in bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a digital currency, created (or mined) and held electronically. No one controls it. Bitcoins aren’t printed, like dollars or euros – they’re produced by people, and increasingly businesses, running computers all around the world, using software that solves mathematical problems.

No one controls the bitcoin digital currency. Bitcoins aren’t printed by central banks like pounds or euros – they’re mined by people, who run computers all around the world, using software that solves difficult mathematical problems.

Here’s a short video on what’s been happening in the Bitcoin world over the past few years.

Bitcoin is the first example of a growing category of money known as a cryptocurrency.

So what has changed in the world of cryptocurrencies since 2013?

There are now hundreds of other cryptocurrencies, all with their own unique take on the blockchain technology. List of all cryptocurrencies and their value.

One of the most exciting alternatives to Bitcoin is Ether or Ethereum.

So, What is Ethereum?

At it most basic level, Ethereum is is a platform based on the blockchain allowing it’s users and developers to build decentralised applications or DAPPS.

Bitcoin has a sole purpose of offering a digital currency and tracking payments between it’s users. Ethereum, on the other hand, is about running the programming code of a decentralised application.

In the Ethereum blockchain, instead of simply mining for bitcoin, miners earn ether, a type of crypto token that rewards the network. Ether is a tradable cryptocurrency but it is also used by developers to pay for transactions and services on the Ethereum network.

If you are interested in learning more about Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the Blockchain; be prepared to spend some time watching videos on YouTube and reading about how the technology behind the blockchain works.