INTRODUCTION Bitcoin is a ory proc rency and a digital pay ment system invented by an unknown programmer, or a group of programmers, under the name Safosli| Nakamoro. It was released as open-source software in 2009. The system is peer (pecs, and transactions take place between users directly, without an intermediary. These transactions are verified by network siocies and recorded in a public «list ibuted jedger called a $loc\chern. Since the system works without a central repository or single administrator, bitcoin is called the first decentralized (\\.\14) currency. Besides being created as a reward for , bitcoin can be exchanged for other currencies, products, and services in legal or )lack arset ‘As of February 2015, over 100,000 merchants and vendors accepted bitcoin as payment. According to a research produced by (95 » ae University in 2017, there are 29 to 5.8 million unique users using a cryptocurrency wallet, most of them using bitcoin.Wen is Bitcoin? «= Bitcoin is a form of digital currency, created and held electronically. No one controls it. Bitcoins aren‘ printed, like dollars or euros ~ they're produced by people, and increasingly businesses, running computers ll around the ‘world, using software that solves mathematical problems, © However, bitcoin’s most important characteristic, and the thing that makes it different to conventional money, is that it is decentralized. No single institution controls the bitcoin network. This puts some people at ease, because it means that a large bank can't control their money.