Originally, Bitcoin was created as a currency. A currency that makes it possible to pay without a third party.
A third party is for example the bank. But Visa, Master Card or EC (Electronic cash) are also companies in this sense, which are responsible for administration.
With every transfer you make, these companies manage the actual transaction. And they do this electronically. If you transfer money to someone, they will be credited with the number of the corresponding amount in their current account. And you can do this digitally, visible in online banking.
Bitcoin does the same – but without a third party. You yourself are responsible for the safekeeping of the Bitcoins.
The technology is new and has enormous potential. It is far from having arrived in the rest of the world. Much too strange seems the idea that no banks are needed anymore. Even governments and countries are not always interested in it. At least not all of them.
But let’s take a look at our Swiss neighbors, for example. In the city of Zug, Bitcoin has been accepted as a means of payment since the summer of 2016.
But the exchange rate fluctuations that Bitcoins has experienced in recent years are far too great. That’s why many manage their Bitcoins as an investment.
Especially for many investors Bitcoin has proven itself as an alternative investment.