What is Bitcoin? A beginner’s guide to the world’s most popular type of cryptocurrency, and tips for investing in it

What is Bitcoin? A beginner’s guide to the world’s most popular type of cryptocurrency, and tips for investing in it

Bitcoin keeps trading at increasingly high prices since it debuted in 2009, attracting more and more interest from investors.







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Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, a type of digital, private money that operates without the involvement of a bank or government.

Bitcoin trades on online exchanges, and since its price has mushroomed since its 2009 debut, it's increasingly attracting investors' interest.

As an investment asset, bitcoin offers capital appreciation and an inflation hedge, but its volatile price swings make it a high-risk, long-term investment.

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Scarcely a news cycle goes by without some mention of Bitcoin. But even by its own standards, the cryptocurrency was having an intense moment in the fall of 2020. First, its prices on trading exchanges tumbled around Thanksgiving “” only to roar back and set an all-time high of $19,857 on November 30: a 177% year-to-date increase that put the S&P 500's 14% rise to shame. 

But while it has certainly attracted plenty of attention, not just of late but throughout its 11-year-old life, Bitcoin still remains a mystery to casual and