What Can Bitcoins Be Used For?
After their original launch in 2009 by award winning programmer Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoins quickly spread across the globe as a method of transaction. Although they possess no real-time value, this form of digital currency is widely accepted as a type of payment – and it has been used to pay for services, goods and products in equal measure.
But how can any digital currency without a value be used to purchase things, or be used as payment when hiring an online service such as website design? Well, it all comes down to the way in which online companies are able to do business. The system itself relies on peer to peer transacting, where one party accepts Bitcoin payments and the other has the sum available.
In simple terms, the transaction takes place in much the same way as actual cash currency, albeit without a value; with the value instead being defined by what a person deems a particular product or service to be worth. This means that a designer could charge a set amount for a certain job, but just a week later change this amount depending on what their client is willing to pay for it.
So, what can these coins be used for?
In short, the answer would be almost anything. If a person is willing to accept payment in this manner, then there’s really no reason why they wouldn’t offer their services in exchange for a digital coin payment. This payment can then be stored within their online account and then transferred to anyone else with an account around the globe.
This makes it easy to purchase other services, hire professionals, buy goods – or simply sell the coins for an actual cash value to someone that is interested in buying them. The purpose of their initial development wasn’t to replace currency in the slightest. Instead, the digital currency was instead intended as an alternate form of payment – and one that couldn’t be assigned a value by governments and authorities.
Instead, the value of a single Bitcoin is what a person is willing to pay for it. If a designer is happy to provide a website design for $500 typically, they may then be willing to do the same for 350 Bitcoins for example. Those coins can then be sold, stored, transferred, or used to buy anything else from a seller that accepts the form of payment.
As long as the demand for these coins exists, they will always be ‘valuable’. It’s not unheard of for collectors to make their fortune by investing in digital coin markets and then selling their account holdings on to the highest buyers. If there’s one thing that can’t be denied, it’s that the potential of the Bitcoin franchise is on the increase, and more and more businesses everywhere are opening their gates to accept this form of payment and broaden their transactional reach.