6 facts about the MMM new form of payment, bitcoin

MMM is an acronym that needs no introduction, the Ponzi scheme has gained so much traction in Nigeria, that many people would heavily criticize anyone who dared to speak against the scheme.

This was until December 2016, when the scheme froze money expected by members, freezing many dreams of a well spent festive period. The MMM organizers promised to unfreeze the monies on January 14, 2017.

Many are awaiting with bated for that date. However, while many wait, the scheme has added a new option of payment and it is in bitcoin.

What is bitcoin? How does it work? Below are some facts we would like to share with you:

1. When was bitcoin invented?

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency and a payment system invented by a yet to be identified programmer, or group of programmers, under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto.

Bitcoin was introduced on 31 October 2008 to a cryptography mailing list, and released as open-source software in 2009.

2. What is bitcoin?

Bitcoin while it is called crytptocurrency can also be referred to as digital currency. Bitcoins can be exchanged for other currencies, products, and services. In layman's terms, bitcoins are money, a type of currency, which is slowly being accepted worldwide.

3. How can you get bitcoins?

Apart from buying and exchanging it for other currencies, you can also get bitcoins, by mining for them.

When bitcoins are created as a reward in a competition some users offer their computing power to verify and record bitcoin transactions into the blockchain. This activity is referred to as bitcoin mining and successful miners are rewarded with transaction fees and newly created bitcoins.

4. What is the worth of bitcoins currently?

Currently, a bitcoin is worth 285,367.95 Nigerian Naira, not a small amount by any means. The unit of account of the bitcoin system is bitcoin.

As of 2014, small amounts of bitcoin used as alternative units are millibitcoin (mBTC), microbitcoin (µBTC, sometimes referred to as a bit), and satoshi.

Named in homage to bitcoin's creator, a satoshi is the smallest amount within bitcoin representing 0.00000001 bitcoin, one hundred millionth of a bitcoin. A millibitcoin equals to 0.001 bitcoin, one thousandth of bitcoin. One microbitcoin equals to 0.000001 bitcoin, one millionth of a bitcoin.

5. Where is it accepted?

In February 2015, the number of merchants accepting bitcoin for products and services passed 100,000. So far, Amazon, JC Penney, Ebay, Target, CVS, WordPress.com, Subway, Victoria Secret, PayPal, Expedia, Home Depot, Kmart, Sears, the Apple App Store, Grooveshark, Dell and Zappos all accept it as a form of payment.

6. What are the dangers?

However, it is not a stable form of currency and is still not accepted in most countries. Also bitcoins are untraceable, so if you lose it you lost it for good.

According to expert, Ivan Razl, there is no mechanism to recover stolen or lost Bitcoins. If somebody hacks into your wallet where you store your Bitcoins you lost them for good. The best way to store your Bitcoins is on disk that is disconnected from the internet.

Also, it is not useful in many places, so you are more likely to buy or mine it now as an investment.

Watch a video explaining bitcoin below: