What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a revolutionary new kind of money and a currency without borders. It is the world's first and premier crypto-currency.

We believe Bitcoin will revolutionize not only the world of internet payments but — perhaps more importantly — money as we know it. Because of Bitcoin's decentralized and open nature, it has the potential to provide a level financial playing-field for all.

We recommend this short and entertaining introduction video.

Why should I care about Bitcoin?

Although Bitcoin should still be considered an experiment, it can be said that it has the potential to be a better form of money than the currencies most of us use today.

What makes Bitcoin better than other forms of money?

Bitcoin combines the best qualities of hard money, such as gold and silver, and modern banking that most people in the ‘developed’ world have become accustomed to.

Bitcoin Versus Gold

Like gold, Bitcoin has a very limited supply — there are only about 18-million bitcoins in existence today, and the total supply is capped at 21-million. This means the value of each bitcoin will tend to increase in time.

However, unlike gold, Bitcoin is vastly cheaper and faster to send — you could send thousands of bitcoins (worth millions of dollars) from New York to London (or Bombay to Buenos Aires) in seconds and for almost no cost.

Bitcoin Versus National Currencies (Fiat Currency)

Like national currencies (such as pesos or dollars), bitcoins can be easily stored and transferred electronically. However, unlike national currencies, bitcoins tend to increase in value, in time, rather than steadily and assuredly decrease in value every year, as national currencies tend to.

(It's true that the value of a bitcoin can fluctuate wildly and decrease in the short run. It is our view, however, that this is a temporary phenomenon — a “growing pain” of sorts; if Bitcoin sees widespread adoption, comparable to a large national currency, we could expect its value to be similarly stable.)

Who uses/accepts Bitcoin?

There are literally thousands of businesses and individuals that already accept Bitcoin as a payment method today — and that number grows daily! Spendabit's primary focus is to make that fact obvious; we want not only to make Bitcoin more useful for those that use it regularly, but also to show the Bitcoin-curious that this new form of money can already be used to buy just about anything!

See our ‘What can I buy with Bitcoin?’ page for more.

Where can I get my own bitcoins?

Perhaps in the future you'll receive your salary in bitcoin — some people already do — but for now the easiest way to get your own coins is to simply buy some.

There are many platforms for acquiring bitcoins. You can find a number of options on our Buy Bitcoin page.

Once you've decided to acquire bitcoins, you'll want to consider getting yourself a Bitcoin wallet for storage purposes.

You've just gotta try it.

It's hard to appreciate the advantages Bitcoin offers without using it. One could read for months on end — from the technical details to the economics to the wildly varied opinions — but we believe you just have to dive in to really appreciate how empowering this new payment mechanism and form of money really is.

Try making a small purchase and send a little bitcoin to an overseas friend. Once you get over the (modest) learning curve, you won't believe how easy it is. Once you've invested a little time you'll find sending bitcoins as easy as sending email.

As has been said elsewhere, it's easier to ship an anvil from Cairo to Buenos Aires than to send few-hundred dollars across a state line. Bitcoin changes that!