The US has the highest number of Bitcoin ATM installations across the globe. One can perform crypto transactions with a Bitcoin ATM. Thanks to the extensive network of crypto ATM kiosks, you can conveniently approach the ATM and convert your cash into Bitcoin or other Cryptocurrencies. You can quickly locate a Bitcoin ATM in Mesa, Arizona, through a smartphone search.

1. What Is Bitcoin, How Is It Different Than
"Real" Money and How Can I Get Some?
Bitcoinisa virtual currency.It doesn'texistinthe kindof physical formthatthe currency& coinwe're
usedto existin.Itdoesn'tevenexistinaform as physical asMonopolymoney.It'selectrons - not
molecules.
But considerhowmuchcash youpersonallyhandle.Yougeta paycheckthat youtake to the bank - or
it's autodepositedwithoutyou evenseeingthe paperthatit'snot printedon.Youthenuse a debitcard
(or a checkbook,if you're oldschool) toaccessthose funds.Atbest,yousee 10% of itin a cash formin
your pocketor inyourpocketbook.So,itturnsout that 90% of the fundsthat youmanage are virtual -
electronsinaspreadsheetordatabase.
But wait- those are U.S. funds(or those of whatevercountryyouhail from),safe inthe bankand
guaranteedbythe full faithof the FDICup to about $250K per account,right?Well,not exactly.Your
financial institutionmayonlyrequiredtokeep10% of itsdepositsondeposit.Insome cases,it'sless.It
lendsthe restof your moneyoutto otherpeople forupto 30 years.It chargesthemfor the loan,and
chargesyou forthe privilege of lettingthemlenditout.
How does moneyget created?
Your bankgets to create moneybylendingitout.
Say youdeposit$1,000 withyourbank. Theythenlendout$900 of it. Suddenlyyouhave $1000 and
someone else has$900. Magically,there's$1900 floatingaroundwhere before there wasonlyagrand.
Nowsay yourbank insteadlends900 of your dollarstoanotherbank.That bank inturn lends$810 to
anotherbank,whichthenlends$720 to a customer.Poof!$3,430 in an instant - almost$2500 created
out of nothing- as long as the bankfollowsyourgovernment'scentral bankrules.
Creationof Bitcoinisas differentfrombankfunds'creationascash is fromelectrons.Itisnotcontrolled
by a government'scentral bank,butratherbyconsensusof itsusersand nodes.Itisnot createdby a
limitedmintinabuilding,butratherbydistributedopensource softwareandcomputing.Andit
requiresaformof actual work forcreation.More on that shortly.
WhoinventedBitCoin?
The firstBitCoinswere ina blockof 50 (the "GenesisBlock") createdbySatoshi NakomotoinJanuary
2009. It didn'treallyhave anyvalue atfirst.It wasjusta cryptographer'splaythingbasedonapaper
publishedtwomonthsearlierbyNakomoto.Nakotmotoisanapparentlyfictional name - noone seems
to knowwhohe or she or theyis/are.
Whokeepstrack of it all?

2. Once the GenesisBlockwascreated,BitCoinshave since beengeneratedbydoingthe workof keeping
track of all transactionsforall BitCoinsasa kindof publicledger.The nodes/computersdoingthe
calculationsonthe ledgerare rewardedfordoingso.Foreach setof successful calculations,the node is
rewardedwithacertainamountof BitCoin("BTC"),whichare thennewlygeneratedintothe BitCoin
ecosystem.Hence the term,"BitCoinMiner" - because the processcreatesnew BTC.Asthe supplyof
BTC increases,andas the numberof transactionsincreases Bitcoin,the worknecessarytoupdate the
publicledgergetsharderandmore complex.Asaresult,the numberof new BTC intothe systemis
designedtobe about50 BTC (one block) every10 minutes,worldwide.
Eventhoughthe computingpowerforminingBitCoin(andforupdatingthe publicledger) iscurrently
increasingexponentially,soisthe complexityof the mathproblem(which,incidentally,alsorequiresa
certainamountof guessing),or"proof"neededtomine BitCoinandtosettle the transactional booksat
any givenmoment.Sothe systemstill onlygeneratesone 50BTC blockevery10 minutes,or2106 blocks
every2 weeks.
So,in a sense,everyone keepstrackof it - that is,all the nodesinthe networkkeeptrackof the history
of everysingle BitCoin.
How much isthere and where is it?
There isa maximumnumberof BitCointhatcaneverbe generated,andthatnumberis21 million.
Accordingto the KhanAcademy,the numberisexpectedtotopoutaroundthe year2140.
As of,thismorningthere were 12.1 millionBTCincirculation
Your ownBitCoinare keptin a file (yourBitCoinwallet) inyourownstorage - your computer.The file
itself isproof of the numberof BTC you have,andit can move withyouon a mobile device.
If that file withthe cryptographickeyinyourwalletgetslost,sodoesyoursupplyof BitCoinfunds.And
youcan't getit back.
How much isit worth?
The value variesbasedonhowmuch people thinkit'sworth - justlike inthe exchange of "real money."
But because there isnocentral authoritytryingtokeepthe value arounda certainlevel,itcanvary
more dynamically.The firstBTCwere basicallyworthnothingatthe time,butthose BTC still exist.Asof
11AM on December11, 2013, the publicvalue was$906.00 US per BitCoin.WhenIfinishedwritingthis
sentence,itwas$900.00. Aroundthe beginningof 2013, the value wasaround$20.00 US. On November
27, 2013 it wasvaluedatmore than$1,000.00 US perBTC. So it'skindof volatile atthe moment,butit's
expectedtosettle down.
The total value of all BitCoin - as of the periodatthe endof thissentence - isaround11 billionUS
dollars.

3. How can I get me some?
First,youhave to have a BitCoinwallet.Thisarticle haslinkstogetone.
Thenone way isto buy some fromanotherprivate party,like these guysonBloombergTV.One wayis
to buysome on an exchange,like Mt.Gox.
Andfinally,one wayistodedicate alot of computerpowerandelectricitytothe processandbecome a
BitCoinminer.That'swell outsidethe scope of thisarticle.Butif youhave a few thousandextradollars
lyingaround,youcan getquite a rig.
How can I spendit?
There are hundredsof merchantsof all sizesthattake BitCoininpayment,fromcafestoauto
dealerships.There'sevenaBitCoin ATMin Vancouver,BritishColumbiaforconvertingyourBTCto cash
inVancouver,BC.
And so?
Moneyhas had a longhistory - millenniainlength.SomewhatrecentlegendtellsusthatManhattan
Islandwasboughtfor wampum - seashells&the like.Inthe earlyyearsof the UnitedStates,different
banksprintedtheirowncurrency.Ona recentvisitto SaltSpringIslandinBritishColumbia,Ispent
currencythat was onlygoodon the lovelyisland.The commontheme amongstthese wasatrust
agreementamongstitsusersthatthat particularcurrencyheldvalue.Sometimesthatvalue wastied
directlytosomethingsolidandphysical,like gold.In1900 the U.S. tieditscurrencydirectlytogold(the
"GoldStandard") and in1971, endedthattie.
Nowcurrencyis tradedlike anyothercommodity,althoughaparticularcountry'scurrencyvalue canbe
proppedupor diminishedthroughactionsof theircentral bank.BitCoinisanalternate currencythatis
alsotradedand itsvalue,like thatof othercommodities,isdeterminedthroughtrade,butisnotheldup
or diminishedbythe actionof any bank,butrather directlybythe actionsof its users.Itssupplyis
limitedandknownhowever,and(unlikephysicalcurrency) soisthe historyof everysingle BitCoin.Its
perceivedvalue,like all othercurrency,isbasedonitsutilityandtrust.