BITCOIN - pOki88

Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority or banks; managing transactions and the issuing of bitcoins is carried out collectively by the network. Bitcoin is open-source; its design is public, nobody owns or controls Bitcoin and everyone can take part. Through many of its unique properties, Bitcoin allows exciting uses that could not be covered by any previous payment system.

Specifications:
Release date: 2009 – First Cryptocurrency
Difficulty: halving every 2 years, last was : 2016-08-02 13:59:31
History:
Bitcoin was first mentioned in a research paper published on 31 October 2008 under the name Satoshi Nakamoto and released in January 2009.
One of the first supporters, adopters, contributor to bitcoin and receiver of the first bitcoin transaction was a cryptographer, cypherpunk, futurist and programmer. Finney “downloaded the bitcoin software the day it was released”, and Nakamoto sent Finney 10 bitcoins the day after that.
Other early supporters were Wei Dai, creator of bitcoin predecessor b-money, and Nick Szabo, creator of bitcoin predecessor bit gold.
In 2009, an exploit in an early bitcoin client was found that allowed large numbers of bitcoins to be created.
In March 2013, a technical glitch caused a fork in the block chain, with one half of the network adding blocks to one version of the chain and the other half adding to another. For six hours two bitcoin networks operated at the same time, each with its own version of the transaction history. The core developers called for a temporary halt to transactions, sparking a sharp sell-off. Normal operation was restored when the majority of the network downgraded to version 0.7 of the bitcoin software.
Some mainstream websites began accepting bitcoins ca. 2013. WordPress started in November 2012 followed by OKCupid in April 2013,Atomic Mall in November 2013, TigerDirect, Overstock.com in January 2014, Expedia in June 2014, Newegg and Dell> in July 2014. Certain non-profit or advocacy groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation allow bitcoin donations. (Although this organization stopped accepting bitcoins in 2011 and began again in 2013.)
The first law enforcement events occurred in May 2013, when assets belonging to the Mt. Gox exchange were seized by Department of Homeland Security. The Silk Road drug market website was shut down by the FBI in October 2013.
In October 2013, Chinese internet giant Baidu had allowed clients of website security services to pay with bitcoins. During November 2013, the China-based bitcoin exchange BTC China overtook the Japan-based Mt. Gox and the Europe-based Bitstamp to become the largest bitcoin trading exchange by trade volume. On 19 November 2013, the value of a bitcoin on the Mt. Gox exchange soared to a peak of US$900 after a United States Senate committee hearing was told that virtual currencies were a legitimate financial service. On the same day, one bitcoin traded for over RMB ¥6780 (US$1100) in China. On 5 December 2013, the People’s Bank of China prohibited Chinese financial institutions from using bitcoins. After the announcement, the value of bitcoins dropped and Baidu no longer accepted bitcoins for certain services. Buying real-world goods with any virtual currency had been illegal in China since at least 2009.
The first bitcoin ATM was installed in October 2013 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
With roughly 12 million existing bitcoins in November 2013, the new price increased the market cap for bitcoin to at least US$7.2 billion. By 23 November 2013, the total market capitalization of bitcoin exceeded US$10 billion for the first time.
In the US two men were arrested in January 2014 on charges of money-laundering using bitcoins including Charlie Shrem, the head of defunct bitcoin exchange BitInstant and a vice chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation. Shrem allegedly allowed the other arrested party to purchase large quantities of bitcoins for use on black-market websites.
In early February 2014, one of the largest bitcoin exchanges, Mt. Gox, suspended withdrawals citing technical issues. By the end of the month, Mt. Gox had filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan amid reports that 744,000 bitcoins had been stolen. Originally a site for trading Magic: The Gathering cards, Mt. Gox once was the dominant bitcoin exchange although prior to the collapse its popularity had waned due largely to users having difficulty withdrawing funds.
Source: wikipedia – the history of bitcoin