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Bitcoin (BTC) is undoubtedly the best-known cryptocurrency in the world. It was the first digital coin to ever be created, and to this day, it remains the largest and most popular digital currency around the globe.
Even so, it gained most of its popularity in 2017, when the crypto trend truly went big, and people suddenly became aware of digital money. Even so, there are still a lot of people, especially new traders and investors, that do not fully understand what Bitcoin is, what makes it important, and whether or not they should invest in it.
While the question of investment is something that each investor needs to determine for themselves, we can help them make a choice by presenting Bitcoin's pros and cons. These are not reasons why you should or should not invest in BTC. These are simply positive and negative facts tied to the world's number one cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin Pros
Bitcoin pros are many, and the entire trend of cryptocurrencies managed to get so big because this single coin brought so many positive changes to the financial world. To be fair, it has its flaws, which will be discussed later on. For now, however, let's concentrate on its advantages and positives.
1. Decentralization
Decentralization as a concept existed in the minds of people for a long time. However, it was Bitcoin that first introduced practical methods of achieving this concept. While many believe that there are centralized factors behind the coin (such as mining pools), it is still far more decentralized than any fiat currency. It has no single central authority that would control it or its blockchain, and all decision-making and work are done by the community.
2. Low fees
Another big reason why Bitcoin became so popular is low transaction fees. Making transactions via BTC is much cheaper than making payments via cards or even online services like PayPal. This makes it more convenient and practical, and it allows users to save up a lot more money.
3. International Payments are Instant
Making cross-border payments via traditional systems is a long and cumbersome process. Not only do you need to use middlemen such as banks, but they usually don't trust each other, which is why each transaction needs to be validated before it is completed. The process can take a lot of time, and so money often needs days to reach the recipient. In addition, doing so is expensive, which is especially hard on those who are working overseas in order to provide for their families in developing countries.
Bitcoin can easily solve such problems. We have already talked about the fact that the fees are quite low. However, since it is a P2P cryptocurrency that doesn't need any middleman, all transactions are nearly instant. All it takes is for it to be processed, which is done in groups of transactions called blocks.
4. Bitcoin is Popular
As mentioned earlier, Bitcoin has been popular ever since it was created, but it became well-known around the world in 2017. Despite the fact that most people still have no idea what Bitcoin is or how it works, they still heard its name. Thanks to its popularity, BTC has a strong presence in every crypto exchange out there, and it is one of rare few coins that can be bought or sold for fiat currencies such as the USD.
5. There is a Limited Supply of It
Unlike many other altcoins, there are no billions of BTC coins out there, and its total supply is only 21 million units. That means that there will always be only 21 BTC, ever. This will ensure that its price will be extremely high, as more people enter the crypto market and demand for the coins increases.
Bitcoin cons
Now that we know some of the biggest advantages of using BTC, it is time to also mention some of its flaws. It is by no means a perfect coin, and it has more than a fair share of its own issues, such as:
1. Scalability
Bitcoin has had scalability issues ever since it was created. Since its block size is only 1MB, this means that there is only a small number of transactions that can be processed at once. At first, there were not a lot of people making these transactions, so it was not an issue. However, in time, Bitcoin became popular, and there are now much more transactions than what its system can handle at once.
This causes long waiting periods before transactions are approved, which in turn increases the fees. Developers have been trying to resolve this issue for years now, and many believe that one solution — the Lightning Network — may be the one that will fix the problem, at least to an extent.
2. Privacy Issues
Another downside of BTC is the fact that it stores users' public keys on the public domain. As such, there is a possibility that a skilled hacker might uncover the origin of any transaction, and perhaps even intercept them.
3. A Possibility of Being Replaced
As mentioned, Bitcoin has a number of issues, and they have been around for an entire decade now. As a result, numerous altcoins emerged, attempting to solve these problems and provide better solutions. This is how all of Bitcoin's hard forks came to be, as well as other altcoins later down the line.
This is also why many believe that one of them may end up replacing BTC someday. Others, however, believe that Bitcoin will remain the leading coin, despite its flaws. It is the one that gave life to the crypto space, and it can never be replaced, no matter how advanced future coins may be. Whether this is true or not remains to be seen, but for now, Bitcoin has successfully kept its position for ten long years, and there are no signs that this will change anytime soon.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.