Q: What is Bitcoin?
A: Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer, network-based digital currency.
There is no central authority to issue new money or keep
track of transactions. These tasks are managed collectively by the
nodes of the network. To learn more, visit bitcoin.org (official site)
or watch a short video on weusecoins.com.
Q: What is the Bitcoin Monitor?
A: The Bitcoin Monitor visualizes the events on the Bitcoin network
as they are happening: Transactions move Bitcoins around between
different addresses and blocks create a small amount of new Bitcoins
and in the process confirm previous transactions.
Q: Is this an accurate history of the Bitcoin network?
A: Not necessarily. The Bitcoin Monitor plots new transactions as soon as
they spread through the network. If they should later become invalid -
maybe through an attempted double-spend - and rejected from the nodes
of the network, this 'rewriting' of history will currently not be
accounted for on the chart. In practice, almost all transactions are
valid though.
Q: Why do transactions often consist of multiple components?
A: Transactions move Bitcoins from a number of source addresses to a number
of destination addresses. Usually one of the destination addresses belongs
to the person performing the transaction, so the Bitcoins transferred there
are often referred to as 'change'. This mechanism helps to increase the
anonymity of transactions and as such there is no straightforward way to
detect which component is the 'change'. The Bitcoin Monitor therefore simply
plots the total amount and lists all components.