Bitcoin uses energy to ensure that every copy of the record of who owns which bitcoin is identical. Making actual copies of that record, known as a blockchain, uses hardly any energy at all. What does take energy is ensuring that no one can erase any previous entries and that only one new set of entries can be added every ten minutes on average.
If you own bitcoins, someone had to send them to you. That transaction was recorded in the blockchain, which is the record of where bitcoins are located. If someone could go back and erase that record then you wouldn't own that bitcoin anymore. This explains why the first bitcoins could have a value under one dollar because the history was short. Now a bitcoin can have a decade or more of transaction history in its blockchain.
5. Many Countries Have Banned BitcoinWe Should Join Them
According to the Library of Congress, an "absolute ban" on trading or using cryptocurrencies applies in nine countries: Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates. An "implicit ban" applies in another 15 countries, which include Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Kuwait, Lesotho, Lithuania, Macau, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan.
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