Bitcoin as Currency
Whenever we talk to people about bitcoin, one of the first things they mention is the current bitcoin price. At the time of writing this, 22nd January 2025, the price of 1 Bitcoin equals to 13,511,625.92 Kenyan Shilling.
Bitcoin had nearly no value until 2011 and only then started climbing the charts slowly. However, in 2013 bitcoin saw a peak price of well above Ksh.110,000 for 1 bitcoin which some attributed to market manipulation by a trading bot on the largest bitcoin exchange at that time.
The bitcoin price is determined by its users under the free market principle of supply and demand. And although the bitcoin supply is limited to 21 million “coins” in total — to be reached by year 2140 — no huge demand exists for this digital currency just yet. As bitcoin matures further over the next few years, that story might change.
Why 21 million? Nobody knows. Some believe it’s because it’s a mathematical equation that brings us to the amount of coins available until the year 2140 with rewards being halved every four years.
Keep in mind that bitcoin is a payment method that can be used online and in the real world as well. However, that does not make bitcoin a currency, because it lacks certain aspects of the “ground rules” that determine whether a payment method is a currency or not. But according to most experts around the world, bitcoin is to be considered a digital currency in its truest form.
As we try to wrap our hands around this new currency technology, who is to say whether or not that term is correct? What we can say is that bitcoin is a valid payment method for many goods and services, and that is what makes its digital aspect so much fun to explore.
By being a decentralized payment method (meaning no government or official entity controls it), bitcoin lets anyone in the world accept a digital currency payment from anyone else in the world. Bitcoin is the same digital currency across borders, no matter what the country’s physical currency, and can be converted into nearly any local currency on request. With no transaction fees to speak of, and being able to receive your payments the next business day, what’s not to like?
On top of that, mobile payments are on the rise, so bitcoin is an excellent alternative mobile payment method to take your customer base to the next level, at very little cost.
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