Bitcoin is a virtual currency that was created by Satoshi Nakamoto. At the moment Bitcoin holds about 68% of the total crypto markets value. It is the biggest coin at the moment, this is because it was the first of all crypto coins. Bitcoin was designed as a p2p (Peer to Peer) transaction system that could be used by anyone anywhere.
With the growing amount of online transactions and the growing distrust against banks after the financial crisis from 2008 the demand for a new digital transaction method increased a lot. This payment method should exist next to the existing financial system. Bitcoin is the answer for safe and transparent transactions
Bitcoin is the most known cryptocurrency to date. Almost all other cryptocurrencies are based on the same technology as Bitcoin. The way it works is mostly the same. Some of the most popular alt coins are: Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin and Monero.
Bitcoin was first designed to be used as a payment method. There are a lot of companies that accept bitcoin as a valid payment option. But it's not yet a global option to pay.
You can also mine for cryptocurrency with miners. These miners handle transactions on the network, for each correctly calculated transaction the miner gets a small portion of a coin he or she is mining for.
To trade cryptocurrency the person holding the coins can login to an exchange and set an exchange rate for his or her coins. If this is done correctly the trader will make a profit because the coins that are being received will either skyrocket in price or the traded coins will drop dramatically in price. There are also bots that are specially designed for this job, these bots analyze the current market pattern and trade according to that pattern. All this while you won't have to do a thing
A third way to get Bitcoin is to buy them. This is usually done via an exchange. If you are looking to buy Bitcoin you should do some research as to when its most profitable to buy. This can vary a lot since the price of most crypto isn't stable