For some time, Mr. Durov and a few dozen staffers had no fixed headquarters, but rather traveled the world, setting up shop in one city after another, he told the Journal in 2016. The company now has its operational base in Dubai, though it says it doesnโt keep servers there.Mr. Durov maintains a yearslong friendship from his VK days with actor and tech investor Jared Leto, with whom he shares an ascetic lifestyle that eschews meat and alcohol.
What Is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that you can buy, sell and exchange directly, without an intermediary like a bank. Bitcoinโs creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, originally described the need for โan electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust.โ Each and every Bitcoin transaction thatโs ever been made exists on a public ledger accessible to everyone, making transactions hard to reverse and difficult to fake. Thatโs by design: Core to their decentralized nature, Bitcoins arenโt backed by the government or any issuing institution, and thereโs nothing to guarantee their value besides the proof baked in the heart of the system. โThe reason why itโs worth money is simply because we, as people, decided it has valueโsame as gold,โ says Anton Mozgovoy, co-founder & CEO of digital financial service company Holyheld.
