First mentioned in 2008 by a developer using the pseudo-anonymous identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin, the open source peer-to-peer digital currency was first launched in 2009, and has reached by December 2013 over 172,000 peers. Bitcoin was launched as an open-source de-centralized platform of virtual currency, whereby all transactions are recorded on blockchain by its operators – the miners. For more information, visit: http://99bitcoins.com/history-bitcoin-litecoin/