I'm far from being an expert on it, but as far as I know it's a completely virtual currency based on nothing and guaranteed by nothing or nobody other than the fact that lots of people use it and believe in it. And as mentioned it seems to be primarily used for dodgy dealings such as paying ransom ware or for buying things from the dark web. I think (a bit like the dark web) it is hard for the authorities to trace origins or final destinations of coin transfers.
As for mining it I believe you can let your computer solve code problems or something like that and if you're lucky you'll be awarded some coins. I believe that there is a finite amount of coins written into the original code so their value can remain stable rather than being diluted by constant mining.
I think there are sort of online banks where you can store your coins and pay for stuff using your account number etc. I know that if you bought some of it when it was first invented you'd be very rich now. I've got no idea how or if you can change it into real money mind.
But this is all what I can remember from watching some programme a few years ago and could all be utter drivel.
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