BEGINNER PATH / 01

WHAT IS BITCOIN?

Bitcoin is a digital monetary system that lets people transfer value over a peer-to-peer network without requiring a bank to maintain the central account book.

Bitcoin can mean the network and protocol. A bitcoin can also mean a unit used to measure value on that network. BTC is the common abbreviation.

PLAIN ENGLISH / 02

WHAT ACTUALLY EXISTS?

Bitcoin is best understood as a network of computers agreeing on a shared transaction history and enforcing the same rules.

NETWORK

COMPUTERS COMMUNICATE

Bitcoin software runs on computers around the world. Those computers exchange transactions and blocks and independently check whether the rules have been followed.

RECORD

A SHARED HISTORY

Confirmed transactions are recorded in the blockchain. Wallets use that history to determine which bitcoin can currently be spent.

WHAT IS A BLOCKCHAIN? →

UNIT

BTC & SATOSHIS

One bitcoin is divisible into 100,000,000 satoshis. You do not need to buy or own a whole bitcoin.

LEARN SATOSHIS →

WHY IT IS DIFFERENT / 03

NO SINGLE COMPANY RUNS THE LEDGER.

In ordinary banking, a bank controls its own account database. Bitcoin instead uses a public network where participants can independently verify the same transaction rules and history.

Important: “digital” does not mean “imaginary.” Your online bank balance is also represented digitally. The major difference is who operates the system and how ownership and transfers are verified.