Bitcoin means different things to different people. For some, it’s the future. For others, it is a speculative bubble about to burst any day now. And for most, Bitcoin is still a mysterious platform for internet money.
Fully understanding Bitcoin and the changes it is bringing to our world can be a lifetime pursuit. But it helps to start with a few basics. To get a sense of what Bitcoin really is, let’s take a look at the fundamentals of its history, technical underpinnings, status as a financial asset and more.
How Does Bitcoin Work?
Bitcoin is a form of electronic cash. Where most digital forms of money rely on a central party to make it work, like a bank or a payment processor, Bitcoin is maintained by a network of users. As an open network, anyone can become a user by simply downloading a piece of open-source software on their computer and connecting to the Bitcoin network through the internet.
Users on the network can send each other transactions. Once such a transaction is made, all computers on the network check the transaction to make sure the transaction is valid — for example, verifying that the coins in the transaction really exist and really belonged to the person sending the transaction. Because everyone checks everything, no one can be cheated.
New coins come into circulation through a process called “mining,” which is done by a subset of users called “miners.” Anyone can become a miner; however, mining does require computation resources and, therefore, electricity. About once every 10 minutes, in what is best understood as a lottery, one lucky miner is rewarded with new bitcoin. At first, these were 50 coins every 10 minutes, but this number drops every four years, until around the year 2140, when the reward drops to zero. At that point, there will be 21 million coins in circulation, and there will never be more.
In what is one of Bitcoin’s more elegant design features, miners actually provide a service to the network while investing computational resources into mining: they confirm the transactions that users send each other. Miners combine all transactions on the network into “blocks,” and the miner who wins the “lottery” has their block and all of the transactions in it accepted by the network. This way, even if two miners saw two conflicting transactions (for example, because a user tried to cheat and send the same bitcoin to two different people), only one of the transactions will go through.
For more information on mining, visit our “What Is Bitcoin Mining?” guide.
Every time a new block is found, it refers to the previous block. Over time, the blocks form a “blockchain.” If it were to happen that two miners find a new block (“win the lottery”) at the same time, there can be a short period when there are two different, competing transaction histories. This is resolved through a race: the first blockchain to be extended with another block will be considered valid by the entire network. Over time, therefore, the Bitcoin network always settles on a single version of transaction history.
To read more about the foundational distributed ledger technology introduced by Bitcoin, read our guide to the fundamentals of a blockchain.
Finally, it’s worth noting that users on the network don’t identify themselves with their real names. Instead, they use Bitcoin addresses, which are seemingly random strings of numbers and letters. Because Bitcoin addresses cannot always be tied to a real-world identity, the electronic cash can be used fairly anonymously. (Though it should be pointed out that Bitcoin’s privacy guarantees are in actuality fairly weak for a number of reasons; unless you’re fairly savvy, it’s best to assume you are not fully anonymous.)
Who Invented Bitcoin?
Bitcoin was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto, (almost certainly) a pseudonym. No one has been able to conclusively connect the Satoshi Nakamoto moniker to an actual person or group of people.
Satoshi Nakamoto first introduced his proposal to the world in November 2008, when he submitted a white paper that describes Bitcoin to a cryptography mailing list. A couple of months later, Satoshi Nakamoto published the software. On January 3, 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto mined the first-ever Bitcoin block, dubbed the “genesis block,” setting the Bitcoin protocol in motion.
While he was actively involved with the Bitcoin project in the early days, Satoshi Nakamoto vanished in 2011, leaving few clues as to who he might be. Over time, there have been many instances of people claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto, and others who’ve had that claim thrust upon them, but none with conclusive evidence. Sporadically, there have also been some messages from accounts associated with Satoshi Nakamoto since 2011, but many question the authenticity of these later messages.
There has been a lot of speculation about how many bitcoin Satoshi Nakamoto mined in the early days, when few people had even heard of Bitcoin. Estimates range from about 50 to 1 million. Interestingly, even if the high end of the estimate is correct, Satoshi Nakamoto appears to have touched very few, if any, of his coins.
In the end, most Bitcoiners agree that Satoshi Nakamoto’s true identity doesn’t matter much. The protocol stands on its own, regardless of who or what Satoshi Nakamoto was.
To read more about Satoshi Nakamoto, visit our guide on the inventor of Bitcoin.
Who Controls Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is not controlled by any single manager or entity, but instead it is maintained by a network of users. One of Bitcoin’s most powerful and unique qualities is the fact that the transactions on its blockchain ledger are verified by the consensus of the network’s members and not by a third party or “trusted” authority.
In this sense, no single party or consortium “controls” Bitcoin in the way that a government controls a fiat currency or that a board controls a corporation. When users run a full Bitcoin node in order to validate transactions and blocks on the blockchain, they choose which specific protocol that node will use.
Is Bitcoin Anonymous?
Though there is a common misconception that bitcoin transactions can be conducted in the dark and free from third-party monitoring, bitcoin is not anonymous. It does, however, grant a level of pseudonymity that the traditional financial system typically does not (although purely cash-based transactions remain far more anonymous than bitcoin transactions).
Because every bitcoin transaction is publicly broadcasted and immutably recorded on the Bitcoin blockchain, it is possible for blockchain analysts to trace these transactions and potentially link them to real-world identities.
However, developers throughout the bitcoin space are consistently working on tools that are meant to help obscure bitcoin transactions and add additional anonymity layers.
For more information, check out our guide on Bitcoin anonymity.
How Can I Buy Bitcoin?
Though new bitcoin are minted through mining, and bitcoin can of course (like any other money) be accepted in trade, another easy way to get bitcoin is to buy it with fiat currency.
Bitcoin Exchanges
Most people purchase bitcoin through online exchanges. The majority of bitcoin exchanges operate an order book that matches buy and sell orders. This means that the “price” of bitcoin relative to fiat currency is determined by users of the exchange, through supply and demand.
Buying bitcoin on an exchange typically requires the use of a debit card or direct bank account transfer, and most exchanges require personal information in order to comply with anti-money laundering and know-your-customer regulations.
Over the Counter
Another common approach to buying bitcoin is the use of an over-the-counter (OTC) desk. Unlike going through an exchange, an OTC desk serves as a middleman that completes Bitcoin transactions without an order book — connecting buy and sell orders directly.
Bitcoin ATMs
Bitcoin ATMs are kiosks that resemble traditional ATMs but connect users to the internet and let them purchase bitcoin with bank cards or cash. Some bitcoin ATMs allow users to sell bitcoin as well.
In Person
It is, of course, also possible to buy bitcoin from someone who already owns bitcoin, in person. Many cities have Bitcoin meetups, where people might be willing to sell bitcoin. There are also websites on which buyers and sellers can find each other to meet up in person for a trade.
For more information on buying and acquiring bitcoin, visit our “How to Get Bitcoin” guide.
How Do I Store Bitcoin?
Slightly simplified, bitcoin are stored on Bitcoin addresses. They can be spent with “private keys”: unique strings of numbers and letters associated with these address. Therefore, the owner of the private key is essentially the owner of the coins. Storing bitcoin really means storing the private keys. This can technically be done in any way you like: on a USB drive, a piece of paper or you could even try to remember it (but this is not recommended).
Here are some of the more common solutions for storing your bitcoin:
Hardware Wallets
Many people use hardware wallets to store bitcoin. These are physical devices that encrypt the keys needed to spend bitcoin. Critically, these devices remain offline, so they cannot be hacked.
Software Wallets
Software wallets are pieces of software that you download and run on your computer or mobile device. While software wallets are often fairly easy to use, they are also connected to the internet, which can make them somewhat vulnerable to advanced hackers. That said, many software wallets can be used in combination with a hardware wallet for increased security.
Paper Wallets
Paper wallets are physical pieces of paper that contain your Bitcoin address keys and therefore your bitcoin. Paper wallets typically have a private key, Bitcoin address and a QR code representing them both printed on them. The downside of a paper wallet is that they can be used only to store bitcoin; you cannot spend from them. (Instead, you’d have to insert the private key in a software wallet, at which point the paper wallet shouldn’t be used again.)
Because paper wallets are actually relatively difficult to set up securely, their use is not really recommended any longer.
Can I Keep My Bitcoin on an Exchange?
The majority of bitcoin exchanges have bitcoin wallets built in to enable the deposit and withdrawal of assets. When a user deposits bitcoin into an exchange’s wallet, that user is trusting the exchange with control of that bitcoin, and naturally, doing so brings a certain amount of risk.
Large exchanges may hold on to cryptocurrency for millions of unique accounts and take a variety of measures to ensure that these funds are safe so that they can retain their customers’ trust. But, over the years, many online exchanges have proven vulnerable to hacks, while other, less reputable ones have lost or even stolen user funds.
As a result, keeping your bitcoin on an exchange as a primary storage facility is generally not advised.
For more best practices on storing bitcoin, read our guide to bitcoin wallets.
How Do I Keep My Bitcoin Safe?
The best way to keep bitcoin safe is to take precautions to protect the keys that grant access to your Bitcoin address.
But ultimately, the ideal process for keeping your coins safe depends largely on what works for you. If you are someone who keeps forgetting passwords, losing phones and displacing important documents, and you’re not dealing with life-changing amounts of bitcoin anyway, frankly, maybe a reliable third-party wallet would be best for you. (Even though this is certainly not ideal for overall security.) If you are tech-savvy and are dealing with large amounts of money, you could consider a multisignature setup with multiple wallets and encrypted backups dispersed over different locations. And there are also many solutions between these two extremes.
That said, in general, it’s advised to at least store your private keys yourself and keep a backup (typically a seed phrase) in a secure location.
To read more about bitcoin addresses, private and public keys and protecting your HODLings, check out our guide on keeping bitcoin safe.
How Can I Use Bitcoin?
Once you’ve joined the revolution by getting your hands on some bitcoin, you may be wondering how exactly you should use it. There’s no prescribed way to make the most of your bitcoin, but there is an increasing number of options.
Making Purchases With Bitcoin
A growing list of retailers and service providers accept bitcoin as payment. Using bitcoin at one of these retailers can be as easy as selecting a “pay with BTC” option at checkout.
Even if retailers or service providers don’t accept bitcoin directly, you may use bitcoin to purchase a gift card for that retailer or service provider. Several gift card websites accept bitcoin in exchange for gift cards to major online and brick-and-mortar retailers like Amazon, Target and more. (This could come in handy if you don’t have a bank account or there is another reason you prefer not to sell bitcoin for fiat currency.)
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