What Is Bitcoin?

In 2009 a person, or group of individuals, called Satoshi Nakamoto outlined a new technology in a white paper and then launched Bitcoin. Many years later no one knows if Satoshi Nakamoto is one person, or more than one, but now most people in the world know about Bitcoin.   

Bitcoin is a decentralized cryptocurrency based on a peer-to-peer network.  Every transaction involving Bitcoin is recorded on a public ledger (the Bitcoin blockchain). There is no physical  version of it. It also does not use existing methods of money transfer. It allows online transfers of funds without any middle entities like banks or payment processors. This means people anywhere in the world can send money to one another without using traditional methods of money transfer - moving money around the internet quickly and cheaply. It is a global payment network that anyone with an internet connection can participate in. 

This is different from traditional currencies which are issued and backed by central authorities or governments.  It is digital money with a fixed supply of 21 million bitcoin and it allows for seamless and secure peer-to-peer transactions on the internet. It is the largest, by market capitalization, cryptocurrency there is. 

Many people think that Bitcoin, and other crypto currencies, have the potential to change the financial industry, by making it faster and more efficient, more accessible to everyone, and transparent and secure.  Also Bitcoin’s underlying technology on the blockchain can be extended by protocols like the the Lightning Network which is a layer-2 protocol which can be used by businesses and developers.