Bitcoin (BTC) is a decentralized digital currency created in 2008 by an anonymous individual or group known as Satoshi Nakamoto. It operates without a central bank, government, or single administrator, allowing peer-to-peer financial transactions across a global network.
Bitcoin runs on a distributed ledger called a blockchain. Transactions are bundled into blocks, verified through a consensus mechanism called Proof-of-Work (mining), and permanently recorded on the blockchain to prevent double-spending and tampering.
Unlike traditional fiat currencies, Bitcoin has a hard-coded maximum supply capped at 21 million coins. Every four years, an event called “the Halving” cuts the reward for mining new blocks in half, making Bitcoin inherently scarce and deflationary over time.
Bitcoin provides censorship-resistant money transfer, financial sovereignty through private key ownership, and low-friction cross-border transactions. Many investors also treat it as digital gold or a hedge against fiat currency inflation.
While Bitcoin’s network security is backed by immense computational power, its market price remains volatile. Users are responsible for safeguarding their own private keys or seed phrases, as lost keys cannot be recovered by any central authority.
