Bitcoin is digital money with no bank in charge. Learn how it works, who keeps the record, and why people use it, in plain English with diagrams.
Money without a middleman
When you pay someone with a bank card, your bank changes a number in its database. You trust the bank to keep that database honest.
Bitcoin does the same job without a bank. Instead of one company keeping the record, thousands of independent computers around the world each keep a full copy. They follow the same rules, check each other's work, and agree on one shared history of payments.
What is "a bitcoin"?
There are no coins or files. A bitcoin is an entry in that shared record saying "this amount can be spent by whoever can prove they hold a particular key". Owning bitcoin really means holding the private key that can unlock it.
- The record is called the blockchain.
- The computers keeping it are called nodes.
- New payments are added in batches called blocks, roughly every 10 minutes.
Why do people use it?
- No single administrator controls settlement. A confirmed payment can still be affected by a chain reorganization; confirmation depth changes the practical risk. Custodial services can also restrict access to funds they control.
- Fixed supply. There will never be more than about 21 million bitcoin.
- Open to anyone. You don't need permission or an account to receive it.
- Verifiable. You can run your own node and check every rule yourself.
See the very first block
The first block ever created, the The genesis block, was mined on 3 January 2009. You can open it in our explorer: block 0. Our own node verified it, along with every block since.
Bitcoin in one example
Alice wants to send Bob 0.01 BTC. Her wallet signs a message with her key and sends it to the network. Within seconds, thousands of computers have checked that Alice really owns those coins and hasn't already spent them. A few minutes later a miner adds the payment to a block, and every computer updates its copy of the record. No bank approved it, and no one could have stopped it.
Common myths
| Myth | Reality |
|---|---|
| Bitcoin is anonymous | It's pseudonymous: every payment is public. See Is Bitcoin anonymous?. |
| Someone can print more | Every node rejects blocks that create too much. See Why there will only be 21 million bitcoin. |
| You need a whole coin | You can own as little as one satoshi. See Satoshis and Bitcoin units. |
| Bitcoin can be hacked like a bank | The network hasn't been; wallets and exchanges are the weak points. See Self-custody vs custodial. |
See it for yourself
Open the latest blocks on MyBitcoinExplorer to watch new payments being added right now, or look at what is waiting in the mempool.
Key takeaways
- Bitcoin is a shared record of ownership kept by thousands of independent computers.
- Owning bitcoin means controlling the private key that can spend it.
- New payments are grouped into blocks about every 10 minutes.
Common questions
Is Bitcoin a company?
No. Bitcoin is open-source software and a network of people running it. No company owns or runs it.
Can I buy less than one bitcoin?
Yes. One bitcoin divides into 100,000,000 satoshis, so you can own a tiny fraction.
Is Bitcoin legal?
In most countries owning and using bitcoin is legal, though rules on exchanges and taxes differ. Check the law where you live.
What gives bitcoin value?
People value it for its fixed supply, its resistance to censorship and the cost of producing it. Its price is set by what buyers and sellers agree, so it can change a lot.