Summary:
Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that allows users to send, receive, and store value without needing a bank or centralized authority. It uses cryptography and a global peer-to-peer network to maintain a secure, open financial system.
Details:
Bitcoin emerged in response to the 2008 financial crisis, offering a trustless, programmable alternative to government-issued currency. Governed by code instead of institutions, Bitcoin’s monetary policy is algorithmic, transparent, and fixed. Every 10 minutes, new bitcoin are minted via mining and added to the blockchain—Bitcoin’s global public ledger. Its issuance schedule is predictable: block rewards halve approximately every 4 years, eventually reaching zero around the year 2140.
The scarcity of bitcoin (only 21 million will ever exist) creates digital sound money—resistant to inflation, seizure, and censorship. Bitcoin enables borderless, irreversible transactions, making it a foundational asset in the emerging decentralized economy.
Key Features:
- Fixed supply: Only 21 million bitcoin will ever exist.
- Transparent issuance: New bitcoin are released every ~10 minutes via block rewards.
- Halvings: Block rewards decrease every 210,000 blocks (~4 years).
- Permissionless: Anyone with internet access can use Bitcoin.
- Immutable ledger: Transactions cannot be altered once confirmed.
- Decentralization: No central party controls Bitcoin—consensus is distributed among miners, developers, and nodes.