New mining location added: Finland
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New mining location added: Finland
More information
Market Insights
Uncategorized
Mitchell Weijerman
May 20, 2026
Bitcoin is a digital currency that lets you send money to anyone in the world without a bank, government, or middleman. It runs on a global network of computers, operates 24/7, and has never been shut down in over 17 years of continuous operation.
Bitcoin is digital money. Like the dollars in your bank account, Bitcoin exists as numbers on a screen. But unlike dollars, Bitcoin is not controlled by any government, central bank, or corporation. No single entity can print more of it, freeze your account, or reverse your transaction. It is money that belongs to whoever holds it, period.
Bitcoin was created in 2009 by an anonymous person (or group) using the name Satoshi Nakamoto. The original goal was to create a peer-to-peer electronic cash system that did not require trust in any institution. Seventeen years later, Bitcoin has grown into a $2+ trillion asset held by individuals, corporations, and even governments.
In the traditional financial system, banks are trusted middlemen. When you send money to someone, your bank deducts from your balance and adds to theirs. The bank keeps the ledger (the record of who owns what), and everyone trusts the bank to maintain it honestly.
Bitcoin replaces the bank with a network of thousands of computers around the world. Instead of one company keeping the ledger, every computer on the Bitcoin network keeps a copy of the same ledger. This shared ledger is called the blockchain.
When you send Bitcoin to someone, your transaction is broadcast to the entire network. Miners verify that you actually own the Bitcoin you are trying to send, bundle your transaction with others into a block, and add that block to the blockchain. Once added, the transaction is permanent and visible to everyone.
The key insight: Bitcoin works because thousands of independent computers all verify every transaction independently. No single computer can cheat because every other computer would reject the fraudulent data. Trust is replaced by mathematics and verification.
The blockchain is Bitcoin’s transaction ledger. It is a chain of blocks, where each block contains a batch of verified transactions. Every block is cryptographically linked to the block before it, forming an unbroken chain all the way back to the very first block (the “genesis block”) mined on January 3, 2009.
This structure makes the blockchain tamper-proof. If someone tried to change a transaction in block 100,000, it would break the cryptographic link to block 100,001, which would break the link to block 100,002, and so on. Altering one block would require redoing the work for every block after it, which at today’s network size would cost billions of dollars and more energy than most countries consume. Read more about this in our article on how mining secures the network.
| Feature | Traditional Banking Ledger | Bitcoin Blockchain |
|---|---|---|
| Who maintains it | One bank (centralized) | Thousands of computers (decentralized) |
| Who can see it | Only the bank | Anyone in the world |
| Can transactions be reversed | Yes (chargebacks, freezes) | No (permanent after confirmation) |
| Uptime | Business hours, outages common | 24/7/365 since 2009 |
| Permission needed | Yes (account approval, KYC) | No (open to anyone) |
| Can be censored | Yes (governments can freeze accounts) | No (no authority can block transactions) |
A Bitcoin transaction is a signed message that says “I am sending X amount of Bitcoin from my address to this other address.” Here is the step-by-step process.
| Step | What Happens | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. You initiate | You enter the recipient’s Bitcoin address and amount in your wallet | Seconds |
| 2. Transaction broadcasts | Your wallet signs the transaction with your private key and sends it to the network | Seconds |
| 3. Miners verify | Miners check that you own the Bitcoin and the math is valid | Minutes |
| 4. Block inclusion | A miner includes your transaction in a new block | ~10 minutes |
| 5. Confirmation | The block is added to the blockchain, and your transaction is confirmed | ~10 minutes |
| 6. Settlement | After 6 confirmations (~60 minutes), the transaction is considered irreversible | ~60 minutes |
The entire process is automatic. There are no forms to fill out, no approval processes, no business hours. Bitcoin transactions work the same way whether you are sending $10 or $10 million, whether the recipient is next door or on the other side of the world.
A Bitcoin wallet is software (or hardware) that stores your private keys and lets you send and receive Bitcoin. Your private key is a long string of characters that proves you own your Bitcoin. Whoever holds the private key controls the Bitcoin associated with it.
Your wallet also has a public address, which is like an email address that others can send Bitcoin to. You can share your public address freely, but your private key must never be shared with anyone. If someone gets your private key, they can take your Bitcoin, and there is no bank to call for a reversal.
This is what people mean when they say “not your keys, not your coins.” If you leave your Bitcoin on an exchange, the exchange holds the private keys, and you are trusting them not to lose or steal your funds. Self-custody (holding your own keys) gives you full control. Learn more in our guide to Bitcoin wallets: hot vs cold storage.
Bitcoin has a hard cap of 21 million coins. This limit is written into Bitcoin’s code and enforced by every computer on the network. No government, corporation, or developer can change it. As of 2026, approximately 19.8 million Bitcoin have been mined, leaving roughly 1.2 million still to be created through mining.
New Bitcoin enters circulation through mining rewards. Every time a miner adds a block to the blockchain, they receive a reward of newly created Bitcoin. This reward started at 50 BTC per block in 2009 and is cut in half approximately every four years in an event called the halving. The current reward is 3.125 BTC per block. Learn more about what happens when the supply runs out in our article on what happens when all Bitcoin are mined.
Why the cap matters: Traditional currencies can be printed in unlimited quantities. The U.S. dollar has lost over 96% of its purchasing power since the Federal Reserve was created in 1913. Bitcoin’s fixed supply means no one can inflate it away. This is a core reason why people call Bitcoin “digital gold” and why it is increasingly used as a store of value.
Bitcoin has value for the same reasons gold has value: scarcity, durability, divisibility, portability, and broad acceptance. But Bitcoin adds properties that gold cannot match: it can be sent anywhere instantly, stored without physical space, divided into 100 million units (called satoshis), and verified without trusting anyone.
Bitcoin is also valued because of its network. The more people who use, hold, and accept Bitcoin, the more useful it becomes. With over $2 trillion in market capitalization, institutional adoption by major corporations, and growing recognition as a legitimate asset class, Bitcoin’s network effect continues to strengthen. For a deeper dive, read our article on what gives Bitcoin its value.
| Property | Bitcoin | U.S. Dollar | Gold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supply limit | 21 million (fixed forever) | Unlimited (printed at will) | ~205,000 tonnes mined (grows ~1.5%/year) |
| Portability | Send anywhere in minutes | Wire transfers take days | Heavy, expensive to move |
| Divisibility | 100 million satoshis per BTC | 100 cents per dollar | Difficult to divide precisely |
| Censorship resistance | No one can freeze your Bitcoin | Banks and governments can freeze dollars | Physical gold is hard to confiscate |
| Verification | Instant mathematical verification | Trust the issuing government | Requires assaying |
| Inflation protection | Deflationary by design | ~3-8% annual inflation | Historically good hedge |
Mining is the engine that makes Bitcoin run. Miners are the computers that verify transactions, add them to the blockchain, and create new Bitcoin in the process. Without miners, no transactions would be confirmed and the network would stop.
Miners compete to solve a mathematical puzzle. The first miner to solve it gets to add the next block of transactions and receives the block reward (currently 3.125 BTC, worth over $300,000 at current prices). This process is called Proof of Work, and it is what makes the blockchain secure and trustworthy.
Mining is also how you can acquire Bitcoin at below-market cost. Instead of buying Bitcoin on an exchange at the current price, miners produce it for the cost of electricity and hardware. With hosted mining, you can participate in mining without running the equipment yourself. A professional facility handles everything while you own the hardware and receive the Bitcoin.
Yes. Bitcoin functions as money: it can be used to buy goods and services, it stores value over time, and it serves as a unit of account. It is accepted by thousands of merchants worldwide, held as a reserve asset by public companies and governments, and traded on regulated exchanges. Whether it replaces traditional money is debated, but its function as money is established.
The Bitcoin network itself has never been hacked in 17 years of operation. The blockchain is secured by more computing power than any other network on earth. When you hear about “Bitcoin hacks,” these involve exchanges or wallets (companies that hold Bitcoin), not the Bitcoin protocol itself. Securing your own private keys eliminates this risk.
No one controls Bitcoin. It is maintained by a decentralized network of thousands of computers (nodes and miners) around the world. Changes to Bitcoin’s rules require broad consensus among network participants. No government, company, or individual can unilaterally change how Bitcoin works.
There will only ever be 21 million Bitcoin. As of 2026, approximately 19.8 million have been mined. The remaining 1.2 million will be created through mining over the next century, with the last Bitcoin expected to be mined around 2140.
Yes. Bitcoin is divisible to eight decimal places. The smallest unit (0.00000001 BTC) is called a satoshi. You can buy any amount, even a few dollars worth. Most people own fractions of a Bitcoin rather than whole coins.
Last updated: 2026-05-09
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