Bitcoin is the world's first widely adopted cryptocurrency — it allows for secure and seamless peer-to-peer transactions on the internet.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other crypto are revolutionizing how we invest, bank, and use money. Learn more in this beginner's guide.
To really grasp how bitcoin works, it helps to start at the beginning. The question of who created bitcoin is a fascinating one, because a decade after inventing the technology—and despite a lot of digging by journalists and members of the crypto community—its creator remains anonymous.
Unlike credit card networks like Visa and payment processors like Paypal, bitcoin is not owned by an individual or company. Bitcoin is the world’s first completely open payment network which anyone with an internet connection can participate in. Bitcoin was designed to be used on the internet, and doesn’t depend on banks or private companies to process transactions.
One of the benefits of paying with bitcoin is that doing so limits the amount of personal information you need to provide. The only time you need to share your name and address is if you’re purchasing physical goods that need to be shipped.
Every transaction on the Bitcoin network is published publicly, without exception
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are powered by a technology called the blockchain.
Ethereum is the second-biggest cryptocurrency by market cap after Bitcoin. It is also a decentralized computing platform that can run a wide variety of applications — including the...
As to what you should do with your bitcoin, that depends completely on your personal interests. Here are some ideas:You can sell it for cash using an exchange or a Bitcoin ATM.
You can send it across the planet as easily as you can pay with cash in the physical world. It isn't closed on weekends, doesn’t charge you a fee to access your money, and doesn't impose any arbitrary limits.
Due to the cryptographic nature of the Bitcoin network, bitcoin payments are fundamentally more secure than standard debit/credit card transactions