Interactive guide · Live BTC price

Bitcoin
fully explained

The first cryptocurrency, explained end to end: how coins are created, why the supply is capped at 21 million, how mining secures the network, and how to buy and store BTC safely.

21M supply cap Proof of work Censorship-resistant

Bitcoin (BTC) Live

$64 316

-1,13 % 24h · Mkt cap $1,29 T · Volume 24h $21,19 Md

High 24h

$65 147

Low 24h

$63 771

7 days

+0,96 %

Total market cap

$2,28 T

▼ -0,95 % / 24h

Market dominance

BTC 56,5% · ETH 10,0%

18 374 active cryptocurrencies

Start the guide

Part 1 · The basics

What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin (BTC) is a decentralized digital currency created in 2009 by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto. It is the first application of blockchain technology and remains the largest cryptocurrency by market cap.

Unlike government-issued money, no bank or state controls Bitcoin. Its rules are enforced by code and by thousands of independent nodes running the same software.

1 Capped supply

Only 21 million BTC will ever exist. New coins are issued through mining and the rate halves every ~4 years.

2 Decentralized

No central issuer. The network is run by thousands of independent miners and full nodes worldwide.

3 Sound money

Scarcity + programmability make BTC a store of value and a censorship-resistant payment network.

Why 21 million? : The supply cap is written into Bitcoin’s protocol. Roughly 19.7M BTC are already mined. The last bitcoin will be mined around the year 2140, and miners will then earn from fees alone.

Part 2 · How it works

How Bitcoin works

From creation to your wallet, here are the core mechanisms that power Bitcoin.

1

Mining

Miners use specialized hardware (ASICs) to solve proof-of-work puzzles. The winner adds a block and earns newly created BTC plus fees.
2

Halving

Every 210,000 blocks (~4 years), the block reward is cut in half. It was 50 BTC in 2009, 3.125 BTC today, and will be 1.5625 after the 2028 halving.
3

Transactions

You send BTC by signing a transaction with your private key. Nodes verify it and miners include it in the next block (~10 minutes).
4

Wallets

BTC is stored in wallets holding your private keys. Hardware wallets (cold storage) are the safest for large amounts.
5

Security

The network is protected by the combined computing power of all miners. Rewriting history would require controlling 51% of it.

Part 2 · Demonstration

The blockchain behind Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a chain of blocks. Click “Mine a block” to add one, then “Tamper with the transaction” to see why rewriting history fails.

Chain valid

· 4 blocks

Click “Tamper with the transaction” to change the data of block 2, then watch the whole chain become invalid — that is immutability in action.

Part 4 · The consensus

Try mining yourself

Proof of work means guessing a nonce that makes the block hash start with zeros. Click “Mine” to feel the difficulty.

Difficulty (zeros required)

000

Nonce tested

Attempts

Current hash

—

Ready.

Part 5 · The models

Proof of work vs proof of stake

Bitcoin uses proof of work. Compare it with the proof-of-stake model used by Ethereum and others.

PoW

Security 95/100

Decentralization 90/100

Energy 15/100

Speed 20/100

PoS

Security 88/100

Decentralization 75/100

Energy 95/100

Speed 60/100

DPoS

Security 70/100

Decentralization 45/100

Energy 98/100

Speed 95/100

Part 6 · The sentiment

Fear & Greed index

The Fear & Greed index (0 = extreme fear, 100 = extreme greed) measures crypto investor sentiment. Current value:

Fear

30-day history

Part 7 · The data

Live market

Top cryptocurrencies and their 24h change. Data refreshed every 3 minutes (CoinGecko).

#	Coin	Price	24h	Mkt cap	Volume 24h
1	Bitcoin BTC	$64 327	-1,20 %	$1,29 T	$21,19 Md
2	Ethereum ETH	$1 892	-1,70 %	$228,28 Md	$7,46 Md
3	Tether USDT	$1,00	+0,00 %	$183,10 Md	$34,82 Md
4	BNB BNB	$607,47	+0,50 %	$80,88 Md	$618,4 M
5	USDC USDC	$1,00	+0,00 %	$72,10 Md	$8,25 Md
6	XRP XRP	$1,01	-2,50 %	$63,00 Md	$1,09 Md
7	Solana SOL	$76,16	-0,90 %	$44,36 Md	$1,39 Md
8	TRON TRX	$0,34	+1,70 %	$31,91 Md	$460,3 M

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Part 8 · The ecosystem

How to get Bitcoin

There are three main ways to acquire BTC, each with different levels of risk and effort.

Buy on an exchange

Kraken, Coinbase, Binance
Fastest and easiest
You trust the platform
Withdraw to your own wallet
Beware of exchange risk

Peer to peer

LocalBitcoins, Bisq
No intermediary
Meet or escrow
Often higher privacy
Requires caution

Earn / mine

Mining with ASICs
Get paid in BTC
Requires hardware + energy
Solo or pool mining
Not profitable for beginners

Part 9 · The applications

What is Bitcoin used for?

Bitcoin is both money and a store of value. Here is how people actually use it.

Store of value

Often called “digital gold”, BTC is used to preserve wealth against inflation and capital controls.

Payments

Send value anywhere in the world, 24/7, without banks. Layer-2 solutions like Lightning make it near-instant and cheap.

Censorship resistance

No government or company can freeze, block or reverse your transactions — unless they control your keys.

Remittances

Workers send money to family abroad faster and cheaper than traditional remittance services.

Treasury reserve

Companies and funds hold BTC on their balance sheets as a treasury reserve asset.

Digital ownership

Owning BTC means owning a provable, portable asset that only you can spend.

Part 10 · The verdict

Advantages & Limitations

Advantages

✔Fixed supply of 21 million — resistant to inflation.
✔Fully decentralized, censorship-resistant and permissionless.
✔Extremely secure: never hacked at the protocol level in 15+ years.
✔Borderless: send value anywhere, anytime, 24/7.
✔Transparent and auditable on-chain by anyone.

Limitations

✕Energy-intensive proof-of-work mining.
✕Limited throughput (~7 transactions per second on-chain).
✕Price volatility: high-risk asset class.
✕Irreversible transactions: mistakes cannot be undone.
✕You are responsible for your own private keys.

Part 11 · The vocabulary

Quick glossary

The Bitcoin terms you need to know.

Satoshi

The smallest unit of Bitcoin: 1 BTC = 100,000,000 satoshis.

Halving

Event every 210,000 blocks that halves the mining reward, reducing new supply.

Hash rate

Total computing power securing the network. Higher = more secure.

Difficulty

A measure of how hard it is to find a valid block. It adjusts every 2 weeks.

ASIC

Application-specific hardware designed exclusively for Bitcoin mining.

Mempool

The queue of pending, unconfirmed transactions waiting to be mined.

Private key

A secret code that proves ownership and allows spending your BTC.

Cold wallet

An offline storage device (hardware wallet) used to secure large amounts.

Lightning Network

A layer-2 network enabling near-instant, low-cost Bitcoin payments.

Whale

An address or entity holding a very large amount of BTC.

Satoshi Nakamoto

The pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, whose identity is still unknown.

Confirmation

Number of blocks mined on top of your transaction; 6 is usually considered final.

Part 12 · Questions

Bitcoin FAQ

Is Bitcoin real money?

Bitcoin functions as money: it is divisible, portable, durable and scarce. It is not legal tender in most countries, but it is widely accepted as a medium of exchange and a store of value.

Who created Bitcoin?

A person or group under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin whitepaper in 2008 and launched the network in 2009. Their identity remains unknown to this day.

How is new Bitcoin created?

Through mining. Miners compete to add a block and are rewarded with newly minted BTC. The reward halves every ~4 years, and total supply is capped at 21 million.

What is the Bitcoin halving?

Every 210,000 blocks (about 4 years), the block reward is cut in half. The last halving was in 2024; the next is expected in 2028, reducing the reward from 3.125 to 1.5625 BTC.

Is Bitcoin anonymous?

Bitcoin is pseudonymous, not anonymous. All transactions are public on the blockchain, but they are tied to addresses rather than real names. Privacy tools like CoinJoin add more protection.

Can Bitcoin be hacked?

The Bitcoin protocol has never been hacked in its 15+ years. Exchanges, wallets and individual users are the vulnerable points. Safest practice: self-custody with a hardware wallet.

How do I buy Bitcoin safely?

Buy on a reputable exchange, then withdraw your BTC to a wallet where you control the private keys. Never keep large amounts on an exchange. Enable 2FA and use cold storage for savings.

Why is the price so volatile?

BTC is a relatively young, finite asset with high speculation, low liquidity in some hours and sensitivity to news and regulation. Volatility tends to decrease as adoption grows.

Prices and market data are for information only and do not constitute financial advice.

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Quick links

Part 1 · The basics Part 2 · How it works The chain of blocks, live Hashing & immutability Proof of work Consensus comparison Fear & Greed index

Bitcoin fully explained