Bitcoin is digital money — a currency you can send to anyone in the world, at any time, without going through a bank, government, or payment company. It exists only as software and a shared record of who owns what.

It was created in 2009 by an anonymous person or group using the name Satoshi Nakamoto. Nakamoto published a short paper in 2008 called the Bitcoin whitepaper, describing a system for peer-to-peer electronic cash that did not need a trusted third party to verify transactions.

Unlike pounds, dollars, or euros, no single company, government, or central bank issues or controls Bitcoin. The rules that govern it are written in open-source software that anyone can read, and they change only if the people running that software choose to update it.

There will only ever be 21 million bitcoin. This limit is written into Bitcoin's code and cannot be changed without the agreement of the vast majority of the network. As of 2024, roughly 19.7 million have already been created — the remaining few million will be released slowly over the next century.

Most national currencies have no fixed supply. Central banks can create new money by adjusting interest rates or buying assets, which increases the total amount in circulation. Bitcoin's hard cap means no authority can inflate the supply. Supporters argue this makes it a better store of value over long periods; critics argue its price volatility limits its everyday use as money.

Every Bitcoin transaction ever made is recorded on a public list called the blockchain. Think of it like a spreadsheet that is copied across thousands of computers around the world simultaneously. When you send bitcoin, the transaction is broadcast to those computers, checked for validity, and then permanently added to the list.

The list is divided into groups of transactions called blocks. Each block is mathematically linked to the one before it — that chain of links is what gives the blockchain its name, and it makes rewriting history extremely difficult. To change an old record, you would need to redo the work on every block after it faster than the rest of the network, which is practically impossible.

Because the blockchain is public, anyone can look up any transaction or address using a block explorer. Addresses are pseudonymous — they do not display names, but patterns of activity are visible.

A Bitcoin wallet is software (or a dedicated hardware device) that stores the keys needed to access and spend your bitcoin. The wallet itself does not hold coins the way a physical wallet holds notes — the coins exist on the blockchain, and the wallet holds the proof that you are allowed to move them.

Every Bitcoin address has two related keys. The public key (or address) works like a bank account number — you share it with people who want to send you bitcoin. The private key works like a password — it proves you own the address and authorises spending. Whoever controls the private key controls the bitcoin.

Self-custody means holding your own private keys rather than leaving them with an exchange. Exchanges are convenient, but if they are hacked, go bankrupt, or freeze withdrawals, you may lose access to your funds. The phrase commonly used is: not your keys, not your coins.

New bitcoin are created through a process called mining. Specialised computers called miners compete to solve a mathematical puzzle. The first to find the answer earns the right to add the next block of transactions to the blockchain and collects a reward in newly created bitcoin plus transaction fees paid by users.

This puzzle-solving process is called proof of work. It requires real-world energy and computing effort, making it costly to cheat — any dishonest block would require redoing all that computational work, and honest miners would simply ignore it.

Mining serves two purposes: it creates new bitcoin gradually over time (following the fixed supply schedule), and it secures the network by making attacks prohibitively expensive. The mining hardware and electricity required are the economic backbone of Bitcoin's security.

Roughly every four years (every 210,000 blocks), the bitcoin reward miners receive for adding a new block is cut in half. This event is called the halving. It was built into Bitcoin's code from the start as a way to slow down the release of new supply over time.

There have been four halvings so far: in 2012 (reward dropped from 50 to 25 BTC), 2016 (25 to 12.5 BTC), 2020 (12.5 to 6.25 BTC), and 2024 (6.25 to 3.125 BTC). After each one, the rate at which new bitcoin enters circulation permanently slows.

Historically, halvings have coincided with significant shifts in Bitcoin's price cycle — though the relationship is widely discussed and debated.

People use Bitcoin for a variety of reasons, and no single use case defines it. Common themes in public discussion include store of value (holding it as a long-term savings asset, similar in concept to gold), borderless payments (sending money internationally without banks or fees), and censorship resistance (transacting without permission from any authority).

In countries experiencing high inflation or strict capital controls, Bitcoin has provided an alternative way to preserve purchasing power or move money across borders. In wealthier countries, it is more commonly held as a speculative investment or portfolio diversifier.

Bitcoin is highly volatile — its price can rise or fall dramatically over short periods. Nothing on BTCGoTo is financial advice, and whether or how to use Bitcoin is a personal decision best made with appropriate research and, where suitable, professional guidance.