What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer network, global, with no central authority, open to all 24/7, transparent and censorship-resistant. It can serve as a payment network, store of value, and to a lesser extent data storage solution.

Initially: the Bitcoin computer protocol

Bitcoin with a big “B” is open-source computer software, freely available and accessible by all. This name is a pseudonym, the identity of the creator remains unknown to this day.

Any computer scientist can analyze the Bitcoin code, make sure it does not contain flaws or back doors or suggest improvements. Hundreds of programmers contribute daily to its evolution and tools to interact with it.

The Bitcoin blockchain

Bitcoin always with a big “B” is also a registry, which is called the Bitcoin blockchain, whose role is to store all the transactions or information that take place on the network. This register has two fundamental features: it is distributed, that is to say, that thousands of copies synchronized via a peer-to-peer computer network exist worldwide, and it is immutable, which means that no data stored on the Bitcoin blockchain can not be altered or deleted. These two features of the blockchain give it extreme robustness against computer attacks and censorship attempts. A transaction validation mechanism called Proof of Work is defined in the program to validate transactions waiting to be added to the blockchain and guarantee their immutability. It remunerates the actors who devote computing power to it through monetary creation. We are talking about the mining process.