Bitcoin

1. What is Bitcoin (BTC)?

BTC is the native currency of Bitcoin, the first blockchain network.

Who created Bitcoin? Bitcoin was launched in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonymous individual or group of developers associated with the cypherpunk movement. Bitcoin drew inspiration from both gold and previous attempts at creating a decentralized and internet-native form of money, overcoming the “double-spend problem.”

2. How does Bitcoin work?

Unlike currencies that are issued by governments, Bitcoin operates without a central authority, making it resistant to censorship and manipulation. BTC is used to pay for transaction fees on the Bitcoin network and is also issued as a reward for Proof of Work miners in exchange for validating transactions on the network. The rate of new BTC issued as rewards to miners decreases every four years in a quadrennial event dubbed “the halving.”

3. What is the maximum supply of BTC?

The supply of BTC is set to reach a hard cap of 21 million coins sometime around the year 2140. Bitcoin’s hard-capped supply is designed to mimic gold, of which a similarly finite supply exists on Earth. With 19.7 million BTC already in circulation, the remaining 1.3 million BTC will enter supply over the next 116 years.

4. What are the benefits of using Bitcoin?

Bitcoin’s hard supply was designed to minimize inflation over time. Its strong and decentralized Proof of Work consensus layer also offers censorship resistance and significant security to holders.

BTC has enjoyed the strongest institutional adoption among cryptocurrencies, with U.S. regulators designating Bitcoin as sufficiently decentralized to comprise a commodity and not a security. As such, regulated futures products entered the U.S. markets in December 2017, while spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds debuted in January 2024.

5. What are the risks of using Bitcoin?

Cryptocurrencies are subject to significant price volatility. Centralized exchanges pose counterparty risk to users, while non-custodial wallets can be targeted by hackers and scammers, and can be lost forever if a user fails to securely store their private keys. Some legal jurisdictions have also sought to crack down on cryptocurrency trading and related activities.

6. What is BTC’s historic price range?

Bitcoin was famously first given an exchange rate on May 22, 2010, when Laszlo Hanyecz, a Florida-based programmer, offered 10,000 BTC to anyone who would order him two pizzas. BTC posted an all-time high of $73,737.94 on March 14, 2024.