What is bitcoin ()?

Bitcoin ( ₿) is a decentralized digital currency, without a central bank or single administrator, that can be sent from user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries. Transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain.

What is Bitcoin (BTC)?

Bitcoin can refer to the Bitcoin software protocol as well as to the monetary unit, which goes by the ticker symbol BTC. Launched anonymously in January 2009 to a niche group of technologists, Bitcoin is now a globally traded financial asset with daily settled volume measured in the tens of billions of dollars.

What is the difference between Bitcoin and ether?

Bitcoin and Ether are both digital currencies, but the primary purpose of Ether is not to establish itself as an alternative monetary system (unlike Bitcoin) but to facilitate and monetize the operation of the Ethereum smart contract and decentralized application (dapp) platform.

How does the bitcoin network work?

The network relies on people voluntarily storing copies of the ledger and running the Bitcoin protocol software. These 'nodes' contribute to the correct propagation of transactions across the network by following the rules of the protocol as defined by the software client.