Hereâs whatâs really going on behind the scenes:
- Decentralized and digital: Bitcoin is âa consensus networkâ that provides a completely digital money and payment system . Thereâs no bank, no CEO and no borders â the network is powered by its users . From a userâs standpoint it feels like a simple mobile or desktop app that holds a wallet and lets you send or receive bitcoin .
- Openâsource programming: The reference implementation, Bitcoin Core, is free and openâsource software written in C++ . Anyone on Earth can inspect the code, run it or even propose changes . Thatâs why Bitcoin is sometimes described as âjust a computer programâ â itâs literally a public set of rules that anyone can run.
- A global network of nodes: When you run the Bitcoin software, your computer becomes a node in the network. The blockchain â a ledger containing every transaction ever processed â isnât stored in one place; instead, itâs distributed across thousands of nodes worldwide . Each node keeps an upâtoâdate copy of the chain and verifies new transactions, which makes the system extremely resilient.
- Mining and proofâofâwork: The Bitcoin program includes a mining component. Specialized software on computers (or ASIC machines) competes to solve cryptographic puzzles, validate new transactions and add them to the blockchain . This proofâofâwork mechanism, described in the original Bitcoin whitepaper , is what keeps the network secure without a central authority.
- Predictable, limited supply: The code dictates that there can only ever be 21 million bitcoins. As a HoustonVideoAgency explainer puts it, âBitcoin is a computer programâŚspread across thousands of independent computersâŚ[and] only 21 million whole bitcoin can ever be issuedâ . The program even halves the issuance roughly every four years to ensure scarcity , and no new bitcoins will be generated once the limit is reached .
What makes Bitcoin extraordinary isnât just the programming, but the social consensus around it. Millions of people choose to follow the same set of rules, giving these digital entries value. So while Bitcoin is indeed built on computer programming, itâs also a vibrant, decentralized economy that anyone can join. How amazing is it that a bit of code could inspire such a global movement? đ