# BITCOIN

By [kingoffall2](https://paragraph.com/@kingoffall2) · 2023-04-16

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Bitcoin is a digital currency which [operates free of any central control](https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22730384-100-blockchain-startups-promises-a-world-where-no-one-is-in-charge/) or the oversight of banks or governments. Instead it relies on peer-to-peer software and cryptography.

A public ledger records all bitcoin transactions and copies are held on servers around the world. Anyone with a spare computer can set up one of these servers, known as a node. Consensus on who owns which coins is reached cryptographically across these nodes rather than relying on a central source of trust like a bank.

Every transaction is publicly broadcast to the network and shared from node to node. Every ten minutes or so these transactions are collected together by miners into a group called a block and added permanently to the [blockchain](https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23831841-200-how-to-think-about-the-blockchain/). This is the definitive account book of bitcoin.

In much the same way you would keep [traditional coins in a physical wallet](https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23931920-800-why-the-end-of-cash-could-cause-a-new-data-disaster/), virtual currencies are held in digital wallets and can be accessed from client software or a range of online and hardware tools.

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*Originally published on [kingoffall2](https://paragraph.com/@kingoffall2/bitcoin-2)*