# What is Bitcoin? How does it work?

By [ssaurabh.eth](https://paragraph.com/@ssaurabh) · 2022-08-24

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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.

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*Originally published on [ssaurabh.eth](https://paragraph.com/@ssaurabh/what-is-bitcoin-how-does-it-work)*