# Bitcoin network By [Mikel Zuev](https://paragraph.com/@zipulya) ยท 2023-04-14 --- The **Bitcoin network** is a [peer-to-peer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer-to-peer) network of nodes which implement the Bitcoin protocol. The protocol itself implements a [highly available](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_availability), public, and decentralized [ledger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ledger). The nodes verify that each update to the ledger follows the rules of the Bitcoin protocol. Users broadcast [cryptographically-signed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_signature) messages to the network using Bitcoin [cryptocurrency wallet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocurrency_wallet) software. These messages are proposed transactions, changes to be made in the ledger. Each node has a copy of the ledger's entire transaction history. If a transaction violates the rules of the Bitcoin protocol, it is ignored. Transactions only happen when the full network agrees they should happen. This "full network consensus" is achieved when each node on the network verifies the results of a [proof-of-work](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof-of-work) operation called _mining_. Mining packages groups of transactions into blocks, and produces a [hash code](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_function) that follows the rules of the Bitcoin protocol. Creating this hash requires expensive [energy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy), but a network node can verify the hash is valid using very little energy. If a miner proposes a block to the network, and its hash is valid, the block and its ledger changes are added to the blockchain, and the network moves on to yet unprocessed transactions. In case there is a dispute, then the longest chain is considered to be correct. A new block is created every 10 minutes, on average. [Satoshi Nakamoto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satoshi_Nakamoto), the anonymous designer of the protocol, stated that design and coding of Bitcoin began in 2007. The project was released in 2009 as [open source software](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source_software). The network requires minimal structure to share transactions. An [ad hoc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hoc) decentralized network of volunteers is sufficient. Messages are broadcast on a [best-effort](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best-effort_delivery) basis, and nodes can leave and rejoin the network at will. Upon reconnection, a node downloads and verifies new blocks from other nodes to complete its local copy of the blockchain. [https://opensea.io/assets/0x162CDEb925FE36A23cbAA1CE76A624385EaF48cA/2](https://opensea.io/assets/0x162CDEb925FE36A23cbAA1CE76A624385EaF48cA/2) --- *Originally published on [Mikel Zuev](https://paragraph.com/@zipulya/bitcoin-network)*