What is bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a consensus network, contributing to a new payment system and a fully digital currency. It is the first decentralized peer-to-peer payment network, which is controlled by its users without a central management organization or middleman. From the user's point of view, bitcoin is much like Internet cash. Bitcoin can also be regarded as the most outstanding three style bookkeeping system.

Who controls the bitcoin network?

No one owns the bitcoin network, just as no one owns the technology behind email. Bitcoin is controlled by all bitcoin users around the world. Developers can improve the software, but they can't change the rules of bitcoin protocol by force, because all users are free to choose the software they want to use. In order to keep compatibility with each other, all users need to choose software that follows the same rules. Only when all users reach a complete consensus can bitcoin work properly. Therefore, all users and developers are motivated to accept and protect this consensus.

How does bitcoin work?

From the user's point of view, bitcoin is a mobile application or computer program, which can provide a personal bitcoin wallet with which users can pay and receive bitcoin. This is how bitcoin works for most users.

Behind the scenes, the entire bitcoin network shares a common ledger called "blockchain.". This general ledger contains every transaction processed, so that the user's computer can verify the validity of each transaction. The authenticity of each transaction is protected by the electronic signature corresponding to the sending address, which enables users to have complete control over the bitcoin transferred out from their own bitcoin address. In addition, anyone can use the computing power of specialized hardware to process transactions and get a bitcoin reward for it. This service is often referred to as "mining.".