What is bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a digital currency. This means that it exists only as an electronic record, and, unlike physical currency, you cannot hold it in your hand. You can send and receive money using bitcoin (just as you can with other methods), as well as pay for things and services with bitcoin. Bitcoin is interchangeable with traditional money.

There are exchanges where you can buy and sell bitcoin. There are many other digital currencies, but bitcoin is the first and the most popular. Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate, with no central authority or banks managing transactions, and the issuing of bitcoin is carried out collectively by the network.

Bitcoin is open source—its design is public; nobody owns or controls bitcoin, and everybody can use it. Bitcoin is digital and decentralized. For the first time in history, people can exchange value without intermediaries, which translates to greater control of funds and lower fees.

It's a cryptocurrency, which means it's secured by design.