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Bitcoin is a decentralized, censorship-resistant, secure, and borderless digital currency created by an anonymous founder called “Satoshi Nakamoto.”
Little is known about Satoshi, with many believing Satoshi was, in fact, a team of people rather than a single creator. Bitcoin is considered the forefather of all cryptocurrencies as it laid the foundation for the entire crypto ecosystem we see today.
Bitcoins are a purely digital currency, with its supply protected by the design of the Bitcoin blockchain protocol. When purchasing bitcoin, you don't need to buy a whole coin; you can buy a small fraction of a bitcoin, called a satoshi, which is one hundred millionth of a bitcoin (0.00000001).
There are no physical bitcoins, only balances kept on the Bitcoin blockchain network that everyone has access to. You can think of Bitcoin as a digital form of cash enabling direct peer-to-peer transfers. However, more recently, given the Bitcoin network’s difficulty in scaling to demand creating slow and expensive transactions, the narrative has shifted to Bitcoin being a kind of “digital gold.” Unlike fiat currencies like dollars or euros, there is no central bank controlling the supply of Bitcoin. Instead, the Bitcoin network is run by thousands of computers run around the world by anyone who wishes to participate.
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