What is Bitcoin (BTC)?

Bitcoin is a decentralized cryptocurrency originally described in a 2008 white paper by a person or group of people using the alias Satoshi Nakamoto. It was launched soon after, in January 2009.


Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer online currency, meaning that all transactions take place directly between the same, independent participants in the network, without the need for an intermediary to authorize or facilitate them. Bitcoin was created, in Nakamoto's own words, to allow "online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution."


Bitcoin

What makes Bitcoin unique?

Bitcoin's most unique advantage comes from the fact that it was the very first cryptocurrency to hit the market. It has managed to create a global community and birth a whole new industry of millions of enthusiasts who create, invest in, trade and use Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in their daily lives. The emergence of the first cryptocurrency created a conceptual and technological foundation that subsequently inspired the development of thousands of competing projects.

The entire cryptocurrency market – now worth more than $2 trillion – is based on the idea realized by Bitcoin: money that can be sent and received by anyone, anywhere in the world, without relying on trusted intermediaries such as banks and financial services companies .

Thanks to its pioneering nature, BTC remains at the top of this energy market after more than a decade of existence. Even after losing its undisputed dominance, Bitcoin remains the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, surpassing the $1 trillion mark in 2021 after the price of Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $64,863.10 on April 14, 2021. part of the growing institutional interest in Bitcoin and the ubiquity of platforms that provide use cases for BTC: wallets, exchanges, payment services, online games and more.