What Is Bitcoin (BTC)? How It Works and Where to Track It

Bitcoin (BTC) is the first and largest cryptocurrency by market value. Launched in 2009 by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, it is a peer-to-peer digital money that runs without a bank or central authority. Instead, a global network of computers keeps a shared, tamper-resistant record of every transaction.

How the network works

Transactions are grouped into blocks and linked into a chain — the blockchain. New blocks are added roughly every ten minutes by miners, who compete to solve a computational puzzle. This process, called proof of work, secures the ledger: rewriting history would mean out-computing the entire honest network, which is prohibitively expensive.

Miners are rewarded with newly issued bitcoin plus transaction fees. That issuance is capped: there will only ever be 21 million BTC, and the reward halves roughly every four years in an event known as the halving.

What gives Bitcoin value

Bitcoin has no cash flows, no company behind it and no promise of a return. Its value comes from a mix of properties people find useful: a fixed supply, censorship-resistance, portability and the fact that anyone can verify the rules for themselves. Supporters treat it as “digital gold” — a scarce asset held for the long term. Critics point to its volatility and energy use. Both views are worth understanding before forming your own.

Where to track Bitcoin

On BitAdvent you can follow the live BTC price, 24-hour and 7-day moves, market capitalisation and trend charts on our Bitcoin page, alongside the wider market overview. Prices are drawn from live exchange data and refreshed continuously.

Bitcoin is volatile and high-risk. This article is educational and not financial advice — always do your own research.