Decentralized, censorship-resistant digital money with a fixed 21 million supply.
Bitcoin is the first and largest cryptocurrency, designed to let people send and receive value directly without relying on banks or payment processors. It replaces trusted intermediaries with a public, decentralized blockchain that anyone can verify. Bitcoin matters because it proved that digital money can operate securely without a central authority, creating the foundation for the entire crypto ecosystem.
Bitcoin launched in 2009, created by Satoshi Nakamoto (pseudonymous). Peer-to-peer electronic cash, an alternative to bank-issued money that could not be censored, frozen, or inflated by a central authority.
When a user sends Bitcoin, the transaction is broadcast to the network and collected by miners, who bundle pending transactions into a block. Miners compete to solve a cryptographic puzzle, and the first to succeed adds the block to the chain and earns newly minted BTC plus fees. Transaction fees are set by the sender and rise during network congestion, since miners prioritize transactions offering higher fees per byte. Bitcoin’s security comes from the immense computational power securing the network — altering past blocks would require re‑doing all subsequent Proof‑of‑Work, which becomes exponentially harder as the chain grows.
Bitcoin uses Proof of Work, where miners compete to solve cryptographic puzzles using computational power. This differs from Proof of Stake, used by Ethereum and Cardano, where validators lock up capital instead of burning energy, and from Delegated Proof of Stake, used by Tron, where token holders vote for validators. PoW gives Bitcoin strong security guarantees at the cost of speed and energy efficiency.
Peer-to-peer value transfer without a bank or intermediary, typically sent from a personal crypto wallet.
Instant, low-fee micropayments using the Lightning Network.
Often described as digital gold due to its fixed supply.
Used for long-term saving strategies thanks to predictable issuance and scarcity.
Sending value internationally without traditional banking rails.
Widely supported at crypto gambling sites for fast, low-friction deposits and withdrawals.
Used as collateral in lending platforms via wrapped versions like WBTC.
Held by companies and funds as a long-term reserve asset.
Bitcoin can be stored in hot wallets (mobile or browser apps connected to the internet, convenient for frequent use) or cold wallets (hardware devices or paper backups kept offline, better for long-term holding). Every wallet is controlled by a private key, and losing that key means losing access to the funds — most wallets generate a 12- or 24-word seed phrase as a human-readable backup. Bitcoin wallets are only compatible with the Bitcoin network and its wrapped derivatives, so always confirm network compatibility before sending funds. Learn more on our wallets guide.
Platforms that support BTC, ranked by rating and featured status.
