Bitcoin (BTC)
The first widely adopted cryptocurrency, using proof of work and an issuance schedule capped near 21 million BTC under current rules.
- Acronym
- BTC
- Also known as
- BTCBitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin (BTC) is a decentralized digital currency introduced by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009. It lets users send value over a peer-to-peer network without a central issuer, with transactions recorded on a public blockchain.
Bitcoin uses Proof of Work, where miners spend energy and hardware resources to compete for blocks. Nodes enforce the consensus rules, including the 21 million coin supply cap and valid transaction requirements.
Bitcoin's base layer has limited block capacity, which can lead to higher fees during congestion. Scaling approaches include fee markets, batching, SegWit, and layer-2 systems such as Lightning. Bitcoin Cash split from Bitcoin in 2017 to pursue larger base-layer blocks.
Related terms
Explore connected entries beyond the alphabetical index.
Blockchain
→A distributed ledger made of cryptographically linked blocks that record transactions under shared consensus rules.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
→A proof-of-work cryptocurrency that split from Bitcoin in 2017 and follows a separate on-chain scaling and CashVM roadmap.
Mining
→Proof-of-work block production in which miners build candidate blocks and search for a header hash below the network target.