What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin (BTC) is a decentralized digital currency originally described in a thesis paper in 2008 and launched in 2009 by pseudonymous  computer programmer Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoins have real-world value and can be traded or exchanged for almost any world currency, as well as an increasing number of goods and services.

The production of Bitcoin and rate of introduction into the Bitcoin economy is governed by an open-source program (the “Bitcoin Protocol�