BTC/USD - Bitcoin US Dollar

Bitcoin is a decentralized peer-to-peer digital currency that is powered by its users with no central authority or middlemen.

The Bitcoin network shares a public ledger called "blockchain". This ledger contains every transaction ever processed, allowing a user's computer to verify the validity of each transaction. The authenticity of each transaction is protected by digital signatures corresponding to sending addresses, allowing all users to have full control over sending Bitcoins from their own Bitcoin addresses. In addition, anyone can process transactions using the computing power of specialized hardware and earn a reward in Bitcoins for this service. This is often called "mining".

Blockchain is a digital ledger in which transactions made in Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency are recorded chronologically and publicly.

Mining is the process of spending computation power to secure Bitcoin transactions against reversal and introducing new Bitcoins to the system. Technically speaking, mining is the calculation of a hash of the block header, which includes among other things a reference to the previous block, a hash of a set of transactions and a nonce (an arbitrary number used just once for authentication purposes).

The most common way to buy Bitcoin is through Bitcoin Exchanges such as GDAX or BitStamp, or directly from other people via marketplaces and auction site. Purchases can be made in a variety of ways, ranging from hard cash to credit and debit cards to wire transfers, or even using other cryptocurrencies.

A “wallet” is basically the Bitcoin equivalent of a bank account. It allows you to receive bitcoins, store them, then send them to others. There are two main types of wallets, software and web. A software wallet is one that you install on your own computer or mobile device. You are in complete control over the security of your coins, but such wallets can sometimes be tricky to install and maintain. A web wallet, or hosted wallet, is one that is hosted by a third party. These are often much easier to use, but you have to trust the provider (host) to maintain high levels of security to protect your coins.