What Is Bitcoin? What It Does and Where to Buy It

What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin (BTC) is a decentralized digital currency launched in 2009 by the pseudonymous developer Satoshi Nakamoto. It runs on a public ledger called a blockchain, maintained by thousands of independent computers around the world. No bank, company or government controls it.

Every ten minutes on average, miners bundle recent transactions into a block and add it to the chain. Doing so requires real electricity and specialised hardware, which is what makes rewriting Bitcoin's history economically impossible.

What is Bitcoin used for?

• Store of value — its supply is capped at 21 million coins, which is why many investors treat it as "digital gold" and a hedge against currency debasement.
• Cross-border payments — send value to anyone, anywhere, without a bank, in minutes.
• Censorship-resistant savings — widely used in countries with capital controls or high inflation.
• Collateral and settlement — used by exchanges, funds and lenders as a base asset.
• Trading — BTC is the most liquid crypto pair on almost every exchange, which is why arbitrage opportunities appear there first.

How Bitcoin's supply works

New BTC enters circulation through mining rewards, and that reward is cut in half roughly every four years in an event called the halving. This predictable, decreasing issuance is the core of Bitcoin's monetary policy — the last coin is expected to be mined around the year 2140.

Where can you buy Bitcoin?

BTC is available almost everywhere crypto is traded. The main venue types are:

• Centralised exchanges — Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, Bybit, OKX and regional platforms. Easiest for beginners; requires identity verification (KYC).
• Brokers and payment apps — many fintech apps let you buy BTC with a card or bank transfer, usually at a wider spread.
• Peer-to-peer marketplaces — buy directly from another person using escrow. Common where banking access is limited.
• Bitcoin ATMs — convenient but typically the most expensive option in fee terms.
• Spot Bitcoin ETFs — for investors who prefer holding exposure inside a regular brokerage account instead of self-custody.

How to store Bitcoin safely

• Exchange wallet — convenient for active trading, but you do not hold the keys.
• Software wallet — a mobile or desktop app where you control the seed phrase.
• Hardware wallet — a physical device that keeps keys offline; the standard choice for long-term holdings.

Never share your seed phrase, and never store it as a screenshot or in a cloud note.

Risks to understand

Bitcoin is highly volatile — drawdowns of 50% or more have happened several times in its history. It is not insured like a bank deposit, transactions are irreversible, and regulation differs sharply by country. Only allocate what you can genuinely afford to lose.

You can follow the live BTC price, 24h change and volume across major exchanges on the NexPrices crypto page.