Learn Bitcoin
Five short steps from "I keep hearing about this" to genuinely understanding what Bitcoin is — and how to take your first steps safely.
What is money, really?
Money is just a tool we use to store and exchange value. Good money is hard to produce, easy to verify, and holds its value over time. Throughout history people have used shells, beads, salt and gold — and each worked until someone found a way to make a lot more of it cheaply. When the supply explodes, savers lose.
So what is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is digital money with a fixed supply of 21 million coins that no person, company or government controls. It launched in 2009 and runs on a worldwide network of computers that all agree on who owns what. You can hold it yourself, send it to anyone, and no one can quietly create more of it.
Fixed supply
21 million, forever. The schedule is fixed in the software.
No middleman
Send value directly, peer to peer, with no bank in between.
Open to all
Anyone with a phone can use it. No permission needed.
Self-custody
Hold your own coins — no account that can be frozen.
How does it work?
Transactions are grouped into blocks and added to a shared ledger called the blockchain, roughly every ten minutes. A global process called mining secures that ledger and releases new coins on a fixed schedule. About every four years the rate of new coins is cut in half — the halving — until the last coin is issued around the year 2140.
You can watch this happening live on the network page — the block height and coins-mined figures update as the network runs.
Words you'll hear
- Wallet
- An app that stores the keys controlling your bitcoin — not the coins themselves.
- Private key / seed
- The secret that proves the coins are yours. Whoever holds it controls the funds.
- Satoshi (sat)
- The smallest unit — 1 bitcoin = 100,000,000 sats. You don't need to buy a whole coin.
- Node
- A computer running Bitcoin that checks and enforces the rules for itself.
- Halving
- The ~4-yearly event that cuts the rate of new coins in half.
- Cold storage
- Keeping your keys offline (e.g. a hardware wallet) for extra security.
Taking your first steps
- 1
Learn before you buy. Watch a couple of the videos and read an essay first. Understanding comes before owning.
- 2
Start small. You can buy a few pounds' worth of sats. There's no need to buy a whole bitcoin.
- 3
Use a reputable exchange. Choose a well-known, regulated platform in your country to make your first purchase.
- 4
Learn self-custody. Once you're comfortable, move your coins to your own wallet and back up your seed phrase offline. "Not your keys, not your coins."
- 5
Keep learning. Bitcoin rewards patience and curiosity far more than rushing.
A note: nothing here is financial advice. Bitcoin's price can move sharply. Only ever risk what you can afford to lose, and do your own research.
Ready to take the first step?
See how far a little goes, how to buy your first sats safely, and where to keep them.