Bitcoin is a digital currency changing the way the world sends, spends, and saves money. Unlike the cash in your pocket, bitcoin is 100% digital and uses blockchain technology.

How do bitcoin transactions work?

When you own bitcoin, you hold it in a digital storage space called a wallet. Bitcoin wallets can generate unique deposit addresses that change after every transaction. Think of an address like a confirmation code that changes after each login attempt. Your wallet address changes to keep your info safe. You can send or receive bitcoin from one wallet to another using these dynamic wallet addresses.

When you send or receive bitcoin, those transactions are processed by the bitcoin blockchain. The blockchain is a public, distributed digital database that tracks and verifies bitcoin transactions securely with cryptography–a way of keeping information safe through codes. The blockchain uses a decentralized network of many computers, instead of just one or a few, which helps make sure transactions can’t be manipulated or be processed twice.

Who created bitcoin?

Bitcoin was created in 2008 by an anonymous person or group of people who called themselves Satoshi Nakamoto. Nakamoto introduced bitcoin to the world in a white paper called Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.

In the white paper, bitcoin is described as a peer-to-peer version of electronic cash. Peer-to-peer means that bitcoin lets online payments be sent directly from one person to another without going through a financial institution like an exchange or a bank. The paper describes why this matters and how this is made possible by using blockchain technology and a network of computers to create bitcoin, and power, track, and secure transactions across the world.

For more information on the story of bitcoin, check out Cash App’s My First Bitcoin.