FAQ on Bitcoin
Source: Bitcoin.org
Who controls the Bitcoin network?
Nobody owns the Bitcoin network much like no one owns the technology behind email.
Bitcoin is controlled by all Bitcoin users around the world. While developers are
improving the software, they can't force a change in the Bitcoin protocol because
all users are free to choose what software and version they use. In order to stay
compatible with each other, all users need to use software complying with the same
rules. Bitcoin can only work correctly with a complete consensus among all users.
Therefore, all users and developers have a strong incentive to protect this consensus.
How does Bitcoin work?
From a user perspective, Bitcoin is nothing more than a mobile app or computer
program that provides a personal Bitcoin wallet and allows a user to send and receive
bitcoins with them. This is how Bitcoin works for most users.
Behind the scenes, the Bitcoin network is sharing a public ledger called the "block
chain". 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 the 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". To learn more about Bitcoin, you can consult the dedicated page and
the original paper.
Is Bitcoin really used by people?
Yes. There is a growing number of businesses and individuals using Bitcoin. This
includes brick and mortar businesses like restaurants, apartments, law firms, and
popular online services such as Namecheap, WordPress, Reddit and Flattr. While Bitcoin
remains a relatively new phenomenon, it is growing fast. At the end of August 2013,
the value of all bitcoins in circulation exceeded US$ 1.5 billion with millions of
dollars worth of bitcoins exchanged daily.
