Bitcoin is a consensus network that enables a new payment system and is a completely new digital money. It is the first decentralized peer-to-peer payment network that is powered by its users with no central authority or middlemen. Nobody owns the Bitcoin network much like no one owns the technology behind email. Bitcoin is controlled by all Bitcoin users around the world. It can be seen as the most prominent triple entry bookkeeping system in existence.

From a user perspective, Bitcoin is pretty much like cash for the Internet. Bitcoin payments are easier to make than debit or credit card purchases, and can be received without a merchant account. Payments are made from a wallet application, either on your computer or smartphone, by entering the recipient’s address, the payment amount, and pressing send. To make it easier to enter a recipient’s address, many wallets can obtain the address by scanning a QR code or touching two phones together with NFC technology.