Bitcoin was created in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto. Satoshi Nakamoto is currently unidentified and could be one or multiple people.

Bitcoin are currently created through mining, and this will continue until 21, 000, 000 are created. Mining helps to ensure the network is secure and transactions are processed.

When you send bitcoin your transaction is added to the bitcoin ledger in a new block and it will remain there as long as bitcoin exists. For a transaction to be made, first the system checks that you have the available bitcoin, and that you have not already tried to send these coins. After that the transaction is added to the mempool, this is a group of bitcoin transactions waiting to be processed. With a larger transaction fee your payment is more likely to be processed quickly. Miners currently make money to pay for their electricity and equipment by mining and selling new coins, once all coins are mined it is expected that fees from transaction will be enough to cover the cost of supporting the network.

To learn more about the origin of bitcoin and how Satoshi Nakamoto originally saw it you can read or listen to the bitcoin white paper.

  • Bitcoin White Paper PDF
  • Bitcoin White Paper Audio Version
  • To keep up-to-date with bitcoin there are many resources online, the bitcoin subreddit, the bitcoin talk forum and of course twitter to see what is currently trending.

    For statistics on bitcoins current and historic performance Coin Dance is a useful resource especially when there are many people with conflicting opinions and vested interests looking to promote their view.