BITCOIN 101

UNDERSTANDING BITCOIN: SOUND MONEY

Properties and Functions of Money

Store of Value  (TIME)

• Scarcity: There will only be 21 million bitcoin. Nearly 95% has already been issued. 99% by 2035. Last bitcoin will be mined in 2140.
• Durability: Digital bearer asset secured by physical energy. 16-year history with >99% uptime, 24/7/365.

Medium of Exchange  (SPACE)

• Verifiability/Acceptability – cryptographic signatures prove individual ownership. Don’t trust, verify. More businesses are saying “Pay me in bitcoin”.
• Portability: Can transfer value globally in minutes, with each block mined on average every 10 minutes, or via the Lightning Network at the speed of light.

Unit of Account (SCALES)

• Divisibility : There are 100 million sats in one bitcoin - like cents to the dollar. Sats are short for Satoshis, the creator of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto.
• Fungibility: one bitcoin is the same as another. 1 BTC = 1 BTC.

The 7th Property a Censorship Resistance 

• Immutability: Bitcoin’s rules cannot be changed without consensus among participants in the network. Most importantly, the money can’t be debased.