Which Bitcoin question is on your mind?

How could you use this library?

If you are wondering what happens after a lost phone, open Wallets and keys and choose that question. If a word slows you down, use Words and return to your guide.

Where do you start with Bitcoin?

• What is Bitcoin?

  Bitcoin is a system for sending digital money without a bank handling each payment. BTC is the short label for its money. You can send a fraction of one bitcoin.

• What is Bitcoin in one minute?

  Bitcoin is digital money you can send without a bank handling the payment. A public record tracks who can spend it, and computers check that payments follow the rules.

• How does Bitcoin work in 10 minutes?

  Bitcoin lets people send digital money without a bank approving each transfer. To understand it, follow the payment record, the rules and the keys that approve spending.

• Who created Bitcoin?

  Bitcoin was introduced under the name Satoshi Nakamoto. That name appears on the original paper; it does not establish a verified real-world identity.

• Who controls Bitcoin?

  No central operator runs Bitcoin accounts or approves every payment. Different participants propose software, propose blocks and check whether the rules have been followed.

• What is a blockchain?

  A blockchain is a record arranged in linked groups called blocks. Bitcoin uses it to keep a shared history of confirmed payments that many computers can check.

• What is mining in simple words?

  Mining is the computing work used to propose new blocks for Bitcoin. Miners spend energy doing that work, and other computers check whether a proposed block follows the rules.

• What is the Bitcoin halving?

  The halving is a rule that cuts the new bitcoin allowed in a block in half. It changes the creation of new bitcoin, not the amount already in your wallet.

• What if all bitcoin is mined?

  Under Bitcoin's current rules, new bitcoin creation eventually ends. Payments can still be recorded, with transaction fees providing payment to miners instead of a new-coin subsidy.

• Is Bitcoin legal in Canada?

  Canada permits crypto-asset activity subject to applicable laws, but Bitcoin is not legal tender. Tax rules and rules for businesses offering services still matter.

• Is Bitcoin anonymous?

  Bitcoin is not automatically anonymous. The payment history is public, and an address can become connected to a person even though the record does not simply list everyone by name.

• Does Bitcoin need the internet?

  To send a payment to the network or see current payment information, your wallet needs a way to communicate with it. Keeping keys offline is different from broadcasting a payment.

• Is a physical bitcoin real bitcoin?

  Bitcoin itself is digital money recorded on the network. A metal coin, picture or printed token is a physical object; it is not by itself proof that you control any bitcoin.

• Is Bitcoin the same as crypto?

  No. Crypto is a broad label for digital assets and related systems. Bitcoin is a particular system within that category, with its own record and rules.

How do money and value fit together?

• Why does Bitcoin have value?

  Bitcoin has value when people are willing to accept it or give something in exchange for it. Its transfer features and supply rules can matter to them, but no rule guarantees a price.

• Is Bitcoin real money?

  Bitcoin can function as money when people agree to accept it for a payment. That does not mean every shop accepts it or that it keeps the same spending value.

• What is a satoshi?

  A satoshi is a small unit of bitcoin, often called a sat. One bitcoin contains 100,000,000 satoshis, so sats let you describe small amounts without many decimal places.

• Do I pay tax on bitcoin in Canada?

  Your Bitcoin activity can have Canadian tax implications. The CRA says disposing of crypto-assets can produce business income or losses, or capital gains or losses, depending on the circumstances.

• Why does Bitcoin's price change?

  Bitcoin's price changes because the amounts buyers and sellers are willing to accept change. Its supply rules do not fix what someone will pay for it.

• Is there a limit to bitcoin?

  Yes. Bitcoin's current rules cap the total supply at 21 million BTC. Checking computers reject blocks that create more new bitcoin than those rules allow.

What do you need to know about wallets?

• What do wallets and keys do?

  A wallet helps you manage the keys that approve spending. The bitcoin stays on the shared record. Think of a key ring rather than a purse full of coins.

• What is a Bitcoin wallet?

  A Bitcoin wallet is software or a device that helps manage keys and payments. The bitcoin is recorded on the network; the wallet helps you approve spending it.

• What is a seed phrase?

  A seed phrase is an ordered list of words used by many wallets to restore spending keys. Anyone who gets the necessary recovery information may be able to spend the bitcoin.

• What happens if I lose my phone?

  Losing your phone does not erase bitcoin from the public record. Whether you can use it again depends on your wallet backup or the recovery process of the service holding the keys.

• What is a Bitcoin address?

  A Bitcoin address is a destination for receiving a payment. You can share it with a sender; it is different from the private key or recovery words that approve spending.

• What is a private key?

  A private key is secret information used to approve spending bitcoin. Your wallet uses it to make a digital signature that other computers can check without seeing the key itself.

• Are recovery words a password?

  Recovery words are not an ordinary account password. Many wallets use them to rebuild spending keys, while a password may protect a device, wallet file or service login.

• Can I have more than one wallet?

  Yes. You can use more than one wallet, but separate wallet screens do not necessarily mean separate keys. What matters is which keys each wallet controls.

What happens during a Bitcoin payment?

• How do I receive bitcoin?

  Use your wallet's receive option to get a receiving address, then share it with the sender. Make sure you both mean bitcoin on the same network, and check the payment status in your wallet.

• How long does a Bitcoin payment take?

  There is no guaranteed waiting time for a Bitcoin payment. It can appear in a wallet before a block includes it, and the recipient may wait for further confirmations.

• Can a Bitcoin payment be reversed?

  A confirmed Bitcoin payment has no central operator who can cancel it for you. The recipient can choose to send a new payment back, but that is a refund rather than an undo button.

• Why are there Bitcoin fees?

  A Bitcoin transaction fee helps pay a miner to include a payment in a block. Space in blocks is limited, so demand for that space can affect the fee people offer.

• Who gets the Bitcoin fee?

  The miner whose block is accepted can claim the transaction fees from that block. A separate charge from an exchange or other service may go to that operator instead.

• What if I send to the wrong address?

  If a confirmed payment reaches a wrong destination, Bitcoin has no central help desk that can return it. A recipient who controls that destination may choose to send a refund.

• Do I pay a fee to receive bitcoin?

  For a normal Bitcoin network payment, the sender includes the transaction fee. You do not need to send a separate payment to the network to make an incoming payment arrive.

What should you understand about exchanges?

• What is a crypto exchange?

  A crypto exchange is a service or system for swapping digital assets for other assets or money. The important first question is who controls the keys while you use it.

• Can I buy part of a bitcoin?

  Yes. Bitcoin amounts can be fractions of a whole bitcoin. A service may set its own minimum purchase, so the network's units and a service's terms are different questions.

• What is a Bitcoin ATM?

  A Bitcoin ATM is a machine that lets you exchange cash for crypto-assets. Some also let you exchange crypto-assets for cash; the available services depend on the operator.

• Is there a minimum bitcoin purchase?

  You do not have to buy a whole bitcoin. A service can set its own minimum purchase or withdrawal, and those limits are separate from Bitcoin's small units.

• Is an exchange the same as a wallet?

  An exchange helps people swap assets. A wallet helps manage keys and payments. A service can offer both functions, so the name on the screen does not settle who holds the keys.

• Can bitcoin be turned into cash?

  Bitcoin can be exchanged for government-issued money when a buyer or service agrees to the exchange. The Bitcoin network itself does not promise to redeem it for cash.

Which safety questions come first?

• Can Bitcoin be hacked?

  Bitcoin is not a promise of perfect safety. Attacks on a device or service account, stolen keys and attacks on the network are different problems with different consequences.

• How do scammers use Bitcoin?

  Scammers may ask you to send bitcoin or reveal the information that controls it. They use a story to gain your trust; the Bitcoin network cannot check whether that story is honest.

• Can someone copy my bitcoin?

  Copying a picture or a copy of the blockchain does not create extra spendable bitcoin. Copying a private key is different: it can give someone access to spending the existing amount.

How do you tell similar coin names apart?

• What does the Bitcoin family mean?

  Similar names can refer to different assets. Bitcoin (BTC), coins that split from it, and the Bitcoin Ecosystem project family need separate explanations.

• How do other coins differ?

  Other coins can use different rules and serve different purposes. Ethereum runs programs on a blockchain. Stablecoins aim to track a reference value. Neither is the same as Bitcoin.

• What is a stablecoin?

  A stablecoin is a token designed to track a reference such as the US dollar. The word stable describes an aim, not a guarantee that you can always exchange it at that value.

• What is Ethereum?

  Ethereum is a blockchain platform that can run programs called smart contracts. Its native asset is called ether, with the short label ETH. It is a different system from Bitcoin.

• Is a token the same as a coin?

  People use coin and token in different ways. Often coin means a network's native asset, while token means an asset recorded through a platform. The labels alone are not enough to identify either.

Where can you look up a Bitcoin word?

• What does that word mean?

  You do not need to learn every word at once. Look up the one you have just met, then return to your guide.

How can you learn with Bitcoin 101?

• How can you learn Bitcoin from the start?

  Bitcoin 101 is a free course with six short lessons. Each has learning goals, an example, a diagram and a five-question practice quiz. You can start without buying anything.

• What is Bitcoin actually doing?

  Bitcoin lets people send digital money without a bank handling the payment. Start by separating the payment record, the rules and the keys that approve spending.

• What do Bitcoin units and supply mean?

  A bitcoin can be divided into smaller amounts. The supply rules limit new creation, but neither divisibility nor a supply cap promises a market price.

• What can you share and what stays secret?

  Share a receiving address when someone needs a payment destination. Keep private keys and recovery words secret because they can give access to spending.

• How can you follow a Bitcoin payment?

  A payment is approved, shared with the network and checked before a block can record it. A waiting payment and a confirmed payment are different states.

• What does a Bitcoin account promise?

  A service balance is a claim within that service's account system. Understand who holds the keys, what withdrawals allow and which risks remain outside Bitcoin's rules.

• How can you tell digital assets apart?

  Start with an asset's full name, network and rules. Bitcoin, fork coins, stablecoins and project family descriptions are different things even when names sound similar.