Bitcoin is a digital currency and decentralized payment system that was created in 2009 by an anonymous person or group of people using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. It was the first cryptocurrency to gain widespread recognition and is considered the pioneer of the cryptocurrency industry.
Unlike traditional fiat currencies, such as the US dollar or the Euro, Bitcoin operates on a decentralized network called the blockchain. The blockchain is a public ledger that records all transactions made with Bitcoin. This distributed ledger is maintained by a network of computers, known as nodes, spread across the globe.