Since the launch of the white paper in 2008, Bitcoin has received unprecedented attention, especially since the first transaction of Bitcoin and its ten million fold increase in ten years, every sharp rise and fall of Bitcoin has become the focus of attention and caused huge controversy.

So, what is Bitcoin?

01 The "last puzzle" of the Internet?

As we all know, before the advent of Bitcoin, the Internet was undoubtedly the brightest star in the past 20 years. The Internet has indeed brought about tremendous changes in people's lives.

On the Internet, if I want to send you a photo, it is easy to use WeChat, QQ or email.

But after you received the photo, the photo in my hand did not disappear out of thin air. In other words, you receive a copy of this photo.

When sending photos, videos or files, we can send copies to each other, but what about the money? This is definitely not feasible. It is impossible for me to transfer 100 yuan to you and you receive it, but I still have 100 yuan in my hand. This is called "Double Flowers".

There is no way to solve the problem of "double flowers" with Internet technology alone. So, we can use WeChat, Alipay, UnionPay and other funds to pay directly. What's the matter?

This is because we rely on WeChat, Alipay, UnionPay and other giant intermediaries to solve the "double flower" problem that cannot be solved by Internet technology alone.

That is to say, after I transfer 100 yuan to you, these intermediaries deduct 100 yuan from my account and increase your account by 100 yuan, thus solving the problem of "double spending" of 100 yuan.

However, Bitcoin perfectly solves this problem. I will transfer one Bitcoin to you. After you receive this Bitcoin, my account will lose one Bitcoin. In this process, there is no need for the participation of giant intermediate institutions. The unique internal mechanism of Bitcoin perfectly solves the "double spending" problem.

It can be said that the emergence of Bitcoin complements the last piece of the puzzle of Internet technology, that is, it does not rely on intermediaries to realize the transfer of value (for example, a Bitcoin is transferred from my account to your account). Therefore, the emergence of Bitcoin immediately became the focus of attention, and its underlying technology blockchain was also known as the "Internet of Value".

02 How does Bitcoin work?

We said that Bitcoin complements the "last puzzle" of the Internet, solves the "double flowers" problem on the basis of not relying on intermediaries, and realizes the free flow of value.

So, how does Bitcoin work?

We can regard the operation process of Bitcoin as a large-scale game. The rules of the game are as follows:

1. Anyone can join in or quit at any time, provided that the computer is prepared as a game tool.
2. The higher the number and configuration of computer chips, the greater the probability of obtaining Bitcoin system rewards.
3. Bitcoin can be transferred to other people at will, but the transfer record of Bitcoin will be sent to everyone for keeping.
4. Unless most people agree, no one can modify the game rules and transfer records without authorization.

Because there is Bitcoin as a reward, when I transfer a Bitcoin to you, these people who participate in the game will rush to keep accounts. Reduce one bitcoin from my account and add one bitcoin to your account, and then back up and save the transfer records to all participants in the game. The underlying technology of bitcoin ensures that these records cannot be tampered with.

As mentioned above, when using Alipay to transfer money, we need to rely on Alipay, a giant organization, to record the transfer for us and solve the "double flowers" problem.

Then, when using Bitcoin to transfer money, we do not need to rely on other intermediaries. By using Bitcoin's internal technology and incentive mechanism, we can ensure that all participants in the game keep accounts together, so as to solve the "double flowers" problem and realize the transfer of value.

This is also the reason why Bitcoin can be decentralized and disintermediated.

So, what kind of magic does Bitcoin have that can mobilize tens of thousands of people around the world to participate in bookkeeping? What's the difference between Bitcoin and Q-coin? We'll talk about these next time.