Convert Bitcoin BTC to US Dollar USD

Bitcoin was introduced in a 2008 whitepaper by “Satoshi Nakamoto,” whose real-world identity remains unknown. Nakamoto launched the network in January 2009 and stepped away from public involvement in 2010; development has since continued as an open-source, community-driven effort.

Users broadcast transactions to a global peer-to-peer network. Miners bundle those transactions into blocks and compete to solve a proof-of-work puzzle; the winning block becomes part of the blockchain, making its transactions effectively immutable. This design removes central control and relies on cryptography and economic incentives.

Bitcoin’s maximum supply is 21,000,000 BTC. New BTC enter circulation as block rewards to miners, and that reward halves every 210,000 blocks (about four years) in an event called the “halving.” After the fourth halving on April 20, 2024, the block reward is 3.125 BTC; the next halving is expected in 2028. The final coins are projected to be mined around the year 2140.

Bitcoin targets a new block roughly every 10 minutes. To keep that average despite changes in mining power, the network automatically adjusts mining difficulty every 2,016 blocks (about once every two weeks).

Bitcoin uses proof-of-work (PoW). Miners perform computations to find a hash below a protocol-defined target using the SHA-256 hashing algorithm, securing the network and making past transactions prohibitively expensive to alter.

Taproot was a 2021 soft-fork upgrade that bundled BIPs 340/341/342. It introduced Schnorr signatures, MAST (Merkelized Abstract Syntax Trees), and Tapscript to improve efficiency, privacy, and flexibility for advanced spending conditions.

Ordinals (2023) enabled on-chain inscriptions of data tied to individual satoshis, while Runes (launched at the 2024 halving) is a fungible-token protocol designed for simpler, UTXO-friendly token issuance on Bitcoin. Activity from these protocols has at times increased block space demand and fees.

Lightning is a layer-2 payment protocol where users open payment channels and settle many small transactions off-chain, using the base layer only for opening/closing channels. This can enable faster, lower-fee payments while inheriting Bitcoin’s security on settlement.

Yes. On January 10–11, 2024, the U.S. SEC approved multiple spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products, allowing investors to gain BTC price exposure via regulated ETFs from issuers including BlackRock and Fidelity. Later in 2024, options on at least one spot BTC ETF were also approved.

Fees are market-based: users attach fees to transactions, and miners prioritize higher-fee transactions when block space is scarce. Periods of high on-chain activity - such as inscription or token-launch surges - can raise average fees until demand cools.

Running a full node validates all blocks and transactions against consensus rules, helping preserve decentralization; it does not earn block rewards. Mining adds the competitive proof-of-work step to propose new blocks and earn block rewards and fees, typically requiring specialized ASIC hardware and access to low-cost electricity.

You can hold BTC in self-custody wallets (where you control private keys) or with custodial services (which hold keys for you). Self-custody options include software wallets and hardware wallets; safeguarding seed phrases is critical because loss of keys usually means loss of funds.

Yes, but cautiously. Changes are proposed as Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIPs) and adopted only with broad consensus. Backward-compatible “soft forks” (e.g., SegWit, Taproot) are preferred; “hard forks” create incompatible rule sets and typically result in separate chains.

BCH split from BTC in 2017 after disagreements over scaling. BTC prioritized conservative base-layer changes plus off-chain and side-chain scaling (e.g., SegWit, Lightning), while BCH increased on-chain block size to fit more transactions per block.

Block subsidies will asymptotically reach zero; miner revenue will rely primarily on transaction fees. The supply cap is designed to be effectively 21 million BTC, with the last fraction expected around 2140.

Legality varies by jurisdiction. Many countries permit trading on regulated exchanges, and in the U.S. investors can also access spot BTC ETFs approved in January 2024; always check local regulations and risk disclosures.