This article explains what Bitcoin is and how it works. It is not financial advice. The Financial Conduct Authority warns that cryptoassets are high risk and that you should be prepared to lose all the money you put in.
Bitcoin is a digital currency that is not issued or controlled by any government or bank. Instead, it runs on a network of computers around the world that keep a shared record of every transaction. It began as an experiment in 2009 and is now the best-known cryptocurrency in the world. Here are 15 fascinating facts about Bitcoin.
1It was described in a nine-page paper in 2008.
On 31 October 2008, someone using the name Satoshi Nakamoto published a short paper called “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”, describing a way to send money online without a bank in the middle.
2Nobody knows who Satoshi Nakamoto is.
Satoshi stopped communicating publicly in 2011 and has never been identified. Several people have been named as possible candidates. In 2024 the High Court in London ruled that the Australian computer scientist Craig Wright, who had claimed to be Satoshi, was not.
3The first block contains a newspaper headline.
The first block of Bitcoin’s record, known as the genesis block, was created on 3 January 2009. Hidden in it is a headline from that day’s Times: “Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks”, seen as a comment on the financial crisis.
4Someone once paid 10,000 bitcoins for two pizzas.
On 22 May 2010, programmer Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 bitcoins for two Papa John’s pizzas, one of the first known purchases made with Bitcoin. Fans now celebrate 22 May as Bitcoin Pizza Day.
5There will only ever be 21 million bitcoins.
Bitcoin’s rules limit the total supply to 21 million coins. Most have already been created, and the last fraction of a bitcoin is expected to be issued around the year 2140.
6New bitcoins are created by “mining”.
Miners use powerful computers to compete to solve a mathematical puzzle. The winner adds the next block of transactions to the record and is rewarded with new bitcoins.
7The reward halves roughly every four years.
Every 210,000 blocks, roughly every four years, the reward for mining a block is cut in half. This “halving” last happened in April 2024, when the reward fell to 3.125 bitcoins per block.
8A bitcoin can be split into 100 million pieces.
The smallest unit of Bitcoin is called a satoshi, after its creator. One bitcoin is made up of 100 million satoshis.
9A bug once created 184 billion bitcoins.
In August 2010 someone exploited a flaw in Bitcoin’s software to create more than 184 billion bitcoins in a single transaction. Developers fixed the bug within hours and the network rejected the fake coins.
10Transactions are public, but names are not.
Every Bitcoin transaction is recorded on a public ledger called the blockchain, which anyone can view. Transactions show wallet addresses rather than names, but investigators can often trace who is behind them.
11Payments cannot be reversed.
Once a Bitcoin payment has been confirmed, it cannot be cancelled or refunded by a bank, which is one reason it is popular with scammers. If you lose the private key to your wallet, your bitcoins are lost for good.
12A Welsh man’s bitcoins are buried in a landfill site.
James Howells says he accidentally threw away a hard drive holding 8,000 bitcoins in 2013, and that it ended up in a landfill site in Newport. Newport City Council refused to let him dig for it, and in 2025 the High Court threw out his legal claim.
13El Salvador made it legal tender, then changed its mind.
In September 2021 El Salvador became the first country to make Bitcoin legal tender alongside the US dollar. In 2025, as part of a loan deal with the International Monetary Fund, it changed the law so that businesses no longer have to accept it.
14It uses as much electricity as some countries.
Mining Bitcoin takes enormous amounts of computing power. Researchers at the University of Cambridge estimate that the network uses about as much electricity in a year as a medium-sized country. China, once home to most mining, banned it in 2021.
15Crypto ATMs are illegal in the UK.
Crypto cash machines must be registered with the Financial Conduct Authority, and the FCA says none are. In 2024 Olumide Osunkoya became the first person in the UK to plead guilty to running illegal crypto ATMs, after his machines processed more than £2.6 million of transactions.
FAQs about Bitcoin
Is Bitcoin legal in the UK?
Yes, it is legal to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin in the UK. However, most cryptoassets are not regulated in the same way as bank accounts or investments, so you are unlikely to get your money back if something goes wrong.
Who created Bitcoin?
Bitcoin was created by a person or group using the name Satoshi Nakamoto, whose real identity is still unknown.
How many bitcoins are there?
The total supply is limited to 21 million, and most of them have already been mined.
Sources and further reading
- FCA InvestSmart: crypto basics
- FCA: Olumide Osunkoya pleads guilty to illegally operating crypto ATM network
- Satoshi Nakamoto: Bitcoin, a peer-to-peer electronic cash system (2008)
- Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index
Explore more: facts about stocks and shares and facts about mortgages.
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