Bitcoin 101
Everything you need to understand Bitcoin — from the basics of how it works to why it matters as a store of value alongside gold.
Suggested Learning Path
New to Bitcoin? Follow this sequence for the best understanding.
What Is Bitcoin, Really? A Plain-English Explanation
Bitcoin is digital money with a fixed supply of 21 million coins, created and secured by a global network of computers rather than by a government or bank. Launched in January 2009, it allows anyone to send and receive value over the internet without asking permission from an intermediary. Its supply schedule is written into software that no company, country, or individual controls. The problem bitcoin was built to solve
Is Bitcoin Too Volatile to Be a Store of Value?
Bitcoin is far more volatile than gold. It has fallen more than 70 percent from its peak on several occasions, including a drawdown of roughly 77 percent in 2022. Whether that disqualifies it as a store of value depends on your time horizon: volatility measures the roughness of the ride, while a store of value is judged by where you end up. What volatility actually measures
What Is Self-Custody? Keys, Wallets, and Seed Phrases Explained
Self-custody means holding the private keys that control your bitcoin yourself, instead of trusting an exchange or custodian to hold them for you. In practice, it means safeguarding a seed phrase: a list of 12 or 24 ordinary words that can restore your entire wallet. Whoever knows those words controls the bitcoin, which makes self-custody both powerful and unforgiving. What a private key actually is
How Is Bitcoin Valued? Supply, Demand, and the Monetary Premium
Bitcoin is valued the way gold is valued: by supply and demand for a scarce monetary asset, not by discounting cash flows. It pays no dividends and has no earnings. Its price reflects what buyers will pay for one of at most 21 million coins, of which more than 19.8 million already circulate. The concept that makes sense of this is the monetary premium. No cash flows, so what anchors the price?
What Is the Bitcoin Halving and Why Does It Matter?
The bitcoin halving is a scheduled event, occurring every 210,000 blocks or roughly every four years, that cuts the issuance of new bitcoin in half. At the most recent halving in April 2024, the reward paid to miners fell from 6.25 to 3.125 bitcoin per block. It matters because it makes bitcoin the only major monetary asset whose new supply shrinks on a fixed, public timetable. How new bitcoin enters circulation
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