Bitcoin price

Bitcoin is the native unit of Bitcoin, a peer-to-peer electronic cash system whose ledger is maintained by independently run nodes. Transactions spend unspent outputs, and miners assemble valid transactions into blocks without a central issuer. The BTC asset is therefore tied to this specific network, protocol, or issuer function rather than to a generic cryptocurrency category.

Bitcoin uses proof of work: miners search for a block hash that satisfies the network target, while full nodes independently validate the result. New BTC enters through block subsidies that halve every 210,000 blocks, producing a total issuance that approaches but does not exceed 21 million BTC under the current consensus rules. These mechanics describe how BTC is produced, issued, redeemed, burned, or used to secure its network; they do not imply any price outcome or investment view.

A distinguishing feature is that Bitcoin combines a permissionless proof-of-work ledger with a predetermined subsidy schedule enforced by validating nodes. The 210,000-block halving interval and the resulting supply limit are protocol rules, not an issuer redemption promise. This named mechanism or use case is the asset-specific fact that separates BTC from tokens that may share a broad category but have different issuance, governance, or settlement designs.