How does Bitcoin work?
Understanding how standardized rules lead to a global network for transactions
Bitcoin works as a set of standardized rules.
In computer terms, standardized rules are known as "protocols", and they enable devices and apps worldwide to communicate with each other. These rules govern how Bitcoin functions as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. The rules are encoded within the Bitcoin software, so when someone downloads and runs the software on their computer (aka node), they become an enforcer of the rules and an active participant in Bitcoin’s operations.
What this means is that Bitcoin operates as a worldwide network of independent nodes, each running the software containing the standardized rules for adding valid transactions to their own copy of the transaction database (called the blockchain).
To better understand how this works, it’s helpful to define some terms:
You can think of it like this: bitcoin is an asset, that's transacted through a network, which is built on a protocol.
Each node can start or stop running the software (join or leave the network), without any problem since they’re each redundant to the system as a whole. Whenever a node joins or rejoins the network, they simply follow the rules to check the validity of the transactions that took place in their absence.
Alongside the nodes are the Bitcoin miners – the computers that confirm bitcoin transactions by grouping them into blocks and adding them to the blockchain. Miners perform computational work in a lottery-style competition to win the right to add the next block and earn a reward for doing so – a system known as “proof-of-work.” Miners also follow the rules of the Bitcoin protocol, because if they don’t, any block they attempt to add risks being rejected as invalid by the nodes, which means their time and efforts will be wasted.
Bitcoin works because nodes and miners follow the same set of rules.
The standardized rules of Bitcoin’s that are encoded within the Bitcoin software define the different aspects of Bitcoin’s operations:
Collectively, these rules define how to form the network, make transactions, and establish the attributes of the bitcoin asset, namely its scarcity and peer-to-peer transactability. When nodes run the software, a network is formed through which bitcoin transactions can be sent.
As more nodes run the software, the rules become more difficult to change. Changing the rules entails creating a new version of the Bitcoin software and getting nodes to download and run that new version. Unlike mandatory smartphone software updates, the Bitcoin software can’t be forced on nodes, as they’re free to download and run whatever version of software they want. Nodes will only download and run software if it’s in their best interest, and will avoid any software that doesn’t.
Additionally, since any block or transaction that violates the rules is automatically rejected by all other nodes, both miners and nodes are incentivized to avoid adopting incompatible rule changes, lest their time and efforts be wasted. Furthermore, bitcoin’s value as an asset is intrinsically linked to the unchanging nature of the rules, as they establish its scarcity, transactability, and reliability. Since miners are rewarded in bitcoin and nodes process bitcoin transactions that they want added to the blockchain, everybody has a vested interest in maintaining the rules that support the value of bitcoin and the network’s consistent operations.
In this way, Bitcoin benefits from network effects – people run nodes, mine bitcoin, or buy bitcoin because it offers them a way to acquire, transact, and secure an immutable digital asset with desirable and robust attributes. Through their activities, the bitcoin asset is made more robust, immutable, and scarce, further incentivizing others to do the same. It’s a self-reinforcing cycle of network strengthening, rule solidifying, and price appreciation.
The openness of the Bitcoin protocol stands in contrast to legacy financial systems, which are closed and opaque. There aren’t clear and transparent rules governing the supply of dollars, or who is to receive newly issued dollars and in what quantities and for what reasons. Also, entrepreneurs can’t simply build their own dollar app, capable of holding or transacting dollars independently – that’s a privileged service performed by financial institutions within predetermined limits and jurisdictions.
What this means is that Bitcoin is structurally different from legacy finance. It’s an open, transparent, and rules-based system, with specific built-in incentives that people can opt-into, rather than being forced into. It’s fair, radically transparent, and therefore opens new possibilities for building products and services, unconstrained by arbitrary rules, privileges, and limits. Those possibilities are set to transform how money can work.
Ultimately, Bitcoin works because well-aligned incentives lead all participants to follow Bitcoin’s rules.
© 2024 NMLS ID 1902919 (Zap Solutions, Inc.)