Bitcoin 101
Columbia Bitcoin Monthly Meetup
Fundamentals
What is Bitcoin?
“A peer-to-peer electronic cash system”
— Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin Whitepaper (2008)
Bitcoin is money. The network allows value to be transferred directly from person to person without needing to trust a third party such as a bank or financial institution.
Key Features
Properties of Bitcoin
Decentralized
No single entity controls Bitcoin. The network is maintained by thousands of independent participants worldwide.
Fixed Supply
Only 21 million bitcoins will ever exist. Scarcity is enforced in the code, not by any government or authority.
Censorship Resistant
Transactions cannot be blocked or reversed by governments, banks, or any third party.
Pseudonymous
Transactions are linked to wallet addresses rather than personal identities.
Open Source
Bitcoin is open source software — anyone in the world can read, verify, and contribute to the code.
Seizure Resistant
Due to Bitcoin's digital nature, it is much more difficult to seize than physical assets such as gold, cash, or property.
Why Bitcoin?
Why Should I Care?
"Number Go Up"
In an inflationary environment where the government continues printing money out of thin air, scarce assets like Bitcoin are a hedge against the debasement of your local currency.
Privacy
Although Bitcoin is a transparent ledger, there are ways to transact privately — especially compared to credit/debit cards in the traditional financial system. Physical cash remains the most private option for small amounts.
Freedom
Holding bitcoin in your own wallet and controlling the private keys is akin to storing cash under your mattress or keeping gold in a safe. You completely control your funds and do not need permission from a bank to move or send them.
Technical Deep Dive
How Bitcoin Works
Transaction Creation
A user initiates a transaction by signing it with their private key and broadcasting it to the network.
Network Verification
Nodes across the network validate the transaction, checking that the sender has sufficient funds and proper authorization.
Mining & Block Addition
Miners compete to mine new blocks, adding verified transactions to the blockchain.
See it live on mempool.spaceConfirmation
Once added to a block, the transaction receives confirmations as more blocks are mined on top, making it increasingly secure and irreversible.
Self-Custody
Bitcoin Wallets
A Bitcoin wallet is a digital tool that you use to store and spend your bitcoin. Wallets generate pairs of public and private keys — your public key (like an email address) receives bitcoin, while your private key (like a password) authorizes spending. The actual bitcoins never leave the blockchain; wallets simply prove ownership.
Hot Wallets
Connected to the internet for convenient daily use.
Examples
Mobile apps, web wallets, desktop software
Cold Wallets
Offline storage for maximum security and long-term holdings.
Examples
Hardware wallets, paper wallets
Not your keys, not your coins.
Keeping bitcoin on an exchange means someone else controls your private keys. Self-custody — holding your own keys in your own wallet — is the Bitcoin-native standard. Come to the meetup and we'll help you set up your first wallet.