Okay, so it’s digital money, which is cool. But what makes Bitcoin so special? Well, for starters: 

Bitcoin lets you send money directly to someone without banks or payment processors taking a cut. This means fewer fees and faster transactions, especially for international payments. We forget that all the stores and manufacturers raise their prices to absorb these hidden fees – and we as the consumer pay that extra cost. There is a transaction on the Bitcoin Blockchain that sent $250,000: it cost $0.09 and took about 10 minutes. The banks have figured that out, and they are getting in. They know this tech isn’t going away, so now they’re racing to catch up instead of trying to stop it.

Bitcoin uses strong encryption to secure transactions, making it a safe and reliable way to send money online, and it hasn’t been broken, bent, or compromised in any way. Period. It uses powerful encryption to lock down transactions—basically, only the person with the right digital key can send their coins. All the transactions get recorded on a public ledger (the blockchain), and once they’re in, they’re pretty much set in stone. The network runs on a system called proof-of-work, which makes it resistant to tampering. Since there’s no central server and thousands of computers are keeping things in check, it’s super tough to take down or hack.

Unlike regular money, which governments can print at will, there will only ever be 21 million Bitcoins in existence. Each Bitcoin has 100,000,000 smaller parts called Satoshis, kind of like pennies are to a dollar but obviously divided into a lot more smaller pieces. For one single Satoshi to be worth a penny, the price of a single Bitcoin will be $1,000,000. This scarcity is part of what makes Bitcoin so valuable, people see it as “digital gold.” If each individual on the planet had an equal share of Bitcoin, we would all have about 0.00280000 Bitcoin, or 280,000 Satoshis.

Bitcoin is decentralized, meaning no one person, company, or government controls it. If you’ve ever had issues with a bank or credit card company, you’ll appreciate the freedom that comes with Bitcoin. Remember when Canadian truckers had families to feed—rent, utilities, and payments to make—but their bank accounts were frozen because of their opinions? That kind of thing happens all over the world, just not always in the spotlight. When money is used to control, it’s always top-down—and those at the bottom suffer most. Bitcoin doesn’t care who you are; it gives the same voice to everyone, top or bottom.