So let try answering this question without blinding you with science. We do have to get a little bit technical but hang on in there, it will be worth it to really get to grips with Bitcoins potential. Bitcoins utilize the same technology that is leveraged in digital signatures, initiated by the cryptographers Martin Hellman and Whitfield Diffie in the year 1970. In 2007, some anonymous developer or group possessing the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto got hold of this technology and devised the software for the generation of digital currency. That is how the first cryptocurrencies started functioning.
Complex mathematics verifies who owns the bitcoins
The complex mathematics verifies that a person spending 10 units owns them and cannot reuse the same 10 units again. To send bitcoins, you need two things: a bitcoin address and a private key. A bitcoin address isn't like a bank account; you don't need mountains of paperwork and ID to set one up. In fact, they are generated randomly, and are simply sequences of letters and numbers.
The private key is another sequence of letters and numbers, but unlike your bitcoin address, this is kept secret. Think of your bitcoin address as a safe deposit box with a glass front. Everyone knows what is in it, but only the private key can unlock it to take things out or put things in. When Alice wants to send bitcoins to Bob, she uses her private key to sign a message with the input (the source transaction(s) of the coins), amount, and output (Bob's address). She then sends them from her bitcoin wallet out to the wider bitcoin network. From there, bitcoin miners verify the transaction, putting it into a transaction block and eventually solving it.
Why must I sometimes wait for my transaction to clear? Because your transaction must be verified by miners, you are sometimes forced to wait until they have finished mining. The bitcoin protocol is set so that each block takes roughly 10 minutes to mine.
Some merchants may make you wait until this block has been confirmed, meaning that you may have to make a cup of coffee and come back again in a short while before you can download the digital goods or take advantage of the service that you paid for. On the other hand, some merchants won't make you wait until the transaction has been confirmed. They
Bitcoin debit cards are widely available and accepted
What if I only want to send part of a bitcoin? Bitcoin transactions are divisible. A satoshi is one millionth of a bitcoin, and it is possible to send a transaction as small as 5430 satoshis on the bitcoin network.
If you look at the wallet on the right you can see the balance as 0.0001 BTC
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