Cryptocurrency, bitcoin being one of them, is a virtual medium of exchange.
Each transaction made with cryptocurrencies is confirmed and stored by the public ledger, “blockchain”¹, through the use of cryptography² via an operation, called mining. Mining is basically the process in which the so called “miners” solve complex mathematical problems, thereby making transactions work and generate new units of a cryptocurrency.
Since cryptocurrency works through a peer-to-peer network², the digital currency is decentralised. This meaning that, as opposed to fiat money, it is independent from any centric, modulatory authority, like the government or the central bank.