Learn › The Bitcoin Standard › Lesson 9 of 11
Chapter 8: Digital money
This chapter explains how Bitcoin works in plain terms: a public ledger kept by many nodes, proof-of-work mining that makes rewriting history expensive, difficulty adjustment that keeps blocks about ten minutes apart, and a supply that halves new issuance roughly every four years toward a 21 million cap. The author argues this makes Bitcoin the first money whose supply cannot be inflated by anyone, regardless of how much demand rises.
Summary in our own words, not a quote from the book. The author's arguments, not investment advice. Book · Author's course
Video
▶ Watch on YouTube · Privacy-enhanced player (youtube-nocookie). Video in English.
▶ Watch on YouTube · Privacy-enhanced player (youtube-nocookie). Video in English.
Key ideas
- Proof-of-work and difficulty adjustment
- Halvings and the 21 million cap
- Supply that does not respond to demand
Check yourself
- What does difficulty adjustment keep stable?
- Why doesn't higher demand create more Bitcoin?
- How often does new issuance halve?