Blockchain technologies
Bitcoin - The first digital cash system
Bitcoin, introduced in 2009, is the first and best-known blockchain application. It works like a digital cash system. Imagine having a digital wallet that you can use anywhere in the world without needing a bank. Many computers around the world, called nodes, manage payment transactions. You can imagine this as a public yet anonymous "cash book" that transactions are not directly linked to real identities. To make the network secure and validate the authenticity of payments, Bitcoin uses a consensus mechanism called "Proof of Work" (PoW).