Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency which appeared in 2009. It functions using a technology called blockchain, which links a series of encrypted digital blocks together in a chain, hence its name, blockchain. Each block contains the Bitcoin transactions. Bitcoin was the first real application of blockchain. By using blockchain as well as cryptography, the Bitcoin transactions are very secure. This cryptocurrency was created by a person or group of people who presented themselves as Satoshi Nakamoto. Until today nobody knows who this Satoshi Nakamoto actually was. The major benefit of Bitcoin is decentralization, which means that organizations or governments cannot control it. This is quite appealing to many people who are concerned about the way in which their money is used and managed by institutions such as governments or banks. The incorrect control of money by banks has lead in the past to financial crashes. One disadvantage of the anonymity of cryptocurrency transactions is that sometimes illegal activities can be conducted in the attempt to benefit from this anonymity. Moreover, since this is a new technology, there can be some usability problems. Sometimes technical expertise is necessary to fully grasp using and working with Bitcoins. Besides buying Bitcoins, another way of acquiring it is mining. For mining you need a special type of hardware and software. Whenever you decide to start investing in Bitcoins, you should know all these aspects in order to understand how to take advantage of this new type of coin.