Bitcoin Fundamentals explains how Bitcoin works, from the problem it solves to whether it is safe to use. It assumes no prior knowledge: every term is explained the first time it appears, and each lesson can be read on its own.
What You’ll Learn
- Why Bitcoin exists: the double-spend problem of digital money, and how Bitcoin solves it without a bank or an issuer.
- How ownership works: private keys, addresses and digital signatures, what a wallet actually stores, and why your seed phrase stays private.
- How a payment moves: UTXOs, fees, the mempool and confirmations, and where the Lightning Network fits, costs included.
- How the ledger stays honest: hashes, blocks and Merkle trees, proof of work, and who enforces the rules and how they change.
- How the money works: the 21 million cap and the halving schedule, satoshis, and the open question of what pays miners once new coins run out.
- What it means for you: how bitcoin compares with gold, government money and stocks, including where it comes off worse, and how to keep your own coins safe.
How the Course Works
Twelve lessons and a final review, about four to five hours in all. Each lesson ends with questions and worked answers, and several include a hands-on exercise that puts no money at risk, such as reading a real transaction on a public block explorer. The final review sums up every lesson and closes with ten questions.
Who It Is For
Anyone starting from zero, and anyone who already uses bitcoin and wants to understand what happens underneath. It is free and needs no sign-up. When you finish, Course 2: Bitcoin Wallets & Self-Custody turns these ideas into practice.
