Believe it or not, nobody controls the digital currency Bitcoin. It cannot be printed and stored in a money belt or purse like pounds, euros, or dollars. Bitcoins exist only electronically. People producing the coins use computers which are running advanced software and solving complex mathematical problems, and this is happening right across the world.

Bitcoin was the first of a vastly expanding category of money called cryptocurrency, and the most important thing about it is hat it\'s decentralised. This means it isn\'t controlled by an institution or a bank. Bitcoin was created by a computer programmer called Satoshi Nakamoto, who wanted to produce an independent type of currency which could be transferred electronically in an instant, and also had low transaction fees.

Rather than a bank creating them, bitcoins get ‘mined’, using the computing power of a distributed network which processes transactions with virtual money. You can\'t create unlimited amounts of bitcoins, as there is a protocol which makes only 21 million available to miners. The coins can also be split into much smaller parts just like fiat money; one hundred millionth of a bitcoin and is called a ‘Satoshi’.

People can set up a bitcoin account in minutes; it’s completely transparent and anonymous, and each transaction is stored on a general ledger, or blockchain. Despite recent volatility, many experts believe it could still be with us for generations to come. Watch this space...