The blockchain is the vertebrae of the protocol and the glue that holds the network together. It is simply a vast, distributed public ledger of account. It keeps track of every transaction ever made in the network, and all transactions are timestamped and verified by network miners.

As the name suggests, a Bitcoin wallet is an application that stores send and receives bitcoins. You can think of it like you would a leather wallet full of physical cash, and basically, that’s all you need to use Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is a network operating by the three foundational principles of technological freedom: Decentralization, open-source code, and true peer-to-peer technology.

Bitcoin’s trust is based on the subjective valuations of human faith in mathematical algorithms, encryption, and numbers. With the three pillars of technological principles Bitcoin’s blockchain is a peer-reviewed system of integrity.

Bitcoins can be sold in various ways. The currency can be sold online to an exchange or live in-person locally. These same instances work similarly to the buying process. You can sell your Bitcoin to the exchange at the current price it’s being sold for.

The Bitcoin protocol can change the financial landscape we see today. The protocol can act as a currency, voting mechanism, global identification and reputation application, a micro-tipper, crowdfunding platform, initiate trusts, wills and contracts, decentralized domain names, future markets, and basically everything the financial system of today can handle plus so much more.

The currency application is just the beginning of this evolution of the world’s finances.

Full nodes validate transactions within the blockchain and are voluntarily maintained by individuals, groups, and organizations (such as merchants for example) all around the world and broadcast all the messages within the protocol.

Full nodes add an additional layer of security for these participants within the Bitcoin network and operate in an altruistic manner meaning they work without reward. Some use cases for individuals or groups such as merchants running a full node is for detecting double-spends or for increased privacy.

There are fees involved with sending Bitcoin called the ‘Miner’s fee.’ Fees are paid to the miners in order for them to verify and secure Bitcoin transactions within the network.

A website/developer’s solution named ‘21’ offers an online guide detailing the fees within the network for certain time frames. Typically, a larger fee will confirm faster than a relatively low one.

An unconfirmed transaction is a transaction in the network that the miners have yet to confirm. Typically, confirmations take roughly 10 minutes.

However, due to the increased popularity of the Bitcoin network confirmation times have increased quite a bit and can sometimes take op to an hour or more.