Scenario:
You and your friends — Alice, Bob, and Charlie — are part of the Bitcoin network.
🔹 1. No Single Entity Controls the Ledger
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The Bitcoin ledger (called the blockchain) is decentralized.
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There’s no central bank or company in charge — not even the Bitcoin creator (Satoshi Nakamoto).
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Instead, the rules of the network are enforced by software running on thousands of computers (nodes) around the world.
🔹 2. Every Node Maintains a Copy of the Ledger
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Alice, Bob, Charlie — and thousands of other participants — are each running a Bitcoin node.
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Each node has the entire history of every Bitcoin transaction ever made (called the blockchain).
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When someone sends a transaction (e.g., Alice sends 0.1 BTC to Bob), it is:
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Broadcast to all nodes.
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Validated by the network.
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Recorded in the next block by a miner.
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Updated on every node’s copy of the ledger.
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🧠 Why This Matters:
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If Alice’s node goes offline, the Bitcoin network still works because Bob, Charlie, and thousands of others have copies.
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If someone tries to cheat by changing their copy (e.g., saying they have more Bitcoin), their version will be rejected by the rest of the network because it doesn’t match the consensus.