About Bitcoin
1. What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is decentralized digital money, created to work without banks, governments, or intermediaries.
It can be sent anywhere in the world, in just a few minutes.
🔒 It is protected by cryptography and thousands of computers spread across the planet.
🏺 It has a limited supply of 21 million units, which is why it is called "digital gold".
Bitcoin is a mix of technology + scarcity + financial freedom.
2. Why was Bitcoin created?
In 2008, amidst the global financial crisis, an anonymous author named Satoshi Nakamoto published the whitepaper "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System".
The goal was to solve three problems of traditional money:
- Inflation: governments can print currency without limit.
- Dependence on banks: you never have full control of your money.
- Lack of privacy and censorship: transactions can be blocked or tracked.
Bitcoin is born as an alternative: an open, transparent, and censorship-resistant monetary system.
3. How Bitcoin works (simple explanation)
Imagine a giant public ledger that everyone can see and audit, but no one can erase or alter.
This ledger is the blockchain.
Basic concepts:
- Blockchain: public record of all Bitcoin transactions.
- Nodes: decentralized computers that keep a copy of the blockchain and validate everything.
- Miners: companies that compete to create new blocks and receive Bitcoin as a reward.
- Wallet: app or device that keeps your private keys (your "access" to BTC).
- Satoshis: the smallest unit of Bitcoin. 1 BTC = 100,000,000 satoshis.
Sats per Bitcoin
| Sats | Bitcoin |
|---|---|
| 1 Satoshi | 0.00000001 BTC |
| 10 Satoshi | 0.00000010 BTC |
| 100 Satoshi | 0.00000100 BTC |
| 1.000 Satoshi | 0.00001000 BTC |
| 10.000 Satoshi | 0.00010000 BTC |
| 100.000 Satoshi | 0.00100000 BTC |
| 1.000.000 Satoshi | 0.01000000 BTC |
| 10.000.000 Satoshi | 0.10000000 BTC |
| 100.000.000 Satoshi | 1.00000000 BTC |
4. The historic pizza transaction — the most expensive pizzas in the world
In 2010, the first real purchase with Bitcoin happened: a programmer paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas. At the time, it was just a curiosity.
If we update to today's quote, if 1 BTC = ..., those 10,000 BTC would be worth:
10.000 × ... = ...
Meaning: ... for two pizzas.
That's why this purchase became known as the most expensive pizzas in the world.
5. Bitcoin Halving: the heart of programmed scarcity
The halving is an event that happens approximately every 210,000 blocks, or about 4 years, cutting in half the amount of new Bitcoins miners receive per block.
This causes the new supply of BTC to decrease over time, increasing scarcity.
5.1. Block every 10 minutes and current revenue
The network is designed so that, on average, a block is mined every 10 minutes.
After the 2024 halving, the current reward is: 3.125 BTC per block
Using current quote:
1 BTC = ...
Revenue per block (every 10 minutes) for miners:
3,125 × ... ≈ ... every 10 minutes.
Meaning, about ... in new Bitcoins is issued on average every 10 minutes today (excluding transaction fees).
Próximo Halving (Estimado):
Previsto para abril de 2028
5.2. Halving Table until the end (approximate)
Below, a simplified table with all reward reductions, until near the year the last Bitcoin should be mined (around 2140).
| # Halving | Approx Year | Reward (BTC) |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 2009 | 50,00 |
| 1 | 2012 | 25,00 |
| 2 | 2016 | 12,50 |
| 3 | 2020 | 6,25 |
| 4 | 2024 | 3,125 |
| 5 | 2028 | 1,5625 |
| 6 | 2032 | 0,78125 |
| 7 | 2036 | 0,390625 |
| 8 | 2040 | 0,1953125 |
| 9 | 2044 | 0,09765625 |
| 10 | 2048 | 0,04882812 |
| 11 | 2052 | 0,02441406 |
| 12 | 2056 | 0,01220703 |
| 13 | 2060 | 0,00610352 |
| 14 | 2064 | 0,00305176 |
| 15 | 2068 | 0,00152588 |
| 16 | 2072 | 0,00076294 |
| 17 | 2076 | 0,00038147 |
| 18 | 2080 | 0,00019073 |
| 19 | 2084 | 0,00009537 |
| 20 | 2088 | 0,00004768 |
| 21 | 2092 | 0,00002384 |
| 22 | 2096 | 0,00001192 |
| 23 | 2100 | 0,00000596 |
| 24 | 2104 | 0,00000298 |
| 25 | 2108 | 0,00000149 |
| 26 | 2112 | 0,00000075 |
| 27 | 2116 | 0,00000037 |
| 28 | 2120 | 0,00000019 |
| 29 | 2124 | 0,00000009 |
| 30 | 2128 | 0,00000005 |
| 31 | 2132 | 0,00000002 |
| 32 | 2136 | 0,00000001 |
| 33 (final) | 2140 | ~0,00000001 |
After that, no new Bitcoins will be issued. Miners will be rewarded only by transaction fees.
6. Bitcoin Timeline: from white paper to the last BTC
7. Bitcoin and Governments: who are the biggest accumulators?
Numbers change over time, but based on recent data, several governments already accumulate Bitcoin in their reserves.
| Country | BTC accumulated (approx.) |
|---|---|
| United States | 326.588 BTC |
| China | 190.000 BTC |
| United Kingdom | 61.243 BTC |
| Ukraine | 46.351 BTC |
| El Salvador | 7.485 BTC |
| United Arab Emirates | 6.420 BTC |
| Bhutan | 6.227 BTC |
| North Korea | 803 BTC |
| Venezuela | 240 BTC |
| Finland | 90 BTC |
| Germany | 0,007 BTC |
These values are approximate and may change with new purchases, sales, or fund confiscations.
8. Public companies with largest Bitcoin treasuries (Global Top 10)
Besides countries, public companies also accumulate large amounts of BTC as a store of value strategy. bitcointreasuries.net
| # | Company | BTC in treasury (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Strategy, Inc. (MicroStrategy) | 650.000 BTC |
| 2 | Marathon Digital | 53.250 BTC |
| 3 | Twenty One (XXI) | 43.514 BTC |
| 4 | Metaplanet, Inc. | 30.823 BTC |
| 5 | Bitcoin Standard | 30.021 BTC |
| 6 | Bullish | 24.300 BTC |
| 7 | Riot Platforms, Inc. | 19.287 BTC |
| 8 | Trump Media & Technology | 15.000 BTC |
| 9 | Coinbase Global | 14.548 BTC |
| 10 | CleanSpark Inc | 13.011 BTC |
9. Treasury companies in Brazil: OBTC3 and CASH3
Brazil already has its own Bitcoin Treasury Companies, following the MicroStrategy model.
9.1. OBTC3 – OranjeBTC
OranjeBTC (OBTC3) focuses on being a major Latin American Bitcoin treasury, keeping most of its assets in BTC. According to the official dashboard, the treasury holds about:
≈ 3,720 BTC in reserves.
9.2. CASH3 – Méliuz
Méliuz (CASH3) adopted Bitcoin as an official treasury strategy in 2025 and became Brazil's first "Bitcoin Treasury Company".
According to recent reports, the company already accumulates approximately:
≈ 595.67 BTC in treasury.
10. Why does all this matter?
- Bitcoin is scarce: guaranteed halving until about 2140, max of 21 million BTC.
- Governments and companies are accumulating Bitcoin as a strategic store of value.
- Blocks every 10 minutes today generate significant value in new BTC, but this issuance drops over decades.
- International and Brazilian treasuries reinforce the narrative of Bitcoin as a global reserve asset.
All this creates a simple thesis for the lay reader:
"If governments, large companies, and treasuries are buying Bitcoin for the long term, perhaps it is worth studying, understanding, and considering a small exposure."