Bitcoin Forum

Instead of storing actual coins, a distributed public database keeps record of all timestamped and confirmed transactions between bitcoin addresses. For the transactions to enter this public ledger the signed transactions need to be broadcasted, validated and accepted by the bitcoin network, to avoid any incongruence and double spending.
Bitcoins only exist as balances associated with bitcoin addresses as a result of previous transactions in the sense that you can trace the chain of valid transactions until you reach a special transaction called "coinbase", i.e. some minted bitcoins that enter circulation as scheduled.
To allow value to be split and combined, transactions contain multiple inputs and outputs.
The output values of previous transactions will be referenced as input values of future ones.
Previous transaction outputs are referenced as new transaction inputs and transactions simply allocate funds to a new owner that can then spend them in a new transaction.
There are no coins. Bitcoins actually do not exist!!!

Just like most people's bank balances don't really exist. Banks aren't just sat on hundreds of billions of dollars for every deposit that people have made.

You're right in saying that bitcoin do not exist in a tangible sense but if you're suggesting this is an issue then I neglect that idea outright. We are moving ever-steadily to a digital world, not just in finance. The approach of bitcoin is superior to traditional payment methods and mintable coins in numerous ways.

Before I opened this thread I expected this post to have been made by a newbie that has known bit coin recently.
There is no need everything is physical. Bitcoin with its limited supply and many other advantages is valuable.

I too find it strange that it isn't a newbie who posted this, but whatever.  Usually it's the precious metals enthusiasts who always need to have a physical form of money, and digital assets somehow have no value to them.

OP basically just described what bitcoin is and how it works.  Nothing new to be added.  However, a lot of investors don't buy bitcoin precisely because it only exists in a P2P network and isn't backed by a government and has nothing to do with banks.  It's a mysterious asset to a lot of moneyed individuals.  I agree with you that money doesn't have to physically exist, and most of us are using non physical money paying for stuff at gas stations and Starbucks when we use a debit card or our phones.  That's just how finance has evolved, and there's no going back now.

Yes all of us aware that, but we don't really care about that, stock and digital gold also dont have form but its still valuable, people don't care whether it is exist or not, as long as it still valuable people will keep it and because of its concept , bitcoin consider  as the future transaction system, so bitcoin don't need any tangible form to prove the existence

I'll take non-physical BTC coins any day over fiat.  My BTC are very secure, nobody knows I have them, I can access them on any computer anywhere in the world.  You can't steal something from me that you don't know I have.  I can cross international borders without fear of any customs agent, etc.....  I could literally disappear into thin air and the only thing I would need on the other end is a computer and my stash would be waiting there!  The feelings of control are amazing where BTC is concerned.  Sure, what will they be worth in a few years is a question, same with my stock portfolio!

This is very important, thank you.
It means there is no title in bitcoin.
It can't be owned.
It can't be confiscated.

Exactly. As long as you're not over extended for how much you have there isn't pressure to sell. That's the value proposition a lot of gold bugs don't understand. There is a trade off. One can rest assured a physical gold coin won't go to zero value it's true. At the same time being physical has the drawback of transfer problems. That's why people started preferring paper notes (which keep going to zero value) over gold​. Not actually being physical makes Bitcoin the most transferable form of money one could want!

Well bitcoin does not exist physically since bitcoin is only and idea and represented by a digital number that is running through a blockchain. This IDEA was accepted by people and thus gaining value. Fiat currency is also the same, money does not exist and what we hold in our hands are just paper with prints. Money has a value but money just exist in our mind and just like bitcoin the moment we agreed to place a value on something we called that currency.

Exactly mate,thats why if we differentiate Crypto currency and physical money,the outcome will be the same,its only on how we valued this,and what kind of support and believe were on them..i think this must be ended because if we accept this on not,reality stands for itself,that bitcoin and cryptocurrency are important to the world now.

We all know that bitcoin cannot be seen physically so that we can believe that bitcoin exist. Bitcoin is a name given to a digital currency and the inventor actually pick a name that resemble the traditional currency so that we can easily understand the ideology.

I guess anyone who heard about bitcoin and other crypto currencies does know that they do not exist physically and is just a digital currency used to reflect the balance of its associated address.  But you did explain well how the transactions and balanced are updated.

actually a "coin analogy"[1] exists that helps with better understanding of bitcoin and how it works. basically you can call transactions as "coins" so when you receive a new 0.01BTC payment in one transaction you receive a coin worth 0.01BTC in this analogy. read the wiki page for more explanation.

and while we are on this topic, it is always best to also mention that wallets do not hold these "coins" or "transaction outputs" what they hold are the keys needed to move these "coins" around.

[1] https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Coin_analogy