by Thomas Bertani - Born in 2009, bitcoin is a form of electronic currency that can be exchanged worldwide at no cost and very efficiently. It isn't linked to any state or other organization, but it's handled collectively by the bitcoin network itself. Its security lies mainly in the cryptographic protection of the personal wallet with the use of elliptic-curve public-key cryptography and the cryptographic protection of the blockchain given by intensive use of hash functions. We will present the most interesting features of cryptocurrencies in general, focusing mainly on its technological innovations.