Decentralisation

Decentralisation means Bitcoin has no operator. No company and no government can single-handedly change the rules, stop a payment or create additional bitcoin.

How it works

Anyone can run the Bitcoin software and thereby become a nodeGlossaryNodeA computer that runs Bitcoin software and exchanges transactions and blocks with other nodes. Together, the nodes form the Bitcoin network; full nodes check every rule themselves.On the learning path: Stage 1 · Step 3 – How does Bitcoin work? →In the glossary →×. A full nodeGlossaryFull nodeA node that checks every block and every transaction itself against all the consensus rules. If you run a full node, you don’t have to trust anyone to know whether a payment is valid.In the glossary →× checks every block and every transaction itself and rejects anything that breaks the rules – no matter who sends it. A little over 25,000 nodes are publicly reachable; this count doesn’t include nodes without incoming connections (as of September 2026).^[1]

Where the weak spots are

• Mining: most miners work in mining poolsGlossaryMining poolA group of miners who combine their computing power and share the block reward according to the work each contributes. This means even small miners receive small amounts regularly instead of a large one very rarely.On the learning path: Stage 2 · Step 3 – Criticism & risks →In the glossary →×. In the month to 28 September 2026, the three largest pools together found around 60% of all blocks.^[2] They can’t change the rules, because nodes reject invalid blocks. But they do have a say in which transactions make it into blocks.
• Custody: if you hold bitcoin on an exchange or in an ETPGlossaryETP (Exchange Traded Product)Umbrella term for exchange-traded securities such as ETFs, ETCs and ETNs. With a Bitcoin ETP, you hold a security that tracks the price – but no bitcoin keys of your own.On the learning path: Stage 4 · Step 1 – Ways to get Bitcoin →In the glossary →×, you are trusting a company again.

What this means for you

No single entity controls Bitcoin – but there’s also no hotline that can reverse a mistaken transfer. How independent you are is up to you, for example with your own wallet or your own node. More in Nodes & decentralisation.