What is bitcoin?

You must have heard of bitcoins already but you don't quite understand what they are and how to get them.
Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency created by Satoshi Nakamoto and the best known digital currency which unlike other fiat currencies and mediums of exchange holds real value. Simply put, Bitcoin is a global decentralized currency. The most positive and revolutionary thing about bitcoin is that it is a decentralized peer-to-peer digital cryptocurrency which means that no single institution, bank, government controls it's issue and value, therefore it transcends all the flaws of current monetary systems and fiat currencies. Behind bitcoin stands a revolutionary technology that enables a new way to send payments over the internet. You can think of it as an open accounting system where thousands of computers all over the world track ownership of digital tokens called bitcoins. When you send someone bitcoins, the transaction is broadcasted to the entire network. After it is verified, it's recorded in a public ledger called the blockchain.

How to get a bitcoin wallet and address?

In order to be able to store bitcoins and make bitcoin transactions, you need to get a bitcoin wallet. It is completely free to get one. Your bitcoin address will be generated automatically when you get a wallet and you can generate as many addresses in your wallets as you wish. Bitcoin addresses are 26-34 alphanumeric character identifiers, beginning with the number 3 or 1 and they only represent a possible destination for a Bitcoin transaction. Bitcoin addresses do not store value, the value of your bitcoins is stored in your wallets secret private keys that give you the rights to send and receive bitcoins form and to another bitcoin wallet via the bitcoin address. All bitcoin addresses you generate in your wallets are mathematically related to these private keys and all the transactions between wallets are recorded in the blockchain.
An example of a Bitcoin address is: 1K98t1WpEZ73BMmQviecrnyiXrnqRhYMLy.