Who runs Bitcoin?

Nobody runs Bitcoin the way a company runs a product. There is no CEO, no head office and no main server to switch off. It keeps going because many independent people and businesses each play a part, and none of them can change the rules alone.

Live from the chain

Who added the latest blocksLoading live figures…

Newest block

…

Added by, newest first

…mining pools, from each block's own tag

Different miners add different blocks. Which one gets the next block depends on who finds a valid one first.

See it on satoshis.watch →

Who does what

Nodes	Computers that keep a full copy of the record and check every new block against the rules their software enforces. Anyone can run one; public counts find tens of thousands that accept connections. A node refuses any block that breaks its rules, so nodes running different rules can end up on different chains.
Miners	Add new blocks and are paid for it. A block only counts for nodes whose rules it follows. Nodes that reject it throw it away, and a miner whose blocks are widely rejected earns nothing of value.
Developers	Write and review the software people run. Anyone can propose a change, but nobody can make others install it.
Users and businesses	Choose which software and which coins they accept. A change that users won't accept goes nowhere.

How the rules change

Changes start as public proposals, called BIPs, and are argued over, often for years. Writing a BIP changes nothing. A change takes effect only when it is built into software people run and has broad support from those running nodes, from miners, and from the businesses and users who decide which coins they accept. The two biggest upgrades so far, SegWit in 2017 and Taproot in 2021, were switched on once enough miners signaled for them in their blocks; SegWit got there only after a long fight. Twice, a group went ahead without broad support, and each time it ended up on a separate chain: Bitcoin Cash in 2017, and in August 2026 the nodes running a proposal called BIP-110, after almost all miners carried on without it. See forks and upgrades.

Can a government shut it down?

A government can make Bitcoin hard to use in its own country. It can ban exchanges, tax gains, or ban mining, as China did in 2021. What it can't do is switch off the computers running Bitcoin in other countries. After China's ban, much of its mining moved to other countries within months, and blocks kept coming every ten minutes or so.

And Satoshi?

Bitcoin's creator, known as Satoshi Nakamoto, stopped posting in public in December 2010 and handed the project to other developers. Satoshi has no special power over Bitcoin today: any change would have to pass the same checks as anyone else's.