OK I have a general question about this.
How is it determined who owns a bitcoin. Isn’t it just a digital number? Why couldn’t bunches of copies be made? Is there some central registry?
I guess I just don’t understand the whole bitcoin thing
At its heart, it's a distributed ledger system based on a limited number of available "units" (i.e., Bitcoins). This link should get you started toward a better understanding:
And this:
Still Don’t Get Bitcoin? Here’s an Explanation Even a Five-Year-Old Will Understand
To make matters worse, there are now over one hundred of these cryptocurrencies...