What is the journey of a bitcoin transaction?

When a user submits a bitcoin transaction it is validated and finalised through a consistent journey through the Bitcoin network. A transaction begins with a participant’s wallet authorising the spending of bitcoin. That transaction is broadcast to the network, and received by other participants running the bitcoin software. The receiving participants verifies the correctness of the transaction per the rules inscribed in the software.

If the transaction is deemed valid by the verification process it is propagated to each of the participant’s connected peers. This verification process is repeated for the connected peers and the transaction is continuously ‘gossiped’ throughout the network. Eventually, a mining node will include the transaction into a valid block.

Once the valid block is broadcast, it undergoes a similar verification and propagation process across the network. This intricate process happens for each bitcoin transaction and ensures the correct transfer of bitcoin from wallet to wallet.