# Bitcoin > **Machine-Evolution Nexus:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] places this node within the history and governance of substrate-independent evolution. **Domain:** Blockchain / Distributed Systems **Doc Type:** Canonical Wiki Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer digital-currency network whose ledger is maintained through distributed consensus. ## Nexus Context Its open protocol and governance history produced multiple forked lineages, including Bitcoin Cash, illustrating technical descent under disagreement. ## Evidence Boundary Protocol forks involve human-authored variation and infrastructure choice. They should not be called Darwinian populations without recurrent inherited variation and reproduction. ## Relationships [[wiki/Blockchain|Blockchain]], [[wiki/Bitcoin Cash|Bitcoin Cash]], [[wiki/Hard Fork|Hard Fork]], [[wiki/Technological Evolution|Technological Evolution]] ## Sources / Provenance - Satoshi Nakamoto, “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”; protocol histories.