Bitcoin (BTC) is a digital currency which operates free of any central control or the oversight of banks or governments.
Bitcoins can currently be subdivided by seven decimal places: a thousandth of a bitcoin is known as a milli and a hundred millionth of a bitcoin is known as a satoshi.
A private key is used to prove ownership of funds to the network when making a transaction.
A person needs only its private key and need nothing else to retrieve or spend its btc.