Here is a step-by-step explanation of a Bitcoin transaction:
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A person, Alice, wants to send a specific amount of bitcoins to another person, Bob.
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Alice prepares the transaction and sends the desired amount of bitcoins from her wallet to Bob’s wallet address.
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The transaction is broadcast to the Bitcoin network and verified for validity by full nodes. This includes checking if Alice actually owns the bitcoins being transferred and if Bob’s wallet address is valid.
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After successful validation, the transaction is sent to the mempool where it waits for confirmation by miners.
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Miners, who are part of the Bitcoin network, collect transactions from the mempool and add them to new blocks which they successfully mine.
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Once a block has been successfully mined, it is broadcasted to the entire network and added to the ledger.
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The transaction is confirmed and Bob can receive the bitcoins.
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The confirmations that come from being added to additional blocks provide additional security to the transaction and ensure that it is irreversible.