How do Bitcoin transactions work?

Bitcoin transactions send currency from one online wallet to another. First, the payee and the payer exchange a private key (a randomly generated number).
The transaction then goes through a number of confirmations from 0 to 5. The most common number of confirmations is 1, however, more is recommended when sending larger amounts of bitcoins.
However, it is worth noting that each confirmation takes about 10 minutes to complete in the Bitcoin network. Once completed, a transaction can be viewed by anyone in the blockchain, but no sensitive information is revealed.