Shaa’ista Clarke
Benjamins, Bank, Moola, Coins, Bread, Dough, C.R.E.A.M., Cash, there are over 100 terms to describe money. However there is one term that goes over looked…Bitcoin.
Bitcoin was created by Satoshi Nakamoto, and was introduced to the world on January 3, 2009. You may have heard of it before, mostly in movies about computer hackers, but there is a lot more to it than just the negative connotations swarming around it.
Bitcoin is a form of currency, known as a cryptocurrency, which is similar to the former US “Gold Standard” currency, but it operates like its own internet and is the world’s first free market, decentralized global currency. Which in “dummy terms” means it’s money that can be exchanged without the use of a third party, like a bank. The beauty of the Bitcoin is that it can be exchanged for other currencies, goods or services.As Bitcoins continue to be mined they begin to create more value. You can kind of think of them as Pokémon cards or even those adorable beanie babies. The longer you hold onto these things the more value they tend to take on as more and more people begin collecting them. But The biggest difference is you can’t take your Limited Edition Pikachu card to the mall and trade it for a new pair of Gucci Loafers, because it’s not a universal means of exchange like Bitcoins or a credit card. You would have to go through the painstaking process of finding a buyer or a pawn shop and turning that card into money. But the Bitcoin itself has consolidated that process.
So i need you to open up your mind for a bit and Imagine a Dollar meeting a Visa Credit Card at a club, and they like each other and get drunk and flirt and they both spot a sexy Bar of Gold across the room and they all three decide to go home and hook up with each other and by some crazy miracle they somehow have a baby….yeah, that baby would be named Bitcoin.
Now where do Bitcoins really come from?, Simple, they are created out of thin-air through an open-source computer mining system similar to a lottery, giving way to a more known commodity, like gold. Now when I mention lottery I don’t mean like you pay $3 to scratch a ticket and win $5 at your local bodega. When I mention Lottery I mean that your computer is basically trying to decipher a large number before anyone else on the mining network does. Each time your computer gets the string of numbers correct before anyone else, a new block is created and 12.5 BTC is awarded to the miner or pool. But this isn’t a normal lottery. However, this lottery is millions of times more difficult than a normal lottery, thus why miners spend a lot of capital on new hardware for mining. Because the faster your system can mine, the better chance you have of being rewarded.
Because it’s like gold, or more accurately called “The Gold of the Internet.”, (Hence the mining term), and as long as people trust that this currency has value, people will continue to invest in Bitcoin. Its an open-source software, which means corrupt bankers and politicians have no control over it. I mean who doesn’t want sole control over their hard earned cash. It’s a system where really smart and ambitious people working for free are keeping it running.
Given all the problems we see in the economies across the globe, people are rapidly beginning to lose faith in currency like The EURO and the USD. Governments have shown that over time that they can seize your bank-accessible assets if necessary. However, with Bitcoin, this is not possible as they have no access to your funds. Your Bitcoin wallet is essentially your own bank.
People will perhaps one day refer to this era as the gold rush of the 21st century.It’s similar to the idea of people stuffing money into their mattresses, which maybe wasn’t such a bad idea after all, Thanks Grandma.
