The Bitcoin Journey

I first stumbled upon bitcoin about a year ago and I completely disregarded it. My immediate reaction was more or less “sounds like a scam…not interested”. I could not make myself accept the fact that a bunch of independent computers with no central control could transact money. I am used to banks, the government and I feel secure that there are “people” behind these institutions, people who take care of the security of my accounts , are available when I call them etc. etc. In short, I am completely institutionalized.

Bitcoin has no institution. It is in the public domain. If I send you some money, some computer in the world will process, making sure that I have the coins and that once I spend them I will not be able to spend them again (double spend). So I ignored it for another 8 months or so, failing to grasp its importance of what was really happening.

Needless to say, this is the same reaction I have seen repeated with other people. But that was all about to change. I kept on hearing “bitcoin news”. And more importantly the prices were soaring, it was now worth more than gold and “appreciating”. That was enough to get my full attention.

I decided to research on what this digital currency was, the technology it was based on and how it was going to change the “institutionalized world”. Very quickly I realized that bitcoin was not simply a digital currency, but the technology behind it was a basis for so much more than just currencies. I became fascinated and obsessed with this highly decentralized peer to peer network that follow simple rules to do amazing things without any central coordination. I started spending hours reading and learning as much as I could (still am). Bitcoin/Block-chain is one of the most exciting technology I have encountered.

To start with, I am sharing an article shared by Genesis Mining which will help in understanding how currency has evolved over time. I could not have put it in better words than this.

Early trade relied on bartering- exchanging a dozens of eggs for a chicken; exchanging a few cows for a wife. Some civilizations even traded goods and services for promises of payment in the future- but it was difficult to keep track of, and assign, an exact value of each of these credits.

And so, we invented money.

At first, it was simple things- like stones and seashells. A few thousand years and we moved to precious metals and gemstones; but all of this became difficult to store and transfer. Paper money was the next big thing; gold or silver was exchanged for various amounts of paper slips, and voila! At any time, you could use that little slip to grab a hint of silver or a drop of gold.

Over time- trusts in bank grew- and the governments (who controlled the banks) realized that they could print more money whenever they needed it. Debt and inflation followed soon after; a quick solution brings about quick problems, after all.
This system cannot continue forever- these currencies will be eventually completely devalued. There are over 10,000 types of paper currency around the world, and all of them are subject to whims of a government; it can easily be forged, lost or destroyed. The world needed a new solution.

And we made one.

Bitcoin is the future. It is durable and divisible; its verifiable and valuable. It’s all the things an ideal form of money should be, with the principles of mathematics- the same principles that dictate our world- ensuring that it retains these attributes. It is time to invest in a new form of money- one that is not controlled by the countries; one that is supported by mathematics; one that is open source and understandable.