Bitcoins are digital money ‘mined’ from satanically difficult mathematical problems. Madness, obviously. But five years ago, while the rest of us were saying ‘Huh. Geeks. Money in cyberspace’, or ‘Y’what?’ a young doctor I know bought a few quids’ worth for fun. Sold it later for £800. Now she’s out on a hillside in the driving rain with her hawk. Bitcoin paid for the hawk. As for cyberspace, that’s where all money is anyway. Bitcoins simply take it a step further. It might be the first step on one of the most important journeys in economic history.
It’s a strange, compelling tale, and three things lie at its heart. First, the belief that there is something fundamentally wrong with our money as we currently know it; that it’s the money itself that enriches the rich and impoverishes the already-poor.Second, the proposition that a transparent digital currency is a better system because it exists independently of banks, governments and middlemen scratching for their cut.
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