When I try to understand something I always look at the psychology of the thing first. Bitcoin is a truly interesting one. Essentially it seems to be all about trust [a key topic in my mind, as my signature might suggest]. An abiding distrust of authority [and fear of the abuse of power] is deeply embedded in it. Which is kind of ironic since Bitcoin first came to public awareness when it was being used for transferring funds on the 'dark web'... and the surge to $20k seems to be due to wealthy Chinese nationals getting their money out. Now, we are seeing a number of Government bodies [of varied political persuasions] actively considering adopting cryptocurrency [for what appear to be dubious reasons].
The idealist position is cryptocurrency should allow people to transact freely and anonymously. If there is a Heaven, I am sure that's how they do things up there... but down here on Ye Olde Planet Earth we can't seem to get our ethics together enough to manage such things. It looks certain digital currencies are coming... likely a utopian vision infused with a drop of dystopian unpleasantness.
