Norm Pattis Arnold Gold/Register Satoshi Nakamoto. Remember that name. Whether he actually exists or not is an open question. But there is little doubt Nakamoto’s 2008 paper describing the creation of Bitcoin was one of the most revolutionary acts of the earIy 21st century. What is Bitcoin? The governments of the world can’t tell you. They can’t agree. Some define it as property. Some call it currency. Sometimes, it is regarded as both currency and property. There are millions of Bitcoin in the world, but you’ll never see one. Bitcoin, you see, are digital events, pulses of electricity harnessed and displayed as units on a computer screen. But for all their intangibility, Bitcoin have the potential to change the way services are purchased, wages are paid, and commerce is conducted. It works something like this. Two individuals communicate directly with one another via a computer network in what computer-literate folks call a peer-to-peer exchange. Each has a code. They exchange a good or service and the transaction’s value is paid for in Bitcoin. The transaction is electronically recorded. The next time one of the parties engages in an exchange and uses Bitcoin, they use their code to link to another party, who, in turn, uses his or her code to complete the link. That transaction, too, is recorded as part of a chain of communications. A block chain defining these unique exchanges is encoded and encrypted on line. These chains are unique to each unit, and are transparent, open to viewing by anyone with the inclination and skill to do so. What no one ever sees is the identity of the parties who are trucking, bartering and trading in Bitcoin. In simplified terms, this is Bitcoin, a medium of exchange not created by the government, and, in the United […]
