Today there're roughly 18.67 million Bitcoins in circulation out of a 21-million-coin cap. Bitcoin trading at $63,000 USD to one coin, makes this snippet of cryptic code the most underestimated and most equalizing intergalactic currency invented by man.
To form an appreciation for Bitcoin, one has to first understand money as more than a means of intermediating value. Money is technology and so is Bitcoin. There were coins, then dollar bills with special denotable features embedded in real notes as opposed to counterfeit bills.
What sets Bitcoin apart is that it is built on an immutable cryptic technology - the block chain - an opensource computer code released in 2011 by Satoshi Nakamoto. With the block chain as their bedrock, cryptocurrencies are generated as a trusted value of human labor, effort and intelligence, based on the concept of proof-of-work that offers full confidence in the process and its resulting goods.
Think of the block chain as the scale used to weigh a bar of gold. We trust the scale is an accurate measure, but the scale itself is of little value beyond that. However, with the immutability of cryptos, the scale becomes of extreme value. Each coin is accounted for on a series of replicable ledgers, recorded on a multitude of computer networks, making rigging nearly impossible.
Envision a society where the decentralization effect of block chain technology keeps true value in the hands of the holders, not in the hands of controllers. Speculators are saying a single Bitcoin could soon outweigh a mountain gold.
