Give me that old bitcoin religion
More from this authorPandoDaily No one person is in control of bitcoin. No central banker, no governing or regulatory bodies, and there is no mechanism to suddenly manipulate money supply. That’s the point, of course. Satoshi Nakamoto, its pseudonymous creator whose image is represented in the artwork above, called it a peer-to-peer electronic cash system designed “to allow online payments to be sent from one party to another without going though a financial institution.” Unlike American coins, which are forged at the US Mint, and dollar notes – they’re printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing – bitcoin creation is decidedly democratic and completely virtual: Anyone who has made the effort to learn can “mine” the currency, trading valuable labor and resources in the form of expertise, processing power, energy, and time. With bitcoin, Nakamoto, whoever he, she, or they are, has, in essence, disintermediated the banks and government. As with all currencies, bitcoin relies on trust, the economic lubricant t












