Bitcoin: Money for the Digital Age
Is an intangible, decentralized global currency the answer? This blog post examines my thoughts on Bitcoin using Shakhatreh’s article from 2022 as a springboard. Prior to researching this my knowledge of Bitcoin was elementary and I consider it an innovation worth understanding. Shakhatreh examines the benefits and risks involved in using, trading, and mining Bitcoin, as well as proposing safeguards for future use. Like any technological innovation Bitcoin can be difficult for the layperson to understand. Terms like “blockchain” and “mining” in the virtual world embody new concepts, though building on financial practices that most people take for granted. As Shakhatreh (2022) notes, bitcoins are digital images representing value that peer-to-peer transactions have established. BBC Newsnight (2018) likens mining the bitcoins to finding your way through a maze–miners using (increasingly high-powered) computers solve puzzles and approve transactions to gain rewards and fees an...
