A (VERY) CRUDE INTRO TO CRYPTOCURRENCY:
What is it?
Well, as belied by the name, it’s currency…in digital form. But casually speaking, it’s dinero, moola, cheddar, paper — whatever you call money.
On one level that’s it really. It’s just a new form of money, refashioned in the image of our modern techno-centric world. Instead of dollar bills or gold coins, they are digital tokens, little bits of encrypted information that, like their hard money counterparts, represent the underlying system of credit and debts that structure our economic world.
And since most of us in the west are already accustomed to swiping our credit cards, or using venmo to pay a friend for the meal we just split, it’s being digital and paperless doesn’t seem very hard to comprehend.
So why all the fuss? What’s there to talk about? Quite a bit, actually. And we think it’s worth exploring. Because behind the obvious similarities cryptocurrency is truly a different animal.
The Fundamentals of Crypto series will seek to demonstrate what makes crypto distinct from traditional currency, and why you should care. We’ll explore, in reasonable detail, some of the underlying technologies behind crypto as well as the contemporary and historical context in which crypto is situated. In addition, we intend to gush about what we think are some of the most exciting possibilities that crypto could usher in.
But before we get into it, we want to be clear about our approach to this and all subjects. It’s our goal at Hansel not to pull any punches, not to make “straw man” arguments in favor of crypto that only highlight the positive while sweeping the negative under the rug. We don’t believe that’s beneficial to anyone.
Good and informed decision making is the result of entertaining the strongest evidence and arguments from all sides. Our coverage of topics will attempt to glean the best ideas from all perspectives, popular or contrarian, conservative, libertarian, or wildly anarchistic. We don’t care much about labels or parties or geopolitical leanings, we care about the ideas and about creating open dialogue that’s in service of wisdom and progress.
We won’t always achieve our aim, And we’ll make plenty of mistakes along the way, but we’re committed to remaining open. And as new information comes to light, or the veil of our own ignorance is lifted, we’ll reevaluate our assumptions and seek to refine our positions.
And now, if you can excuse the above tooting of our own intellectual horns, let’s talk crypto!
Check out the next installment in Part 1: The Color of Money
Hansel is a fully automated spare change investing platform for both the crypto enthusiast and those new to crypto. With a focus on elegant design and ease of use, Hansel is an essential tool in the personal investor’s arsenal.
