Making money out of thin air — many have tried but not all have succeeded: has Bitcoin?

The Mesopotamian shekel is believed to have been the first known form of currency and is thought to have been used nearly 5,000 years ago. However, due to the ‘scare nature’ of the precious metals used to make a currency, there began a search to try and turn basic metals that were abundant into precious metals via alchemy. Although the word alchemy dates from Egyptian times, around 300 BC an alchemist known as Zosimos of Panopolis wrote about the concept of a ‘philosopher’s stone’, a legendary material that…