A Beginner’s Guide to Bitcoin
A quick history of money and how Bitcoin challenges our understanding of financial systems.
Since its inception in 2009, Bitcoin has seen both tremendous growth and periods of disillusionment. From a valuation of $0.08 per coin in 2010, Bitcoin is now a successful institutional investment asset held by Tesla, Square, and Microstrategy, as well as a global currency accepted by fintech giants such as PayPal and Mastercard. 2020 was an important year for Bitcoin, as it reached more mass adoption and broke its all time highs set in 2017 prior to a historic crash that wiped out nearly 80% of its value.
Critics of Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies) point to its volatile prices to label it as a speculative asset at best, and a conduit for criminal activity (e.g. money laundering) at its worst. On the other hand, Bitcoin investors cite Bitcoin’s impressive performance and resilience during the pandemic along with growing adoption figures to frame Bitcoin as digital gold and an inevitable change in how we view money.
Regardless of your views on Bitcoin, there is no denying the heightened interest and the shift in narrative amid the unprecedented era of global fiscal policies and…
