You can find the original bicoin creation document written by Satoshi Nakamoto here.
I found it empowering to follow along with the audible version embedded below. Reading while hearing is a powerful way to internalize complex ideas:
This is a challenge to wrap ones head around, but what I’m gleaming is about the Bitcoin system is that the system’s security becomes more robust as it grows. The complexity is built out by miners who are rewarded with Bitcoins. These miners are getting increasingly sophisticated. One entrepreneurial miner moved to Iceland to take advantage of an abundance of cold air.
So these entrepreneurs are running tremendous computers, specially designed to make hacking the Bitcoin system more challenging (using the Hashcash system.) With each use of a bitcoin, with each creation of a bitcoin, the currency becomes more robust.
But I’m skeptical because, while I understand this all very vaguely on an intellectual level, I wanted to know about who was behind it all… What do the faces of the guys who are running this show look like?
So first off I went into how to set up a bitcoin wallet and how to buy coins. I got to this article which makes it far easier.
But again, who is this CoinBase group? Is this some elaborate scheme? Sure their website is designed beautifully and seems legitimate… but this is the wild west of crypto currencies and I image the pirates could figure this one out.
Of course, I paused for a long time when considering to enter my bank account information in order to purchase these abstract coins… who were the guys behind the coins? Where they to be trusted?
Then I found an interview with the co-founder.
This made it seem much more real.
I’m kicking myself for not getting in earlier to be perfectly honest. A friend of mine who is passionate about RoboCoin suggested buying coins 3 months previous. The price was $120. Now it’s $630…. If I’d listened to him I would have seen about 430% growth.
So I’m in. Tweet me @IndependentIan if you think this was a good idea. Even better, tweet me if you bought some too.
Update April 19th 2014: I bought in at $630 but got out at $830. Afterwards it’s tanked considerably. I’m still holding off. The current cost is $495 so it’s back on the rise. Stay vigilant people! 🙂