The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains

Does Bitcoin, or do other cryptocurrencies, have the potential to keep value over the long term, as some people expect from gold? Possibly. According to its current protocol rules, bitcoins are created at a known rate (12.5 BTC every 10 minutes or so)—and that rate will decrease over time. So the supply of it is understood and predictable, capped to almost 21 million BTC and not subject to arbitrary creation, unlike fiat currencies

Bitcoin is the very first digital asset of value that can be transferred over the internet without any specific third party having to approve the transaction or being able to deny it.

Bitcoin
and Ether are two of the better-known cryptocurrencies or coins (note that the coin on the Ethereum network is called Ether, though is often misnamed in the media as ‘Ethereum’). These are assets or items of value that exist digitally, not physically, and are created by software. They have no issuer as such. No person, company, or entity backs these, and there are no terms of service or guarantees associated with them. Like physical gold, cryptocurrencies simply exist, and are created or destroyed according to the rules articulated in the code that creates and governs them.

(note that the coin on the Ethereum network is called Ether, though is often misnamed in the media as ‘Ethereum’).

The journey starts with ‘What is Bitcoin?’ but the explanations and answers come from the disciplines of economics, law, computer science, finance, civil society, history, geopolitics, and more. You could create a pretty comprehensive high school curriculum around Bitcoin and have plenty of material to spare.

“Einstein said that ‘if you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough’.