The World of Blockchains

Abstract

In my childhood my grandfather used to tell me stories of how to create an immense amount of wealth in a short time, of course in an honest way, and then more importantly how to keep it all safe. While most little girls my age were fascinated by fairytales, I found wealth creation ideas much more alluring and a means to be a powerful someone someday later in life. With time I came to know I was not the only one in this game. People of all ages think about this puzzle of “creation of wealth” and “securing it.” Be it gold, spices, cattle, slaves, land, or oil, wealth has taken on different forms in the exchange of goods between parties and countries. Human history has witnessed many demonetizations where an existing currency is invalidated, followed by remonetization, in which a form of payment is restored as legal tender. Currencies were a mere representation of exchange media and yet carried no value without the backing of kings, emperors, or ruling governments. Cryptocurrency is one such currency; its distribution and exchange are entirely confined to the digital world. Bitcoin might not be the first digital currency, yet it’s the first successful cryptocurrency on the market.