About eight years ago, a pseudonymous cryptographer known as Satoshi Nakamoto introduced Bitcoin as a digital analog to gold: Limited in supply, but secured by modern cryptography, and made for the internet age. Bitcoin and alternative cryptocurrencies are starting to see widespread adoption.

The main innovation behind cryptocurrencies is that, instead of relying on a trusted third party, transactions are recorded and propagated in a distributed ledger known as the blockchain.

This allows transactions to be trustless, censorship-resistant, permissionless and private. There’s a lot of excitement about cryptocurrencies.

Optimists claim cryptocurrencies will fundamentally alter payments, economics and event politics around the world. Pessimists claim cryptocurrencies are inherently broken and will suffer an inevitable and spectacular collapse.

Bitcoin technology will essentially allow a redesign of society where our infrastructure for sharing information and resources will not hinge on a central party. Our business models will become incredibly resilient and far more secure against hacking attempts, although emphasis on information security will increasingly become a top priority.

Banking, both commercial and central, will feel disruption to the core and will be forced to align business models to a type of currency that resides on a decentralized network.

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