Building on Bitcoin

Abstract

Bitcoin has been called many things, from the future of money to a drug dealer's dream and everything else in between. But beyond creating the web's first native currency, the true innovation of Bitcoin's mysterious designer, Satoshi Nakamoto, is its underlying technology, the block chain. That fundamental concept is being used to transform Bitcoin--and could even replace it altogether. Here, Aron examines this virtual currency that is about more than money--the real innovation is what people are doing with the technology it is based on.