Framing Bitcoin For Progressives

WHAT IS BITCOIN?
At its core, Bitcoin is a digital store of value that enables everyone in the world to coalesce around a singular monetary system. For the first time, anyone in the world can send money to anyone else in the world, instantaneously, regardless of nationality, credit score or even access to a bank. No government owns it or sets its policies. This levels the playing field amid a global geopolitical environment prone to corruption, censorship and currency manipulation. No corporation owns it, either. Claws off, Zuckerburg (you too, Sandberg).

Bitcoin is governed by immutable code that is agnostic to human categorical markers and biases. Its network is secured by miners all over the world and verified by thousands to tens of thousands of nodes throughout the world. Nodes are servers that store all bitcoin transaction history and reinforce Bitcoin’s protocol. Nodes propagate new pending transactions throughout the network until they are received and processed by a miner.

Bitcoin mining is essentially the process of computers competing against other computers to solve complicated math problems to authenticate a time-based series of transactions called blocks. Known as Proof-of-work, miners earn bitcoin in exchange for their work securing the network. This process is what enables Bitcoin to function without central ownership, giving every person across the globe (with a smartphone) equal opportunity for financial inclusion.

Source : bitcoinmagazine.com