What’s The Point Of Bitcoin?
Making sense of the digital currency and the ideology of its founders, fans and future.
Making sense of the digital currency and the ideology of its founders, fans and future.
In 2010 a developer spent 10,000 bitcoin to buy two pizzas. Seven and a half years later that was the equivalent of over $80m.
Bitcoin has been exploding in value throughout 2017 as more and more people buy into the idea of a digital currency. Traditional financial institutions have even begun to get involved. But far from a mainstream investment, Bitcoin started life as an idea from the radical cypherpunk movement, who wanted to use decentralised technologies as a way to disrupt governments and corporations.
In this edition of The Inquiry we trace the history and development of Bitcoin – and ask whether its future will stay true to its libertarian roots.
(Image: The Digital Cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Photo Credit: Dan Kitwood/ Getty Images)
Last on
More episodes
Clips
-
More transformative than the internet
Duration: 02:09
-
Cypherpunks
Duration: 02:16
Broadcasts
- Thu 28 Dec 2017 00:06GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service East and Southern Africa, South Asia, West and Central Africa & East Asia only
- Thu 28 Dec 2017 03:06GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service Online, Americas and the Caribbean, UK DAB/Freeview & West and Central Africa only
- Thu 28 Dec 2017 04:06GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service South Asia & East Asia only
- Thu 28 Dec 2017 07:06GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service Australasia & East and Southern Africa only
- Thu 28 Dec 2017 08:06GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service Europe and the Middle East
- Thu 28 Dec 2017 15:06GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service except East and Southern Africa, News Internet & West and Central Africa
- Thu 28 Dec 2017 18:06GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Thu 28 Dec 2017 23:06GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service Online, Australasia, Americas and the Caribbean, UK DAB/Freeview & Europe and the Middle East only
- New Year's Day 2018 04:06GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service Australasia
- New Year's Day 2018 06:06GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service South Asia
- New Year's Day 2018 07:06GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service East Asia
Podcast
-
The Inquiry
Getting beyond the headlines to explore the forces and ideas shaping the world