Blockchain might be an obscure technology at the moment, but it is poised to become as vital as the internet

With Bitcoin reaching a valuation of as much as $10,000 in recent days, it is becoming increasingly important to understand why exactly one should be excited about cryptocurrencies and blockchain.

While bitcoin, a digital currency and payment network was introduced in 2009, blockchain refers to the underlying technology that was developed by the inventor of bitcoin, according to Antonopoulos. To put it even simpler, he defines blockchain as bitcoin's ledger that records all the transactions that have ever happened in the database distributed around the world. While bitcoin is one of the first such technologies to have emerged there have been thousands of systems built using blockchain and similar systems.

As the author of the book, 'Mastering Bitcoin and The Internet of Money', Andreas Antonopoulos says,"The new systems have created a way to have a trusted transaction between two people who do not trust each other without the need to involve a trusted third-party. Previously, two people who could not trust each other could only transact through a trusted third-party, like a bank, or use government-supported methods of transaction like cash, etc. Bitcoin allows people to transact without trusting each other and/or trusting third-party."

Bitcoin is a global currency, he explains. One which is not created or controlled by a government, nor by a bank. All an individual requires is an internet-based application and thats all. Talking about global currencies, another widely accepted currency has always been gold, but is bitcoin similar to gold in any such way? Antonopoulos feels so. The only difference he states is that gold is more broadly accepted and understood, an advantage it enjoys over bitcoin which is yet to attain that level of trust with the masses.