Bitcoin is a monetary system. The best way to understand it is in comparison to two other monetary technologies: the gold standard and the U.S. Federal Reserve. In both of these systems, you need a way to control how much money exists (supply), and how people give it to each other (exchange). Bitcoin is simply one more way to implement supply and exchange of currency.
Bitcoin is also a thing that random d-bags talk about to each other, and to their bored dates. We will not discuss that aspect of bitcoin here but it’s actually the predominant societal aspect of bitcoin.
This article was originally posted on December 14, 2015 and updated on December 1, 2021.