Let's talk about blockchain, the tech behind bitcoin and crypto in general. Firstly it was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The beauty of the blockchain (aside from the fact that it doesn't need a central server to operate) is that it eliminates the idea of double spending. The technical details The blockchain is a continuously growing list of records called blocks . Yep, every transaction made with bitcoin is listed on the blockchain (or with any other crypto, it is kept in its blockchain). These records is composed of a cryptographic hash, a timestamp and the transaction data. [It's] an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way. Wikipedia The future of payments Cryptos have a lot of potential. It can be used for virtually anything. Not only that, because of the security it provides the blockchain can be used for identity management transaction processing , documenting provenance , food ...