Cryptocurrency has become a global phenomenon that's revolutionizing the way people exchange value. But how did we get here? What is cryptocurrency and where does it come from? How does it differ from traditional currencies? And what's the future of cryptocurrency going to look like? In this article series, we'll explore everything from the history of cryptocurrencies to how they work and how they fit into our current economy. By the end of this series, you'll have a solid understanding of where these digital assets came from—and where they're headed!

The Creation Myth of Bitcoin

In 2008, the world's financial system was rocked by the global financial crisis. In response to this massive economic event, a person or group of people using the name Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin.

As the story goes, Nakamoto published his white paper explaining how cryptocurrencies work shortly after midnight on October 31st and posted it to an email list called "cryptography". The first block of bitcoins was mined nine days later.

Bitcoin is a decentralized currency with no central bank responsible for managing it. Transactions are verified by other users on its peer-to-peer network rather than by any centralized authority like banks or governments as is traditionally done with fiat currencies (in our case USD). This makes bitcoin "trustless" because there is no need for trust between parties involved in transactions; instead all transactions are recorded publicly on blockchain which acts as an immutable ledger of all past transactions ever made using bitcoin since its creation in 2008.

It is also important to note that bitcoins exist only due to software running on computers around the world; there aren't any physical coins that you can hold like dollar bills!

Bitcoin has surged in value

In 2017, the value of Bitcoin skyrocketed, rising from around $1,000 to nearly $20,000 in December. The price then fell back down to $6,600 by mid-July 2018 before surging again to more than $8,800 by August 2018. It's impossible to predict what will happen with Bitcoin prices—or whether they'll even exist in a few years' time—but for now you're probably better off not buying any cryptocurrency unless you're willing to lose all your money overnight if things go wrong.

Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency to gain mainstream popularity, with Litecoin and Ethereum following soon after. Litecoin was created as a fork of Bitcoin and offers faster block generation and more coins. Ethereum, launched in 2013, is an open-source platform that allows developers to build decentralized apps on its blockchain using Ether (ETH) tokens. This gave rise to the popular ERC20 token, which is commonly used in initial coin offerings due to its flexibility and compatibility with other projects on Ethereum's network.

The Future of Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is a new asset class. The world has never seen anything like it before, so there's no telling what the future holds for cryptocurrency. We know that currencies can change over time; the value of money changes based on how much people are willing to pay for it and how much demand exists for it. Cryptocurrency is no different in this regard, but its popularity has grown so quickly that some experts predict that cryptocurrencies will become mainstream within the next five years - or less!

We also know that even though cryptocurrencies may be intended as a currency or store of value, they're not necessarily limited to just those uses. Such applications have already been deployed by companies like Civic with their identity verification toolkit built on top of blockchain technology. This isn't even scratching the surface! The possibilities are endless: smart contracts could help automate governance systems worldwide; trade finance could be streamlined through smart contracts; property records could be updated instantaneously with digital signatures instead of paper ones...the list goes on and on!

In conclusion, the future of cryptocurrency is bright, but it’s important to remember that these currencies are still in their infancy. The crypto market is still volatile which means that cryptocurrencies should not be seen as safe investments. This doesn’t mean they aren’t worth investing in at all—it just means you should be careful with how much money you put into them and what type of investment strategy makes sense for your needs.