Often hidden behind the headlines of Bitcoin's meteoric rise in market value and blockchain's technological promise is a basic understanding of what these two technologies are and where they come from.

This brief article examines the digital currencies Bitcoin and Ethereum and introduces Blockchain, the technology that facilitates the digital transfer of value and much more.

Bitcoin: The Beginning?

"I think the internet is going to be one of the major forces for reducing the role of government. The one thing that's missing, but that will soon be developed, is a reliable e-cash." — Milton Friedman, '99'

In 2008, a person or group of people acting under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto published a white paper titled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. The paper introduced a solution to two puzzling issues.