Bitcoin is finally going mainstream, sort of.

Unfortunately, since people did catch on early enough, they would be millionaires by now. Fortunately, people can potentially make up for that. No joke. This is Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is the world’s first major cryptocurrency, with a worldwide payment system that works without an administrator pulling the strings.

To simplify, it means no banks and no government regulation holding down what people can do with their money. People own the Bitcoin they receive, and with it all nice and snug in their digital coin case, too. Merchants for the currency are on the rise. It is pretty amazing.

As an anonymous exchange, international payments are free from subjugation as well. But that is beside the point, because Bitcoin is making strides.

Bitcoin made history on the investment front for surpassing the $10,000 mark for the first time in its short existence.

Bitcoin was founded in 2009 under the veil of zeros and ones. The guy behind the payment system, Satoshi Nakamoto, is theorized to either be a group of people or one of the richest individuals on the planet, owning at least 1 million Bitcoin with an estimated $10 billion value.

People can assume Nakamoto stays anonymous for that reason. But it was not always so difficult to cash in on the digital bread. For most of Bitcoin’s life, it found itself as the trade route between drug dealers and their customers, helping the dark web relish in illegal activity only complimented further by detestable acts of sexual exploitation. People refrained from mentioning this. That is, until Bitcoin started rising in value earlier this year.

Prior to late 2016, Bitcoin was not valued very high. In the first half of 2017, there happened to be a mass exodus of currency, as people sold their Bitcoin in droves, finding sweet deals in the value it provided them, which, according to NASDAQ, ranged at about $2,000 in April per Bitcoin, increasing later. This was nowhere near reminiscent of the older days when 50 Bitcoin got someone a pizza. The money meant something now. It is a pretty sick prospect to consider.

Imagine if those numbers keep rising. Currently, the estimated value of one Bitcoin is about $10,444. The sharp spike is estimated to continue, so much so that the banks are getting involved.

According to Forbes, there are reports of banks already taking measures to halt Bitcoin’s potential in the global market. China, for example, had banned cryptocurrency exchange outright due to rising Bitcoin usage.

It is fairly obvious why big banks and big government would want Bitcoin to suffer, because it means they would save themselves from potential financial fallout. It is difficult to not see the benefits one can reap from Bitcoin as the currency of our new digital age.

Why choose to pay silly fees or talk to tellers that clearly hate their jobs to take care of someone’s money? People own all the cash they accumulate through a neat and comfy digital system.

Photo: Jason Benjamin via flickr