The puzzle of money.

This is a coin. A Canadian silver dollar. We would expect to be able to buy goods or services with it.in fact being a commemorative one we might expect it to be worth a little more than its face value.
In fact we all understand that money does not have to be in the form of a metal coin or even a cheque. Its existence in other forms is all based on trust. On our mutual acceptance that in the form of electronic numbers it can still have value.

But if you have retained your intellectual curiosity ( and I believe that doing so is one of the secrets of a happy old age) you will be trying to understand the secrets of bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies which in the past year have created thousand of multi millionaires overnight.

The North American Bitcoin Conference opens next week in Miami. I rather wish I was there to help with my understanding of it all. Although I might come away even more confused. But I would like to know how you can “mine” bitcoins by using computer to solve immensely complex equations.


You may be amused to know that from where I sit, the sweet tones of a Haydn cello concerto are now accompanied by the gentle bubbling sound of my new vaporiser releasing steam containing oil of Olbas.