Summary

In this chapter, you saw how the idea of money has evolved throughout history, from a more tangible to a more intangible concept, with each stage having its pros and cons. From barter trade, we moved to commodity money, through to commodity-backed paper money, and on to the fiat money that we use now. This was a historical journey, from real goods and commodities to numbers on a computer screen, representing value and money!

In the following chapter, we'll look at how the technologies underpinning Bitcoin emerged, and how they were put to work together. This mix of technology enables value, information transfers, and record-keeping in a decentralized way, without the need for any central agents or middlemen.