Bitcoin is an Algorithm

Bitcoin is an algorithm. An algorithm is simply a set of instructions. While the term is derived from mathematics and computer science, if you simply replace any mention of algorithm with “set of instructions”, it can make it easier to understand. You could have an algorithm for baking, and algorithm for cooking, these might be called recipes.

Many recipes and instruction sets allow for some creativity or alteration, an algorithm is typically rigid. Considering a baking recipe, missing one instruction can be a disaster. It all depends on the severity of the error. With an algorithm, any instruction no matter how small, when missing, will result in a failed attempt. Bitcoin as a protocol, is simply a series of algorithms that anyone can attempt or compute. What makes it so secure is that there is a large number of instructions and the novel combination and complexity of those instructions.

When you think about your life and your morning routine, there is a high degree of variability among the steps you could take. Do you brush your teeth first? Do you go to the bathroom first? Or do you get out of bed first?

So much of what we do is programmed so early on that taking a hard look at the steps we’re taking daily, might allow us to learn something about ourselves and where we are in life financially. Do you save before you spend or spend before you save? Do you pay yourself first?

Great finances are often attributed to lucky circumstance and while chance can help, it’s much more likely that the person who has encountered this fortune, had been following a different set of instructions than the people watching.