What is cryptocurrency in general?

Cryptocurrencies are a type of digital currency based on blockchain technology that you can’t counterfeit. Bitcoin, the most well-known type of cryptocurrency, was released in 2009 and first started trading on exchange platforms in 2010.

As for blockchain itself? Here’s an analogy that cryptocurrency journalist and podcaster Laura Shin explained to Marketplace: Think of it like a Google spreadsheet.

It’s kind of like those old ledgers, where banks would keep records of its customers’ funds. Except this one is a lot more sophisticated. Shin said blockchain allows us to have just one ledger that everyone can see at any given time.

Shin said she thinks bitcoin is a more transparent form of currency and that over time, the technology underpinning it could enable financial transactions to occur more cheaply.