Adumbration

And now for something completely different, an interview with one of the people working up a fully digital currency that is completely independent of commodity basis and of national boundaries. 

An intriguing discussion of what it takes to be a medium of exchange - namely acceptance, in this instance - with the challenge of reaching that point without the benefit of an original commodity value, nor the forced acceptance through legal tender laws of fiat currency.

Here is a chart showing the historical values of bitcoin; April 2011 happened to be a time just before bitcoin experienced a large price spike, since which trading is quite a bit lower  (so to speak), although still 10x what it was when this interview was recorded.

Andresen on BitCoin and Virtual Currency (4/4/2011) - Gavin Andresen, Principal of the BitCoin Virtual Currency Project, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about BitCoin, an innovative attempt to create a decentralized electronic currency. Andresen explains the origins of BitCoin, how new currency gets created, how you can acquire BitCoins and the prospects for BitCoin's future. Can it compete with government-sanctioned money? How can users trust it? What threatens BitCoin and how might it thrive?