"Fiat" and the Concept of Cryptocurrency

Fiat (fee-aht): noun

1. An arbitrary order, sanction or decree, esp. by person(s) that have the absolute authority to enforce it.
2. Any command, decision or act of will that makes significant things occur (main literary root ).
3. Descriptor term for promissory currency declared as legal tender by a government yet not backed by physical commodities (example: paper currency).

Wow. Makes the very idea of fiat currency (esp. as used in relationship to modern economics) seem like extortion dictated from some secretive authoritarian rule. The perfect scam, the perfect "take." On paper it's totally legit and with enough of the right thumbs up...well, then it becomes accepted as an essential component of modern economic theory. Like it or not, it is what it is. And the dollar? The dollar is most assuredly fiat currency. Ordered, sanctioned and decreed by folks that absolutely enforce its use for all debts public and private. That is fact.

So, what is cryptocurrency? Where did it come from? (in simple terms, please)...Okay, here's the 1, 2, 3. The Bitcoin Whitepaper is released in 2008...although the idea of digital cryptocurrency can be traced back to the late 1970s. One of the most notable, first ever Bitcoin transactions was on July 12, 2010. 10,000 Bitcoin (BTC) was used to purchase two pizzas. And, at the recent rate of  $1000.00 USD per BTC those were $5,000,000.00 dollar pizzas!!! Yes, two five million dollar pizzas!!! Five days later Mt. Gox went online (the first exchange). BTC are obtained, stored in personal digital "wallets" and are time-stamped in a way that also includes every single previous stamp. They are bought and traded through an exchange...like Mt. Gox...in, you guessed it, verified blockchains of transactions. A BTC Wallet makes the exchange/transaction request(s) and verifies before entering a blockchain. The block is built and then is mined, or verified by the community. Finally, all of the verified block's BTC transactions are allowed to fulfill...done deal. It takes about 10 minutes. Whew. We did all that without discussing public and private-key SHA-256 encryption, cryptographic nonce, Merkle Trees, nodes or proof-of-work verification using an exponent of the number of zero bits to verify through algorithmic execution of a single hash. Whew, again...

In reality, BTC works very similar to how debit cards are used through the internet and card terminals to purchase goods using money stored in a bank account. Banking System=Mt. Gox. Bank's account/debit card numbers=BTC Wallets. Request is made electronically from one bank's wallet to pay into specific account/wallet belonging to that bank. Everything is verified and USD are transferred...But it's really "digital dollars" that are exchanged. So, yes, there is encryption and verification on every step. Really, really similar.

In essence, the almighty fiat dollar is already a cryptocurrency. The biggest difference being that the new BTC does not need the current banking system or the dollar at all. That's the difference that got the attention of  most governments worldwide. The new realm of cryptocurrency has created a platform that exposes fiat currency for what it really is...play money with no intrinsic value. Scraps from the top of the table that trickle down to the floor...that's what the masses are forced to eek an existence from. The time has come to pull seats for the meek to the table; seats to be filled with the tired, the poor, the huddled masses of the world yearning to breathe free...