Bitcoin, as a currency, exists and functions according to its underlying technology, the Blockchain. The Blockchain is built from a global network of computers. Each miner acts as an autonomous unit with an economic incentive to confirm transactions. The Blockchain's basic unit, the transaction, is an extensible unit upon which we can develop new types of applications.

In fact, each transaction is simply a small script which transfers control of some fraction of a Bitcoin from one address to another. With each transaction, a small amount of data can be stored. When the scripting language is combined with transaction metadata, other types of more complex operations can be written, executed, and stored.

Furthermore, an entire platform can be built on top of the Blockchain. Programmers...