The first crypto currency, called Bit-Gold, was created by Nick Szabo; and it was designed and based on an encrypted algorithm that draws its value from the numbers of transactions made on the asset.
That currency was not used or traded enough so it disappeared for a while - until on 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto, a computer programmer's pseudonym, designed a better algorithm that draws the value from the entire cryptocurrency system collectively, making it an all-around secure asset. Meaning, to hack the new algorithm, you would need to hack every server that contains the cryptocurrency around the world, which is virtually impossible. This has made Nakamoto's asset safer than money in the bank- he called it Bitcoin.
Today, there are more than a 1000 different crypto currency and the block chain technology that they are based on is being implemented in almost every bank around the world!
The idea behind cryptocurrencies is to put the power back in the public hands and loosen the banks' grip on the financial world. This idea spread like fire and some of the currencies jumped from few cents to thousands of dollars. It seems as if this is the future and it is already here.
How do we know this is not a temporary bubble?
As you read before, the bitcoin is celebrating 10 years anniversary soon; and just in the last 10 months alone, more than 680 new cryptocurrencies based on the same technology were created.
Add to that the fact that China is banning all cryptocurrencies from the country to keep control in the banks hands by what the finance world is calling "the purge" before the new Chinese crypto's birth.
Long story short, now is the time and way to take control back from the banks and make money without anyone putting his hand in your pocket.