Remember Bitcoin isn’t just a currency or a commodity-like instrument — Bitcoin is also an INVENTION — it’s a new invention, less than five years old which, for the first time in human history enables something to be transferred from one party to another by paper, in person, by speech or (most often) by Internet and phone with complete certainty that the item is what it says and the sender and recipient are who they are.

This may be one of the most brilliant an important inventions of the last two decades.

For centuries we have relied on complex systems to serve this function: notarizations, document authentication and the use of trusted third parties such as banks and law firms.

I’ve occasionally needed international agreements and documents to be certified: this means getting the equivalent of a notary seal in that country and getting it notarized in the US, then, because neither country has any way of verifying a simple notary, it goes through agencies who run it through embassies and other parties all the way up to a Federal level (Secty of State/ Foreign Minister) and then back down to the local level in each country where the lawyers can read and use it. It takes money and time.

The invention of Bitcoin’s protocol —which exists and works just fine when applied to other things– can be used for transfer of stocks, assets, adoption forms, real estate etc. etc.

Think what kind of world we will have when we can get the EQUIVALENT of a witnessed, recorded, double signed, notarized and authenticated signature from anyone in the world on any type of certificate or document instantly and reliably.