BitCoin was proposed in 2008 and (based on a white paper), launched in 2009. It was worthless initially, but is now priced at $100,000 per coin. It can be incremented into 1/100,000,000 parts, each called a “Satoshi”. The white paper proposes that security is ultimately achieved by the hosting agency having a more powerful and faster computer than anyone else. However, other security measures are a cryptographic system that would be difficult to overcome, and personnel who check each transaction for legitimacy. In spite of the seemingly impossible task of “hacking” the system, accounts have been stolen or lost several times. The purpose of this talk is not to advocate use of this system of commerce, but to recognize that at some point the US Government will be involved. This should eventually lead to a secure system for commerce. Some interesting features of the technology include the analogy of mining for gold, and the increasing difficulty of “finding” coins. Similar "coins" will also be discussed. Speaker(s): Doug Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/454896