"It’s really interesting on a tech level, but there’s also a financial thing that’s really interesting, too, that’s unrelated," Samson said. "What is it? Why is it worth $800? We’re hoping to have some fun discussions about that."

Why is it worth $850? That's what people will pay for that combination of 1s and 0s. That, and the relative newness of it, means it's also a volatile form of currency.

Some countries, including China and Estonia, have cracked down on it, in some cases judging it to be a "Ponzi scheme." U.S. economists are divided, but the country is considered to be friendly to Bitcoin.

The technological and economic aspects of the currency will be discussed throughout the day at the Hackathon.