I am the co-founder and CEO of the world’s leading blockchain technology company — The Bitfury Group. Everywhere I go — from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to meetings with top public policy influencers — I am asked to explain what Bitcoin is, what the blockchain is, what the Bitcoin Blockchain is and — most importantly — why it matters.

I am thrilled that more people want to know about the Bitcoin Blockchain and I am even more excited to educate and inform inquiring minds. This technology is changing the world and it’s just the beginning.

Here are a few fundamental facts everyone needs to know about the Bitcoin Blockchain:

1) The Internet has succeeded by forever changing the way we move data, voice and video, but it has never had a way to move asset value in a similar fashion — the Bitcoin Blockchain is exactly the technology solution to make this happen.

The Internet has given us unparalleled access to information and we can essentially send anyone any kind of information peer-to-peer, except assets. That has always been off limits — any transferred asset understandably had to go through a trusted emissary. Moving an asset across the Bitcoin Blockchain is secure, transparent, much lower in cost, and will open countless new doors of opportunity for millions of people who are often restricted by various limitations and roadblocks within their current systems.

Want to learn more? This video is helpful.

2) The Bitcoin Blockchain is secure.

This is always the hardest part to explain given some of the more sensational and negative news stories about Bitcoin. But the reality is, with its significant computing power, the Bitcoin Blockchain is one of the most secure computer networks in the world. Thousands of computers verify each transaction with sophisticated algorithms to confirm the transfer of value and create a historical ledger of all transactions. The computers that form the network that process the transactions are located throughout the world and, most importantly, are not owned or controlled by any single entity. This process is real-time, and much more secure than relying on a central authority to verify a transaction.

Read more here:

(Video) How Bitcoin Works in 5 Minutes

The Secure Blockchain is Bitcoin’s Biggest Asset

3) Law enforcement in the US and beyond are encouraged by the Bitcoin Blockchain because they can detect and track bad actors more easily in this new system.

Jason Weinstein, a former deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice in charge of cybercrime and now an advisory board member of The Bitfury Group and partner at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, established (with The Bitfury Group’s support and backing) the Blockchain Alliance. The Blockchain Alliance is a public-private forum where law enforcement and national security authorities are learning directly from some of the brightest minds in the industry about how to combat criminal activity in the digital space. Weinstein explains in a recent Medium op-ed that, “the reality is that if criminals and terrorists seek to use bitcoin as part of an effort to remain anonymous, they are making a big mistake. In fact, any criminals or terrorists who try to use the bitcoin Blockchain to facilitate their activities are foolish. That’s because reports of bitcoin’s anonymity are greatly exaggerated. The Blockchain technology that makes bitcoin work uses cryptography to verify and confirm all bitcoin transactions and then records those transactions on a searchable — and unalterable — public ledger. That technology has significant benefits for law enforcement. Having a traceable ledger of every bitcoin transaction ever conducted allows law enforcement to ‘follow the money’ in a way that would never be possible with cash. In addition, because this ledger of bitcoin transactions is permanent, law enforcement does not have to worry that the data will be unavailable months or even years down the road. Because the ledger is publicly accessible, law enforcement does not have to worry about what type of legal process — subpoena or search warrant — is required to access the data. And because the ledger is borderless, law enforcement can get the data without having to go through a foreign government.”

Read more here.

4) It is great that people and banks are supportive of the Blockchain technology, but private Blockchains, like the “intranets” of the ’90s, do not provide the reliable security of the Bitcoin Blockchain.

There is one Blockchain. It is the Bitcoin Blockchain. Just as there is one Internet. Even so, I encourage financial institutions and corporations to develop Blockchain technology and bring it into their infrastructure, as it enables a shared single source of truth, which is a powerful innovation. However, without the security provided by the computing power of the Bitcoin Blockchain, the property prized most — immutability — is no longer a given and is just one hack away from someone corrupting not just identity information, but real value as well.

5) Everyone who cares about making opportunities available to anyone in the world, who believes in democracy and the power of the people to have a voice and say in their future, should be interested in and enthusiastic about the Bitcoin Blockchain.

I grew up in Latvia during the fall of the Soviet Union. I saw people lose their pensions, their entire savings, their lives’ work, their dreams. I promised myself that if I could help it, I would work to ensure this never happens again. Billions of people all around the globe do not have the rights to transfer assets and many who do are forced to go through corrupt or dysfunctional emissaries and governments. If we could record and move assets in a way that protects individual citizens, then democracy, rule of law and capitalism will all be strengthened. With this missing part of the internet finally in place, we don’t have to wonder “what if” anymore — the future is here, and we can make a difference.

The author of this post is the CEO and co-founder of The BitFury Group, Valery Vavilov.