[poncho-mike]

Bitcoin is a digital currency that was created by an individual or group, which I think is independent of any government. Most currency in use is fiat money, meaning it has nothing more than the power of the military of the issuing country to back it up. Bitcoin only has value as long as there are people willing to give it value. It can be used for transactions that are outside of government control, which is why I'm a little surprised that a bitcoin ETF was approved recently. There were actual bitcoins made by some company or companies, but they are just tokens representing the digital currency. I think they have less value than an actual bitcoin.