MIT's First Digital Currency Director Talks Taking Bitcoin Mainstream

"If you would have explained Uber or Lyft five years ago, you would have had to explain it as digital hitchhiking, because that's what it is."

That analogy, according to newly appointed MIT Digital Currency Initiative director Brian Forde, illustrates where bitcoin and the blockchain are today – struggling for a more colloquial definition that may only come when the technology delivers a consumer experience that communicates its societal value.

The Digital Currency Initiative finds the Massachusetts Institute of Technology seeking an active role in this communication process. As laid out in the group's introductory blog post, the program has three goals: to engage students in research around key issues, convene stakeholders in discussions regarding the technology and provide a catalyst for unbiased research.