money out of thin air so how exactly does it work well let's take a look at the technology behind it. you can't pay for anything with real physical tokens like these bitcoin is a digital currency and its value is determined just like everything else by supply and demand and unlike with the dollar and the euro there are no central banks able to influence the course of the crypto currency value. bitcoins were first programmed ten years ago the developer was known only by a pseudonym that toshi nakamoto to this day the programmer behind the technology has never been identified the idea that everyone who installs the bitcoin software on their desktop or smartphone becomes part of the bitcoin network the digital ledger that supposedly makes a bit coin both independent and secure is what's known as block chain a block chain is a digital chain managed by many computers and a network which keep track of records and what are called blocks each block