Proof-of-Work

“Until Bitcoin, nations have not had an effective way to physically secure their ability to freely exchange bits of information across cyberspace without resorting to kinetic (i.e. lethal) power. At its core, Bitcoin is a computer network that transfers bits of information between computers using a zero-trust physical security design. As previously mentioned, bits of information can represent any type of information, including but not limited to financial information that might be used to support international payments and financial settlements. It makes perfect sense that a proof-of-work computer network's first use case would be to physically secure the exchange of vital financial bits of information, but that is clearly not the only use case. This technology could have far wider-reaching applications, as there are many other types of precious information that society would want to physically secure in the information age. To that end, Bitcoin could represent the dawn of an entirely new form of military-grade, electro-cyber information security capability - a protocol that people and nations could utilize to raise cyber forces and defend their freedom of action in, from, and through cyberspace.” - Major Jason P. Lowery, SoftWar