This is a fairly helpful explanation of bitcoin mining. To back up a little, and to put it in non-nerd terms, your computer "earns" (or "makes") bitcoins by, basically, doing math. Because it's an "economy," you have to do a lot more math to "earn" the same amount of money over time; new bitcoins are being "issued," with greater "value" (defined as amount of work), until the system reaches a cap, in the year 2033, when we all live in space. Our guide writes: "Since competition made the difficulty level astronomical, they’ve overwhelmingly joined 'mining pools' that hand everyone a consistent small amount of bitcoins proportional to the amount of power their rig contributes, rather than mining solo until they find a block (which could now take months or years). This is somewhat similar to choosing annuity over lump-sum payments after winning a lottery, except that lotteries pay in actual money." READ MORE

If I could entirely grasp this account of the first collateralized debt obligation, I would understand everything. (And if you can, please come work here!) However, I do understand the phrase "the next shoe to drop," so it is worth reading this piece by Felix Salmon all the way to the end even if your brain smokes a little in the middle.