Bitcoin was launched as a video game currency in 2009
It was never to do with video games.
Bitcoin is the first ever cryptocurrency, ever invented, back in 2009.
Not really true, there were efforts before it that included cryptography. But Bitcoin put different puzzle pieces together in a novel way and became the first successful decentralized cryptocurrency. Technically it was invented in 2008, and first released in early January, 2009.
This post doesn't quite answer how it works. If readers would like to know more, Coursera offers a class on bitcoin and cryptocurrencies and if you'd just like to read the textbook, this is a free draft of it from earlier last year: https://d28rh4a8wq0iu5.cloudfront.net/bitcointech/readings/princeton_bitcoin_book.pdf
Thanks for the interesting info.
I've been reading this book.
https://www.amazon.com/Virtual-Billions-Genius-League-Bitcoin/dp/163388144X
This tells an interested story of money, bitcoin and what bitcoin has enabled.
I've read until about the drug store portion but it's bit of story telling way of getting the message across is quite fun.