http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bitcoin-and-the-future-of-money
Austin Alexander is the director of the Bitcoin Center NYC, just steps from the New York Stock Exchange, where he extols the virtues of this virtual currency. He calls Bitcoin "probably the most global, most decentralized phenomenon in human history."
He described the action at the Bitcoin Center to Christoforous: "This is the auctioneer and he's reading out people's offers. So he's telling anybody listening what people are willing to pay for Bitcoin, and what people are willing to sell Bitcoin for."
Think of Bitcoin like a commodity, just like gold. Its value fluctuates from day to day depending on the markets.
There are, of course, advantages and disadvantages to that. For instance, last Fall speculators drove the price of a single Bitcoin to more than $1,200. But in recent months, the price has plummeted to half that, due in part to the bankruptcy of the world's largest Bitcoin exchange after nearly a half-billion dollars in investor money vanished.
But that hasn't deterred retailers from accepting Bitcoin, including Jennifer Longson's cupcake shop in San Francisco.
For Jennifer Longson, Bitcoin's lower transaction fees help keep her business costs down while offering her customers lower prices and an easy way to pay: take a picture of a barcode, and press "send payment": "And there you go."
Big businesses are getting in on the action, too. Now you can use Bitcoin to shop on overstock.com, to buy a ticket to space on Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, orgo to an NBA game. There's talk Netflix may be next.
Have any of you used bitcoin? Do you think it will be a big thing/ succeed as people expects?
i am still unclear what this product is. how does this new technology differ from the various ways that we already conduct transactions?
ReplyDeleteBitcoins are an "electronic" currency that the proponents see as the currency of the future. They operate outside of government entities. Recently though, a big exchange in Japan was robbed and there was a run on the exchange...just as for other currencies. Wave of the future......
ReplyDeleteI have never used a bitcoin, but I think the idea sounds interesting. I was reading that as Professor Mckinney says, because bitcoins operate outside government entities, there is little regulation and protection for those who use this type of currency, and thus bitcoins could be use for illegal activities. However, it seems to me that as corporations and the public start to use and request the expansion of "this currency", strict regulations will soon appear to control all the activities involved and bitcoins will become a recognized method of exchange, unit of account, and store of value.
ReplyDeleteThe concept I find most fascinating about bitcoin is the concept of mining. That the fees charged to bitcoin users are saved into these blocks, that when discovered by users can garner them more bitcoins. It is an interesting incentive system that can not be offered by any type of current currency I am aware of. Although it is interesting it is also prone to abuse, by users who set up computer systems entirely to mine bitcoins.
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