You might have heard a little of the noise Bitcoins were making earlier this month. The digital currency saw a huge spike in trading and worth, setting off a roller coaster filled with dips, rises, and some hacking problems along the way.
Some explanation might be in order. Bitcoins are a completely digital currency – unlike the dollars and cents in your online bank and PayPal accounts, Bitcoins have no real world counterparts. In fact, that’s the point – Bitcoins were originally founded as a currency that would be free from the hands of governments and banks, enabling anonymous, peer-to-peer exchange – no middleman.
The number of Bitcoins available on the market is strictly controlled – as of now, only 21 million Bitcoins can exist, and about 11 million do. The rest will eventually come into being through Bitcoin mining, as (extremely tech savvy) prospectors hope to happen upon Bitcoins through a really, really arcane process. The concept is simpler – it’s like trying to dig up precious metals from the earth in the hopes of striking it rich. An algorithm controls how much of the currency is available and will be available, making it self-regulating, in an economic sense.
And, they can be yours. The biggest Bitcoin exchange site is called Mt. Gox, and you can buy some of the virtual currency there. You’ll probably wish you had done so earlier, though – before this month, one Bitcoin was worth about $20. This month, it spiked up to well over $200 before settling down to $134, where it is at the time of writing. Mt. Gox was also hit with a DDoS attack, which some blamed for the subsequent crash from over $200 down to where it is now, raising questions about stability – which is fair enough, considering that in one month, a single Bitcoin went from paying for a pizza to paying for an iPhone.
But, maybe you’re not interested in currency trading and the effects of digital currency on real world economics. After all, money is for buying things, right? So, what can you actually buy with the things? Take a look below for some of the best legal things Bitcoins can buy. Read more here: http://www.chipchick.com/2013/05/legal-bitcoins-can-buy.html
Amazingly Best list of Free Bitcoins Websites | You can find more information about Bitcoin Mining here: ASIC Bitcoin Mining - News and Information
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