Bitcoin is a digital currency that was created by an unknown person using the alias Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin, the best-known virtual currency, started circulating in 2009. Unlike conventional money, it is generated by computers and is independent of control or backing by any government. There’re no middlemen involved in bitcoin exchanges/transactions. Neither is there any transaction fee plus no need to give your real name. More people have started to use bitcoin since 2009 when it was created as you can buy webhosting services, pizza et al.
During 2015 Bitcoin will be more transparent ,better regulated and more acceptable as part of the global payment system
— Arthur Levitt (@ArthurLevitt) January 1, 2015
There are a number of marketplaces called “bitcoin exchanges†that allow people to buy or sell bitcoins using different currencies. Mt. Gox is one of the largest bitcoin exchanges.
Though each bitcoin transaction is recorded in a public log, the transactions are kept private as it also lets them buy or sell anything without easily tracing it back to them. That’s why Bitcoin has become the currency of choice for people online buying drugs or other illicit activities.
The Bitcoin crash continued right into 2015 as people realized that Apple Pay is the same convenience but significantly less absurd.
— Downtown Josh Brown (@ReformedBroker) January 5, 2015
Is the future of bitcoin in jeopardy? : No one knows what will happen to bitcoin. Initially human-kind coming of the past civilization has relied on metals to the gold standard & then eventually the fiat currency came into existence. However, it has to be the seen whether we progress to the new-age digital currencies like bitcoin. It is mostly unregulated, but that could change. Governments are concerned about taxation and their lack of control over the currency. 2014 was bad period for bitcoins, with the cryptocurrency losing approximately 60 percent of its value. Now, 2015 is off to the worst possible start with less than a week into it, bitcoin has already fallen from $320 to around $270. (*Bitcoin at its lowest value)
2015 is the year Bitcoin becomes easy-to-use, or the year it fades from relevance
— Bobby Goodlatte (@rsg) January 5, 2015
Bitstamp had claimed that they have a solution to thwart cyber-attacks against its platform after Mt. Gox, once the world’s biggest bitcoin exchanges, lost an estimated $650 million worth of the virtual currency when its computer system was hacked.
Companies that are involved in developing and deploying the protocol of bitcoins are being denied access to banking services with several sanctions affecting its business & the local governments playing no heed to them.
The Bitcoin crash continued right into 2015 as people realized that Apple Pay is the same convenience but significantly less absurd.
— Downtown Josh Brown (@ReformedBroker) January 5, 2015
Cyber warfare at play: A European Bitcoin exchange had about $5 million worth of the cryptocurrency was stolen by hackers. The emergence of bitcoins has a new enemy in the possibility of manipulation that cannot be thwarted owing to dark forces that participate in cyber-activism.
The Slovenia-based Bitstamp announced the breach on its website Monday and shut down services temporarily Tuesday in order to investigate the hack. The theft totaled about 19,000 Bitcoin, but hackers were only able to access a small portion of the exchange’s total assets. Bitstamp wrote on its website that it would ensure users’ account balances were “honored in full†despite the breach.
This is what they had to say:
Source: Bitstamp website
The hack comes less than a year after the collapse of Mt. Gox, the once-massive Bitcoin exchange that lost more than $450 million worth of Bitcoin and then filed for bankruptcy. Bitcoin lost half of its value after Mt. Gox imploded.
However, Bitstamp is now again open for business. The temporary suspension did cause a ruckus among bitcoin investors(faithfuls). Now, what happens to the value of bitcoin remains to be seen. Share your thoughts & predictions with us.
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