Growing Interest in Bitcoin

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Growing Interest in Bitcoin
Eloisa Abbatelli

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Eloisa Abbatelli

Jan 13, 2014

17,000 companies in the world accept Bitcoin - the first digital, decentralized currency.

People who want to buy goods, pay for services or transfer money anywhere in the world, bypassing the banks, credit cards and other service companies, and even governments, increasingly use digital currency called bitcoin. This method of payment that was devised by software writer whose name is still unknown, attracts increasing attention.

About 17,000 companies in the world now accept bitcoin. This encrypted electronic money is used like any other, with the help of companies that enable this, but this trade is not controlled by banks or governments.

Bitcoin is the first completely decentralized digital currency, says policy analyst in the field of technology, Jerry Brito.

Bitcoin solved the problem of computer science: How can two people exchange money over the internet without government. Simple as email, says Brito from George Mason University.

This has attracted criminals, which is why the U.S. government has recently shut down one Internet company that has traded illegal goods. But as the president of Regulatory Commission of the Foundation for bitcoin, Marco Santori, said: bitcoin transactions are controlled by all computers in the system.

Reliability of the system lies in the fact that there must always be the total amount of bitcoins. Computers constantly monitor and approve the transactions. And every ten minutes, another 25 and a half bitcoins enter the system.

The United States, Germany and many other governments approved the use of bitcoins although some officials seek stricter control. China has recently banned bitcoins to its banks, but not to the firms.

Santori says that sending money across the world is now easier and cheaper.

Since the introduction, in 2009, the value of bitcoin varied from a few pennies to nearly a thousand dollars. As more companies are adopting bitcoin to pay for goods and services, more and more consumers use it.  This digital currency has become popular on the world financial stage.

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