Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a new virtual currency designed by programmer Satoshi Nakamoto and released in 2009. The internet was abuzz after it's release and the virtual currency quickly gained a high value and continues to do so today. Although Bitcoin is primarily virtual, physical ones do exist. The virtual Bitcoins are nothing more than a number that is tied to a Bitcoin address. Since this is a new currency, it can be a little frightening to attempt to make an investment into it. Those early adopters have however made themselves a lot richer by doing so.Projected Bitcoin mining in millions |
So how do you go about acquiring Bitcoin? You will need to find a Bitcoin exchange site and go from there. The oldest running one is Mt.Gox and is very reliable. You can easily sell and buy bitcoin from there. There are of course many other alternatives and its simply a matter of research and preference. You can study the average of the Bitcoin value on these websites, so when the prices are low and when they are high. Bitcoin is pretty much like the stock market or any other currency really, its price can fluctuate but it remains to be a high value investment. Even if the price is high for one Bitcoin, you don't have to actually spend hundreds or a thousand dollars to own one, you can simply own a share of a coin.
You may also attempt to do some Bitcoin mining. This isn't for your average everyday person. To mine for Bitcoins means you need to have some serious hardware dedicated for mining alone. Corporations are starting up slowly with extremely high end machines working on these. For one person it is more feasible to join a pool. This means your pc and other people's pc's are working together, trying to solve algorithms to create a new Bitcoin. Bitcoins are awarded by 50 at a time, and if you are mining alone, you will probably never be awarded a Bitcoin unless you are extremely lucky. Some Bitcoin mining machines can cost up to $13000.00, way more than what an average person is willing to get into.
Bitcoin price chart on Mt.Gox |
Bitcoin is a banker's worst fear and can be a treasury department's worst nightmare. A lot of that fear is simply because of their lack of control. For some people, their fear of Bitcoin is a legitimate one. What happens if there is another DDoS attack on their exchange site and find out the prices crash? Or another online theft? Much like playing the stock market, Bitcoin is a gamble but so far it's paid off quite well for all of it's early adopters. Before investing, it would be wise to watch the markets, download some apps on your phone or tablet to monitor it and make your own decisions. If you don't like or trust it, tough luck though. Bitcoin is obviously here to stay.