THINK TWICE
Bitcoin
By Parushan Moodley
Alternative Currency of the Future or the
World’s Next “Tulipmania”?
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magine you are an advocate of women’s rights in Egypt and,
as a highly controversial and ground-breaking journalist in
your country, it is vital that you remain anonymous so as to
avoid harm because your articles are slowly gaining traction
and making waves internationally. You spread your message
via your WordPress blog and the time has come to evolve, to
expand your reach, upgrade your back-end and take your blog
to fresh eyes. How do you do this without a credit card or avoid
having a payment traced back to you? In November 2012,
Wordpress started to accept Bitcoin, and so too did Baidu,
before the Chinese Government imposed its ban.
Bitcoin is a new-age “digital crypto-currency” that is gaining
wider acceptance by retailers and individuals by the day.
Some companies have even started installing physical ATM
machines for Bitcoin transfers. Bitcoin is an alternative currency
that involves zero government regulation and no Central Bank
interference. Good-bye to the Federal Reserve? Not necessarily
– although Bitcoin is gaining recognition and the amount
of negative press is decreasing, it was initially condemned
by Central Banks and deemed a “scam”, simply because it
undermines traditionally accepted financial authorities and
Central Banks. Currently the Chinese government has declared
its non-tolerance of the virtual currency, which was followed by
Baidu halting its acceptance of the currency. Alan Greenspan
recently discussed Bitcoin in an interview aired on Bloomberg
TV where he stated he has nothing against it; however, he
personally cannot ascertain how to find “intrinsic” value in a
Bitcoin. All in all, Central Banks around the world do not seem
to be too optimistic about the currency.
WHO IS SATOSHI NAKAMOTO?
Satoshi Nakamoto is the Japanese creator of this digital
currency who vanished with absolutely no trace in 2010.
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Some argue that “Satoshi