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GLOBAL CURRENCY? Digital ‘bitcoin’ currency surpasses 20 national currencies in value
Posted on April 1, 2013 by END TIME HEADLINES
More than $1 billion dollars worth of a digital currency known as “bitcoins” now circulate on the web – an amount that exceeds the value of the entire currency stock
of
small countries like Liberia (which uses “Liberian dollars”), Bhutan
(which uses the “Ngultrum”), and 18 other countries. So what is a
“bitcoin,” and why would anyone use it? Unlike traditional currency,
bitcoins are not issued by a government or even a private company.
Instead, the currency is run by computer code that distributes new
bitcoins at a set rate to people who devote web servers to keep the code
running. The bitcoins are then bought and sold for regular U.S. dollars
online. Bitcoin is in high demand right now — each bitcoin currently
sells for more than $90 U.S. dollars — which bitcoin insiders say is
because of world events that have shaken confidence in government-issued
currencies. “Because of what’s going on in Cyprus and Europe, people
are trying to pull their money out of banks there,” Tony Gallippi, the
CEO “BitPay.com,” which enables businesses to easily accept bitcoins as
payment, told FoxNews.com. In Cyprus, the government is considering
taking a percentage of all citizens’ bank accounts to solve its fiscal
woes. That has led Cypriots — and other Europeans worried about the same
thing happening to them — to take their money out of banks. “So they
buy gold, they put it under the mattress, or they buy bitcoin,” Gallippi
said. Bitcoin demand has also increased, Gallippi says, because last
week U.S. regulators issued the first official guidelines for private
digital currencies. Prior to the regulations, the legal status of the
currencies was in doubt. “Now people can see that it’s not illegal, that
it’s not banned,” Gallippi said. Bitcoin is controversial because the
currency can be exchanged anonymously online — it is in a sense the
digital equivalent of using hard cash — and so some have criticized it
for facilitating online drug markets. On the site known as “the Silk
Road,” for instance, users pay bitcoins for illegal drugs and other
forbidden items. More
Thanks to: http://endtimeheadlines.wordpress.com
Posted on April 1, 2013 by END TIME HEADLINES
More than $1 billion dollars worth of a digital currency known as “bitcoins” now circulate on the web – an amount that exceeds the value of the entire currency stock
ofsmall countries like Liberia (which uses “Liberian dollars”), Bhutan
(which uses the “Ngultrum”), and 18 other countries. So what is a
“bitcoin,” and why would anyone use it? Unlike traditional currency,
bitcoins are not issued by a government or even a private company.
Instead, the currency is run by computer code that distributes new
bitcoins at a set rate to people who devote web servers to keep the code
running. The bitcoins are then bought and sold for regular U.S. dollars
online. Bitcoin is in high demand right now — each bitcoin currently
sells for more than $90 U.S. dollars — which bitcoin insiders say is
because of world events that have shaken confidence in government-issued
currencies. “Because of what’s going on in Cyprus and Europe, people
are trying to pull their money out of banks there,” Tony Gallippi, the
CEO “BitPay.com,” which enables businesses to easily accept bitcoins as
payment, told FoxNews.com. In Cyprus, the government is considering
taking a percentage of all citizens’ bank accounts to solve its fiscal
woes. That has led Cypriots — and other Europeans worried about the same
thing happening to them — to take their money out of banks. “So they
buy gold, they put it under the mattress, or they buy bitcoin,” Gallippi
said. Bitcoin demand has also increased, Gallippi says, because last
week U.S. regulators issued the first official guidelines for private
digital currencies. Prior to the regulations, the legal status of the
currencies was in doubt. “Now people can see that it’s not illegal, that
it’s not banned,” Gallippi said. Bitcoin is controversial because the
currency can be exchanged anonymously online — it is in a sense the
digital equivalent of using hard cash — and so some have criticized it
for facilitating online drug markets. On the site known as “the Silk
Road,” for instance, users pay bitcoins for illegal drugs and other
forbidden items. More
Thanks to: http://endtimeheadlines.wordpress.com
