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The History Of Bitcoins Is A Very Interesting One With

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The history of Bitcoins is a very interesting one with its dramatic and unexpected rise. In recent years it has attracted the attention of many entities to include the media, law enforcement, investors, and even criminals. The book, Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money looks into these stories of the individuals who sought to create a new global currency. Journalist Nathaniel Popper compiles the stories behind the rise of bitcoins into a timeline. By telling these stories it provides a more in depth look into the various motives and intentions of those who supported bitcoin. Bitcoin attention has been mainly due to two of the most significant benefits, the extreme amounts of …show more content…

The crisis had exposed many of the shortcomings in the existing financial and political systems, creating a large desire for alternatives (Popper IV). Many saw Bitcoin as the answer as it was free of any sort of central government. Although not specifically stated in the book, there are many pros and cons I personally saw in using Bitcoins as a form of currency. Similar to gold, a major problem that bitcoin has as a currency is the fact that it there is a finite limit to it as mentioned above. This creates numerous issues compared to fiat money. For example, if the currency is saved in large quantities, thus removing it from use, this will then make individual Bitcoins more valuable, as they become scarcer. This will then cause deflation, as you can buy more with less, incentivizing people to hold on to bitcoins more, as they will be worth more in the future. This will continue to propel itself until the Bitcoins will effectively become useless as people lose faith in the currency. This is where typically fiat money triumphs, as governments have the ability to push money into the economy in order to continue growth and combat the risk of deflation. Another huge issue, as stated in the book, with Bitcoins as a currency, is at its current stage it is not widely used. Thus, is highly volatile, and this will most likely be the case for some time as this currency is in its infant stages. A

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