Bitcoin ... the way to the future or path to financial ruin?
Bitcoin, hailed in some quarters as the future of currency, is having a rough week, with a flurry of rumors that China will shut down exchanges and the head of a major U.S bank calling bitcoin a “fraud.”
Plummeting prices have again raised questions about the wisdom of owning it, if not its legitimacy.
The digital, or cryptocurrency, tumbled 15 percent Thursday to about $3,300 against the dollar. Bitcoin, which has had bouts of volatility in the past, has shed about a third of its value since Sept. 1. But it’s still up about $600 compared with last year at this time.
Still getting up to speed on bitcoin? Here’s a quick rundown. What is bitcoin? Bitcoin is a digital currency created and exchanged without the involvement of banks or governments. Transactions allow anonymity, which has made it popular with people who want to keep their financial activity, and their identities, private. The digital coins are created by socalled “miners”, who operate computer farms that verify other users’ transactions by solving complex mathematical puzzles. These miners receive bitcoin in exchange. Bitcoin can be converted to cash when deposited into accounts at prices set in online trading.
Is this bitcoin’s swansong?
Not necessarily. Let’s take a look at recent data: In mid-July the value of bitcoin was around $1,900 per dollar, dropping from nearly $2,500 at the end of June. Users forced a change in the computer code, which was designed to improve capacity on the increasingly clogged network. The maneuver worked, helping to avoid a split in bitcoin and driving the value up to roughly $2,800 by the end of July.
Bitcoin’s value has fluctuated since then. At the beginning of August bitcoin’s value stood at about $2,710 and shot up to more than $4,700 by month’s end. But there’s been a steady decline this month, with the value slipping to approximately $3,300 on Thursday, according to Blockchain.info.