Strengths And Weaknesses Of Bitcoin

1. What is the key point of the article? Make sure you discuss what block chain and Bitcoin are.

The block chain database has recently become more widespread in everyday life and some of its benefits has been implemented for the public usage. The governments in several countries has acknowledged the potential of the block chain system. This could simplify the bureaucracy process and provide credibility. Some suggestions have been made of where this database could be enforced. First of all, the block chain system could affect how an ordinary person could deal with property titles. Governments will make it possible for citizens to electronically conduct transactions and queries without lawyers or queuing at government offices. Once registered on the block chain, for example an ownership of a car, a home or other assets to be transferred from one person to another without the need for a government record while still being legal and publicly acknowledged (Forde & Casey, 2016).

Cryptocurrency is a digital asset that serves as a medium of exchange with no central authority and was created to prevent the issue of double spending. This problem is solved with the use of blockchains where miners confirm transactions on a public ledger. As of today, there are over 1,000 different types of cryptocurrencies, and at least 600 of these have listed market caps of over $100,000. Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin are top cryptocurrencies trading today with their combined market cap topping $331B. Bitcoin, created in 2009, is the biggest cryptocurrency and has recently reached a net value of over $270 billion, with much of its growth being in the last few months. This has led to much

Bitcoin (BTC), a cryptocurrency, is a type of digital currency which was introduced in 2009 by pseudonymous developer "Satoshi Nakamoto". Since then 12 million bitcoins have come into existence with a current market cap of around 8 billion USD [1]. The algorithm is designed as to allow only 21 million BTC to come into existence ever. Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority or banks; managing transactions and the issuing of bitcoins is carried out collectively by the network [2]. Bitcoin is not the first attempt. But none have managed before to take off so dramatically and with such wide adoption to achieve escape velocity. The questions which are important now are how the bitcoin managed this success in

Litecoin – is the second largest cryptocurrency in terms of capitalization in the market today. It reached a market cap of $1 billion by the end of the year, 2013. The litecoin was primarily created as an improvement to the Bitcoin, the market leader. Among the added features are - mining capabilities with the use of an ordinary desktop computer, faster processing time (2.5 minutes versus 10 minutes for Bitcoin), and a maximum limit (84 million versus 21 million) which is four times more than Bitcoin, its leading rival.

The hidden power behind cryptocurrency is blockchain technology, which is as tough to recognize as it is to discuss. There are definitely in-depth descriptions of exactly how blockchains work offered, yet generally, each is built on an openly

Wall Street is going gaga for blockchain. According to a recent report from the World Economic Forum (WEF), over $1.4 bn has been invested in blockchain technology in the past three years, with over 90 firms coalescing into rival groups. The motivation is clear. Distributed ledger technology, commonly known as blockchain, and the underlying idea behind crypto-currency bitcoin, promises to revolutionize the infrastructure of modern finance and investment.

Bitcoin \footnote{Through out this thesis, Bitcoin (upper case) refers to the Bitcoin system while bitcoin (lower case) refers to the currency coin.} is a decentralized peer to peer electronic payment system based on cryptography or more accurately, a crypto-currency. The Bitcoin economy has grown at an incredibly fast rate with a current estimated market capitalization of about 3.5 billion US dollars since its introduction in 2009 \citep{bitcoinwatch}. While Bitcoin is still in its infancy and more of an experimental than an accepted currency, the trends suggest it has the potential to shape the future of electronic payments.

Most people who are interested in technology have heard of Bitcoin. Many might not know the ins and outs of what it is or how it’s used, but they’ve at least heard of it. As someone who has taken an interest in computers, computer programming, and what’s going on in the tech world, I find the background and use of cryptocurrency extremely fascinating, if not a little perplexing. U.S. Senator Thomas Carper expressed the public’s opinion of cryptocurrency well in saying “Virtual currencies, perhaps most notably Bitcoin, have captured the imagination of some, struck fear among others, and confused the heck out of the rest of us.” (Rosic, 2017).

To start off primarily, Bitcoin is a digital currency as opposed to physical currency that we’re accustomed to and use in our daily life. Straight off their site, Bitcoin is described as a pseudo-anonymous, P2P technology operating with no central authority or banks, it’s open-source, public, owned by no one and open for everybody to take part; but what does that all mean? “Bitcoin is the leader in a new generation of emerging currencies known as “cryptocurrencies” which aim to, among other things, facilitate the movement of money electronically while still maintaining a sense of privacy,” (Hobson)

We take the position that digital currencies are a fad. As argument, we try to clarify the definition of currency in general and explain what a "digital currency" really mean. Than we examine the arguments for the digital currencies and at the end we present the evidences of perils of digital currency.

Nowadays, the Internet has implemented great impacts on people’s life, and it also has changed the business world significantly. In order for companies to cope up with the changing customer demands, they must adopt new technologies not only to support their business functions but also to reduce paper works, reduce costs, and provide better services. Bitcoin is a currency of the Internet, distributed, worldwide, decentralized digital money that be developed as a new payment method. In Australia, the regulator has defined Bitcoin as property instead of currency for accounting purposes (King, 2015 February). Although Bitcoins are not materially existed, it can be exchanged for goods and services at places that accept it, the same way you would give someone a dollar for a cookie.

The US Treasury declared bitcoin a decentralized virtual currency since payments work peer-to-peer, having no single repository. Bitcoin has since become the largest cryptocurrency in the market and the first fully instigated decentralized cryptocurrency. Bitcoins are created as a payment for processing work, where users’ computing power is utilized to verify and record payments into the public ledger. This process is called mining, one can receive transactions fees and newly created bitcoins in exchange for this process. Bitcoins can be sent and received electronically between users in exchange for money, products and services. Bitcoins is usually great for buying goods and service at lower prices than retailers for example, due to lack commercial mark-up and avoidance of credit card fees. However, bitcoins have a downside, one major problem is that bitcoins can be stolen as they are online based, hackers may gain access to user’s accounts.

The dramatic development of blockchain technologies seems to be a double-edged sword. Although cryptocurrency leads to innovative payments and transfers, it may be a tool for criminal usages. In terms of benefits, bitcoins have ability to solve double-spending problems and Ethereum’s smart contract is used for sharing economy. On the other hand, because there is no legal which is responsible for Bitcoin trading activities, Bitcoin is considered as one of the greatest risk to national security through illegal operations involving to financing of terrorism and extremism (Vovchenko et al, 2017). In 2013, for example, the U.S government closed down the largest website, named Silk Road, involved to illegal goods trading, in which there is 1.5% of Bitcoin was used for trading illicit drugs and counterfeit

nomins can be redeemed for their face value even if the price of havvens falls.