Someone has invented an invisible "currency" that anyone can make with a computer. Then, this special currency, which was originally a niche market, suddenly became the most expensive currency in the world overnight. Once, 1 U.S. dollar was exchanged for 1,300 coins. Now, 1 coin is exchanged for more than 100 U.S. dollars. At its highest value, 1 coin could be exchanged for 266 U.S. dollars. This kind of invisible "money" that can buy goods is called Bitcoin. Speculators think it is a "newly invented currency" and "Currency 2.0", while opponents say it is "a game played by fools, lunatics, and liars."
Some online stores accept Bitcoin
——The success rate is not high
One data shows that thousands of merchants around the world currently accept Bitcoin as currency settlement. A few days ago, a reporter found in a Taobao store that in addition to selling Bitcoin, some online stores also sell Bitcoin supporting supplies, such as Bitcoin 4-core mining machines and other items. There are currently more than 10 Taobao stores that support Bitcoin payment. The products that support Bitcoin payment include energy-saving lamps, mobile phones, cross-stitch, antiques and other physical items, as well as virtual items. A Taobao store of "Zhouyi Service" announced that it "supports Bitcoin payment", and its Bitcoin price is converted into RMB, which is slightly higher than the price of RMB payment.
Can Bitcoin be spent as money in reality? According to industry insiders, the success rate of using Bitcoin to pay in Taobao stores is not high due to the credibility issues of both parties to the transaction.
Born in the online virtual world
——Scam or opportunity?
Simply put, Bitcoin, like Q coins and game coins, was born in the virtual world of the Internet. The biggest difference from the latter two is that Bitcoin is said to be "capped" and the total amount is always constant. According to the inventor, Bitcoin is a digital currency based on an "open source P2P software".
In the early days, Bitcoin was just a toy in the hands of programmers, and it was first used as a currency in May 2010. Laszlo Hanyecz, a programmer in Florida, used 10,000 Bitcoins to buy two pieces of Papa John's pizza. This was the first recorded transaction of Bitcoin as a real-life currency.
"Bitcoin is a special data code calculated by a computer. Although the manufacturing process is complicated, it is not limited by people at any time and place. Everyone can do it, as long as they have a computer." A person who has been engaged in electronic technology research for many years said that the Bitcoin client is installed on the computer of the coin earner. After opening the client, all the transaction information data on the network will be automatically downloaded to the local. Use your own computer to make Bitcoin, be a "miner", or use money to buy the coins mined by the miners, or you can set up an online store to sell things and collect Bitcoins.
The source revealed that this manufacturing process requires precise calculations. Every time a Bitcoin is calculated, the calculation formula of the code will become more complex, and the calculation difficulty of the next coin will increase. Therefore, the calculation of Bitcoin will become increasingly difficult and slower. "In the later stages, you may not be able to calculate a single Bitcoin for several days. Currently, the number of Bitcoins that can be calculated in the world is permanently set at 21 million."
This person said that Bitcoin has formed a "bubble" at this stage of its development, and it looks very similar to a "pyramid scheme". Bitcoin owners continue to take over other people, and the next person must be able to find a new owner to make a profit. If a new owner cannot be found, the entire system will collapse.
During the transaction, people discovered that there is also a mysterious organization called the "Bitcoin Foundation", which has great power and can even shut down a client that is already running but has a bug.
Does not have basic monetary conditions
——Cannot be equivalent
"Bitcoin was not founded by any government or bank and cannot find an issuer. It is far from meeting the basic conditions for becoming a currency." Xin Qiang, deputy general manager of the Risk Management Headquarters of the Bank of China, said that this purely calculated "digital symbol" does not have any credit guarantee.
Relevant staff of the Municipal Banking Regulatory Bureau reminded that Bitcoin is currently outside the supervision of laws and regulations.
The essence of currency is generally equivalent items, and the value of Bitcoin is based on two theoretical foundations: it will be used more and more, and its total amount is constant, so it will only "appreciate" if more people use it. In this regard, bankers pointed out that this has entered a strange circle. The current "market" of Bitcoin has skyrocketed and plummeted, making it unable to become a relatively stable value scale, unable to become a general equivalent, and unable to be used.
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