Bitcoin Forum

The Next Money: As the Big Economies Falter, Micro-Currencies Rise
More consumers are walking away from fiat currencies to drive commerce -- and society -- with new ways of buying.


Eric Garland
2012-05-16

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/05/the-next-money-as-the-big-economies-falter-micro-currencies-rise/257216/

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The best way to understand BitCoin is to think of it as something like a gold standard. Unless you decorate state capitol domes for a living, nobody really needs gold -- but it is tangible and limited, though you can mine more if you happen to be really motivated. BitCoin is like that, without the rare metal aspect.
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BitCoin is rapidly gaining adoption, now accepted by a variety of companies selling everything from socks to web server space,  and is inspiring several startups to trade the currency and consult on how to incorporate it into your business plan. On the dark side, some critics of BitCoin say that the system can be gamed by speculators, or used for such nefarious purposes as drugs or sexual services because the currency is difficult for national governments to track or account for -- though it should be noted that the same is often true for a stack of 20 dollar bills
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