Confused about Bitcoin? It's 'the Harlem Shake of currency'

Despite the hype, Bitcoin is used by very few people. It is not a legitimate currency just because it had a bubble

An obscure digital currency – used mostly for running drugs and laundering money for dictators – suffered a sudden crash on Wednesday, causing a minor sensation mostly among financial journalists and pundits.

Bitcoin is a currency created years ago by an obscure hacker in the spirit of subversion, to trade goods while dodging the gimlet eye of financial regulators. While theoretically it can be used for respectable online purchases, it is too complicated to buy and maintain for people who aren't online 18 hours a day, so it is used primarily to fuel a shadow economy of vice. It has boomed in value. You can barely throw a rock without finding some pundit opining on how "Bitcoin is the new gold" or how Bitcoin will undercut the modern financial system. Maybe someday, but no time soon.