http://www.bankrate.com/financing/banking/bitcoins-better-than-real-cash/Bitcoins may be the biggest beneficiary of the mistrust in the financial system stirred up by the banking crisis in Cyprus.
Even before news that Cyprus' banking system was on the verge of collapse and considering confiscating a portion of account holders' balances to cover the shortfall, the value of bitcoins was rising. But since news of the severity of Cyprus' troubles broke, the price of a single bitcoin on the world's largest exchange, Mt. Gox, has risen from around $47 to nearly $80, according to BitCoinCharts.com.
That may have something to do with the fact that holders of bitcoins would be essentially immune from the troubles that hit consumers in a Cyprus-type crisis. For instance, Cypriot checking accounts have been severely restricted as part of a "bank holiday" since March 18. Such a freeze is impossible with bitcoins because their processing network is highly decentralized, says Jon Matonis of the nonprofit Bitcoin Foundation board.
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