[2017-05-26] DNA: Bitcoin boom: Here's what the cryptocurrency is all about

Bitcoin boom: Here's what the cryptocurrency is all about

http://www.dnaindia.com/technology/report-bitcoin-boom-here-s-what-the-cryptocurrency-is-all-about-2451466

The value of the Bitcoin, the internet's most widely used virtual currency, has more than doubled since the beginning of 2017, recently passing the symbolic $2,000 mark and setting a new record. While the currency is becoming more widely used and accepted, it is still often associated with the darker side of the internet.

Bitcoin is a portmanteau compounding "bit" (the basic unit of information in computing, itself a portmanteau of "binary digit") and "coin." It is a virtual cryptocurrency created in 2009 and released as open-source software. For a long time, the currency was only really used by serious computer geeks, but it has progressively gained ground among the wider public. In fact, a growing number of products and services can now be paid for using the currency. The coinmap.org website shows nearby places that accept the bitcoin.