Students and alumni cash in on global bitcoin 'gold-rush'
The bitcoin craze is often equated to the Gold Rush of 1849, when hundreds of thousands of fortune-seekers flocked to California to test their luck and strike gold. Those who actually found riches were the ones selling the gold mining equipment, food and resources the miners needed.
At the University, however, bitcoins are the target of the modern gold rush. Bitcoins are a digital currency, or cryptocurrency, that can be traded from person to person. It was invented in 2009 and has since grown in prominence among techies. It’s now beginning to enter mainstream commercial and financial spheres.
However, bitcoins are available exclusively online and are not backed by a central bank like the U.S. Dollar. These qualities have raised speculations about how stable the currency is and many lawmakers are displeased by bitcoins’ history of being used for illegal activities.
Nevertheless, a small community of bitcoin users at the University have created their own business to cash in on bitcoin’s rise in popularity.
http://www.michigandaily.com/news/bitcoin-community-fostered-u
