The Development of Bitcoin

In the rapid development of Internet at present, the Bitcoin(BTC) with its innovative concept and reliable technology attracts a lot of people, it will affect our lives and deserves our in-depth research and thinking.

On November 1, 2008, a people called Satoshi Nakamoto in a secret cryptography discussion group posted a study, this paper expounds the new ideas of "electronic currency". Bitcoin is an open source, anonymous electronic currency, the world's first distributed anonymous digital currency. There is no central control center for the issuance and payment of Bitcoin. Money transfer is managed collectively by network nodes, and all parties can hide their real identities.

As a commodity, Bitcoin's price has fluctuated wildly in just a few years. At the beginning of 2009 to 2010, the Bitcoin was worthless, began trading in April 2010 the first half year, 1 Bitcoin was valued less than 14 cents, in the summer of 2010, the currency trading began to enter the golden age, because of the disparity between supply and demand, online trading value began to rise. By early November, Bitcoin had been quiet at 29 cents before soaring to 36 cents. The exchange rate with the dollar hit parity in February 2011 and has since stabilized around 87 cents, having risen to $1.06. In the spring of 2012, after Forbes reported, the price of Bitcoin grew rapidly. From early April to late may, it rose from 86 cents to $8.89. Then, on June 1, it tripled in a week, to $27 for a Bitcoin. On April 10, 2013, Bitcoin rose to $266, fell to $50 in just a few days, and then quickly returned to about $140. The price of Bitcoin has gone up over the years and now stands at more than $7,000.

Bitcoin was first used as a currency in May 2010.A programmer in Florida used 10,000 Bitcoins to buy two pizzas, the first recorded transaction to treat Bitcoin as a real-life currency. Mainstream websites are now supporting Bitcoin payments. Thousands of businesses around the world have said they accept Bitcoin as currency. Bitcoin also began to be used to pay salaries and buy homes.

Because of its anonymous circulation, Bitcoin is becoming a hotbed of crime. In the US, illegal drugs can be purchased online with Bitcoin. Money launderers, who transfer money via the Internet, are also hard to track. In addition, incidents such as Bitcoin hackers, theft and fraud have also led to serious negative social impacts

There is no doubt that Bitcoin has received intense attention from the world. Its innovative ideas and reliable technology have attracted many people's attention, and many have commented that it is a challenge to existing authority by anarchists and liberals. But it is also clear that it is too early to say whether Bitcoin will grow into a real currency. Whether Bitcoin succeeds or not, we believe that its ideas and concepts will give us a lot of thinking.

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2. Arson, A. (2017). Bitcoin as an innovative payment currency in Germany: development of the e-gold standard. Social Science Electronic Publishing.
3. Kimpel, S. H. (2014). Recent developments in the regulation of bitcoin under state and federal securities laws. Financial Fraud Law Report.

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