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Questions like: What is it? Is it the future of currency? How valuable can it get? How risky is it to use Bitcoin? One article even asks if "Bitcoin versus government" is the "new gun rights battle". Does your business accept Bitcoin payments? Do you use it to buy stuff? Why or why not? Share your thoughts about this currency in the comments. First off, if you're unfamiliar with the concept of Bitcoin, a brief explanation is probably in order. It's a non-government-based, open source, P2P digital currency, in short. As Bitcoin.org explains, it's also a protocol, and a software than enables instant P2P transactions, worldwide payments, low or zero processing fees and "much more". "Bitcoin uses peer to peer technology to operate with no central authority; managing transactions and issuing Bitcoins are carried out collectively by the network," the site explains. "Through many of its unique properties, Bitcoin allows exciting uses that could not be covered by any previous payment systems." For users, Bitcoin compares the transaction process to that of email. That makes it sound pretty simple, doesn't it? "As a new user, you only need to choose a wallet that you will install on your computer or on your mobile phone," Bitcoin.org explains. "Once you have your wallet installed, it will generate your first Bitcoin address and you can create more whenever you need one. You can disclose one of your Bitcoin addresses to your friends so that they can pay you or vice versa, you can pay your friends if they give you their addresses. In fact, this is pretty similar to how email works. So all that is left to do at this point is to get some bitcoins and to keep them safe. In order to start using Bitcoin, you are not required to understand the technical details."  There are reasons why Bitcoin might appeal to the non-geeky. As Business Insider's Henry Blodget writes on Yahoo Finance, "The premise and promise of Bitcoin--the part that appeals to folks who don't happen to be gold bugs or cryptography geeks--is that the current plan is for only a finite number of Bitcoins to be created. This is in direct contrast to standard government-issued currencies, which governments can always print more of. If the supply of Bitcoins remains finite, this should theoretically eliminate inflation, which is one of the biggest drawbacks of paper money." In turbulent worldwide economic times like these, this presents a pretty interesting concept. About a year ago, WebProNews talked to Bitcoin Lead Core Developer, Gavin Andresen. In light of recent developments, it seems worth revisiting some of what he had to say about the currency and its future.  In the wake of a "press avalanche" following a controversy in which Bitcoin was being used in drug transactions, Andresen said, "Where the first couple of mainstream articles about Bitcoin caught the attention of other reporters, who in turn also wrote about it, which then triggered even more press. That was both great and terrible for the project: great because it drew a lot more technical and business talent to look at Bitcoin and start Bitcoin-related projects, but terrible because when people realized that Bitcoin still has a lot of growing up to do, the speculative bubble popped." "I think it is very likely the same thing will happen again sometime in the next few years as other parts of the world discover Bitcoin or it is re-discovered in Europe and the U.S.," he said. "I expect the wild price fluctuations to diminish over time as Bitcoin infrastructure grows up and speculators start to get a better idea of the real value of Bitcoin." Indeed, many have now seen the value. Not only has the Bitcoin's value surpassed $100, but there is a huge list of online and real world businesses that currently accept Bitcoin here. Even that is not all inclusive, as it is noticeably missing reddit, which recently announced that it now accepts Bitcoin for reddit gold. If you're a small business interested in accepting Bitcoin yourself, you'd probably do well to start with this walkthrough. "If you expect that the number of people interested in using Bitcoin is small, you might simply start by posting a sign or a note: 'We Accept Bitcoin', and ask people to contact you directly in order to make a payment," it says. "Even if hardly anybody uses Bitcoin as a payment method, you're helping Bitcoin in two ways: one, by increasing awareness, and two, by making your customers more willing to accept Bitcoin as payment from others in the future, because now they know somewhere they can spend it." For selling goods or services on a website, it says, you'll want to use a Bitcoin merchant solution to accept the currency. You can usually opt to have Bitcoins converted to dollars or other currencies automatically. For brick and mortars, customers can pay with their mobile phone apps, so the guide recommends placing a QR code near your register, so customers can quickly scan and pay. "I tell people to only invest time or money in Bitcoin that they can afford to lose," Andresen said in the interview. "There are a lot of things that could possibly derail it, ranging from some fundamental flaw in the algorithm that everybody has missed to world-wide government regulation to some alternative rising up and replacing Bitcoin." He did note at the time that he finds these scenarios to be unlikely. He also had some interesting things to say about potential digital currency competition: "I think to overcome Bitcoin's head-start, an alternative will either have to have a large company or government backing it and marketing it. Or else, it will have to be radically better in some way. There seems to be a perception that Bitcoin is in a winner-take-all race against other currencies; either everybody in the world will be using it for all of their online purchases in 50 years or it will not exist. I think the online payment world will like our current world of currencies – different currencies used in different places. The online payments won't be divided by geography, though it might be divided by language or culture or social network." "I think there will eventually be one dominant currency that is used for 80% of worldwide online transactions," he predicted. "But I think there will always be alternatives. The most likely outcome in my lifetime, the next 40 years or so, is most people will use their national currencies when purchasing goods and services from other people in their own countries but will use something else for international payments."  What are your thoughts? ![[Digg This!]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sLcl4yh-USmiSNzxFQECQFeY3G0R5HL2LaIYr7cC1nHYg46DMYV3du4g95kbzQBOP1gD-Dr5fHV19FCLNgFldIuv--NPT24a043lo0r7-88gf6VR8l4XEVp9_ilg=s0-d){kind=small} ![[Facebook]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tPqiwjlFtP3K5K_TCTfBv3Ap7uYTMMcpr-4lnObmaGCMQsU2JFVTIsc7PXk4ircKwLPKN9GrPQdUQnjXBmBvWaeX4qcMz4570do1fNKsmuNhzqFRmbyXrDkm9aKhP2WJM3=s0-d){kind=small} ![[Twitter]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_t4lDOKUgwStoxC9KmX-nvLCc1fxM1BJOF-oMjNAJ1OGMrHduJYh81ytHjAYBl4-cr6kGtBVqE9rfW8Zsb_qpFTv_WJpePpXp-gPPYnSw8BHrf8GAfwlNJcl7nIOxEXZ5Y=s0-d){kind=small} ![[StumbleUpon]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vLQlSvqb2aAVDDzAhlXnO80H2Fz-lv4HLTGeyzlGQIfRbEn_2E8im5eOY5towAFa6NLmPxg5wKE6KnA4NrTBIsJAJjXnRxeMm5S8K_yiqAa3DgD4dlIpfh9u-XhVZGL_TnIDEf=s0-d){kind=small}
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