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Bitcoin
A digital Bitcoin wallet
Unit
SymbolBTC, XBT,[1] , ฿ (note: this also is the baht symbol),[2] Ƀ[3]‎
Denominations
Subunit
 .001mBTC (millicoin)
 .000001μBTC (microcoin)
 .00000001satoshi[4]
Demographics
Date of introduction3 January 2009Bitcoin Genesis Block
User(s)International
Issuance
LedgerThe majority of the Bitcoin peer-to-peer network regulates transactions and balances.[5][6]
Valuation
IssuanceLimited release
 SourceTotal BTC in Circulation
 MethodThe rate of new bitcoin creation will be halved every four years until there are 21 million BTC[7]
A common Bitcoin logo.

Bitcoin (sign: ; code: BTC or XBT[8]) is a cryptocurrency whereby the creation and transfer of bitcoins is facilitated by an open-source peer-to-peer cryptographic protocol that functions without the intermediation of any central authority.[9] Bitcoins can be transferred using a computer or smartphone without the assistance of a financial institution.[10] The concept was introduced in a 2008 paper by a pseudonymous developer known only as "Satoshi Nakamoto", who called it a peer-to-peer, electronic cash system.[5][11]

The processing of Bitcoin transactions is secured by servers called bitcoin miners. These servers communicate over an internet-based network and confirm transactions by adding them to a ledger, which is updated and archived periodically using peer-to-peer filesharing technology.[6] In addition to archiving transactions, each new ledger update creates additional Bitcoins at an ever-decreasing rate, which will cease by approximately 2140 and the number of Bitcoins will remain static.

In 2012, The Economist reasoned that Bitcoin has been popular due to "its role in dodgy online markets,"[12] and in 2013 the FBI shut down one such market, Silk Road, which allowed the sale of illegal drugs for Bitcoins. However, Bitcoins are increasingly also used as payment for legitimate products and services.[13] Notable vendors include Wordpress, OkCupid, Reddit and Chinese Internet giant Baidu.[14]

Bitcoins have attracted speculators—fueling volatility and wild price swings. As of 2013 the number of speculators is speculated to outweigh the number of actual users.[15]

Transactions

Further information: Protocol of Bitcoin

Bitcoin wallets and addresses

A bitcoin transaction log showing addresses.

Bitcoin addresses are randomly-generated cryptographic public key pairs.[5] Each public address consists of around 33 numbers and letters, beginning with the digit 1 or 3, as in the example of 175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W.[16]

The ability to transact bitcoins without the assistance of a central registry is guaranteed in part by the availability of a virtually unlimited supply of unique addresses which can be generated and disposed of at will. A bitcoin address has three fundamental components:

  1. A bitcoin balance - which is a matter of public record. This balance can be ascertained by looking up the transactions to and from any public address in the world-wide register of all bitcoin transactions, called the "blockchain".
  2. A public address - which may be shared with anyone and is used to specify a recipient when sending bitcoins.
  3. A private key - which is kept secret by the person or entity that owns the address. All valid transfers of bitcoins are digitally signed using the private key associated with the address sending the bitcoins.

A bitcoin user may manage one or more bitcoin addresses by using a digital wallet. Wallets let users send bitcoins, request payment, calculate the total balance of addresses in use, and generate new addresses as needed. Wallets are responsible for keeping the private keys secret, for example by encrypting the wallet data with a password or by requiring two-factor authenticated logins.

Bitcoin wallets have been implemented as stand-alone software applications, web applications, hardware devices, and paper wallets.

Stand-alone software wallets

Bitcoin client software is available for Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, IOS, and Android. These applications directly participate in the peer-to-peer bitcoin network and store the blockchain (or a portion of the blockchain) as it grows. In the case of mobile apps for IOS and Android, QR codes are used to simplify transactions between buyers and sellers.[17]

The first Bitcoin clients, created by the developer of Bitcoin, are bitcoind and Bitcoin-qt (bitcoind's GUI counterpart), available for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X.

Web applications with integrated wallets

Many bitcoin websites provide addresses associated with an online account to hold bitcoin funds on the user's behalf. Some of these sites work like bank accounts for bitcoin, even paying interest. Other sites function primarily as exchanges, facilitating the sale and purchase of bitcoin with other currencies such as US Dollars or Euros.

Hardware wallets

Theoretically, the services typically associated with a bitcoin wallet could be built into a stand-alone hardware device, and several projects aim to bring such a device to market.[18]

File:Sample Bitcoin Paper Wallet.png
Example of a bitcoin paper wallet with private key hidden beneath tamper-evident seals.

Paper wallets and "physical" bitcoins

Any valid bitcoin address keys may be printed on paper and used to store bitcoins offline. Compared with "hot wallets" (wallets that are connected to the Internet) these non-digital offline paper wallets are considered a "cold storage" mechanism better suited for safekeeping bitcoins.[19]

Various vendors offer banknotes, coins and cards denominated in bitcoins. Unlike government issued currency or precious bullion, the bitcoin value of these instruments is not integral to the banknote or coin itself. Instead, the bitcoin balance is bound to the private key printed on the banknote or embedded within the coin. Some of these instruments employ a tamper-evident seal meant to hide the private key so that the bitcoin balance cannot be transferred without breaking the seal.

Payment network and mining

A diagram of a bitcoin transfer.

The Bitcoin network protocol operates to provide solutions to the problems associated with creating a decentralized currency and a peer-to-peer payment network. Key among them is the use of a blockchain to achieve consensus and to solve the double-spending problem.

A bitcoin is defined by a chain of digitally-signed transactions that began with its creation as a block reward through bitcoin mining. Each owner transfers bitcoins to the next by digitally signing them over to the next owner in a Bitcoin transaction. A payee can then verify each previous transaction to verify the chain of ownership.

The network timestamps transactions by including them in blocks that form an ongoing chain called the blockchain. Such blocks cannot be changed without redoing the work that was required to create each block since the modified block. The longest chain serves not only as proof of the sequence of events but also records that this sequence of events was verified by a majority of the Bitcoin network's computing power. As long as a majority of computing power is controlled by nodes that are not cooperating to attack the network, they will generate the longest chain of records and outpace attackers.

The network itself requires minimal structure to share transactions. Messages are broadcast on a best effort basis, and nodes can leave and rejoin the network at will. Upon reconnection, a node will download and verify new blocks from other nodes to complete its local copy of the blockchain.[5][6]

History

Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency, a form of money that uses cryptography to control its creation and management, rather than relying on central authorities.[9] However, not all of the technologies and concepts that make up Bitcoin are new; Satoshi Nakamoto integrated many existing ideas from the cypherpunk community when creating Bitcoin.[20]

Timeline

  • 2008–2009
    • In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto posted a paper describing the Bitcoin protocol on the internet.[5][21][22][23]
    • In 2009, the Bitcoin network came into existence with the release of the first open source Bitcoin client and the issuance of the first bitcoins.[21][24][25][26]
    • 2009-01-03 - "Satoshi Nakamoto" mines the first block of bitcoins ever (known as the "genesis block"), which had a reward of 50 bitcoins.
  • 2010
    • The prices for the first bitcoin transactions were negotiated by individuals on the bitcointalk forums. One notable transaction involved a 10,000 BTC pizza.[21]
    • On 6 August, a major vulnerability in the Bitcoin protocol was spotted. Transactions weren't properly verified before they were included in the transaction log or "block chain" which allowed for users to bypass Bitcoin's economic restrictions and create an indefinite number of bitcoins.[27][28]
    • On 15 August, the major vulnerability was exploited. Over 184 billion bitcoins were generated in a transaction, and sent to two addresses on the network. Within hours, the transaction was spotted[29] [30] and erased from the transaction log after the bug was fixed and the network forked to an updated version of the Bitcoin protocol. This was the only major security flaw found and exploited in Bitcoin's history.[27][28]
  • 2011–2012
    • In June 2011, Wikileaks[31] and other organizations began to accept bitcoins for donations. The Electronic Frontier Foundation temporarily suspended bitcoin acceptance, citing concerns about a lack of legal precedent about new currency systems, and that they "generally don't endorse any type of product or service."[32] The EFF's decision was changed in 17 May 2013.[33]
    • In late 2011, the exchange rate of bitcoin crashed from over $30 in June to below $2 in October.
    • In January 2012, Bitcoin was featured as the main subject within a fictionalized trial on the CBS legal drama The Good Wife in the third season episode "Bitcoin for Dummies". The host of CNBC's Mad Money, Jim Cramer, played himself in a courtroom scene where he testifies that he doesn’t consider bitcoin a true currency, saying “There’s no central bank to regulate it; it’s digital and functions completely peer to peer.”[34]
    • In October 2012, BitPay reported having over 1,000 merchants accepting Bitcoin under its payment processing service.[35]
  • 2013
    • February
      • The Bitcoin-based payment processor Coinbase reported selling $1 million in bitcoins in a single month at over $22 per bitcoin.[36]
      • The Internet Archive announced that it is ready to accept donations as bitcoins and that it intends to give employees the option to receive portions of their salaries in Bitcoin currency.[37]
    • March
      • The Bitcoin transaction log or "block chain" temporarily forked into two independent logs with differing rules on how transactions could be accepted. The Mt.Gox exchange briefly halted Bitcoin deposits and the exchange rate briefly dipped by 23% to $37 as the event occurred[38][39] before recovering to previous level of approximately $48 in the following hours.[40]
      • In the US, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) established regulatory guidelines for "decentralized virtual currencies" such as Bitcoin, classifying American "Bitcoin miners" who sell their generated bitcoins as Money Service Businesses (or MSBs), that may be subject to registration and other legal obligations.[41][42][43]
    • April
      • Payment processor BitInstant and Mt.Gox experienced processing delays due to insufficient capacity.[44]
      • On 10 April, the bitcoin exchange rate dropped from $266 to $76 before returning to $160 within six hours.[45]
      • Bitcoin gained greater recognition when services such as OkCupid and Foodler began accepting it for payment.[46]
    • May
      • On 15 May 2013, the US authorities seized accounts associated with Mt. Gox after discovering that it had not registered as a money transmitter with FinCEN in the US.[47][48]
      • The US-based bitcoin company Coinbase announces a $5 million Series A investment, the largest funding round for a bitcoin company.[49]
    • June
    • July
      • A project under way in Kenya is linking Bitcoin with M-Pesa, a popular mobile payments system, in an experiment designed to spur innovative payments in Africa.[53]
      • July 30, 2013—The Foreign Exchange Administration and Policy Department in Thailand stated that Bitcoin lacks any legal framework and would therefore be illegal, which effectively banned trading on Bitcoin exchanges in the country.[54][55] According to Vitalik Buterin, a writer for Bitcoin Magazine, "Bitcoin’s fate in Thailand may give the electronic currency more credibility in some circles." But he was concerned it didn’t bode well for Bitcoin in China.[56]
      • As of July 2013, BitPay handled bitcoin transactions for more than 4,500 companies.[56]
    • August
      • Federal Judge Amos Mazzant of the Eastern District of Texas of the Fifth Circuit ruled that bitcoins are "a currency or a form of money" (specifically securities as defined by Federal Securities Laws), and as such were subject to the court's jurisdiction.[57] The case, brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, is ongoing.[58]
      • Germany's Finance Ministry subsumed Bitcoins under the term "unit of account"—a financial instrument—though not as e-money or a functional currency, a classification nonetheless having legal and tax implications.[59]
    • October

Satoshi Nakamoto

Satoshi Nakamoto is a pseudonym for the unknown person or people who designed the original Bitcoin protocol in 2008 and launched the network in 2009. Nakamoto was responsible for creating the majority of the Bitcoin software and was active in making modifications and posting technical information on the BitcoinTalk Forum.[63]

Investigations into the real identity of Satoshi Nakamoto have been attempted by The New Yorker and Fast Company. Fast Company's investigation brought up circumstantial evidence linking an encryption patent application filed by Neal King, Vladimir Oksman and Charles Bry on 15 August 2008, and the bitcoin.org domain name which was registered 72 hours later. The patent application (#20100042841) contained networking and encryption technologies similar to Bitcoin's, and textual analysis revealed that the phrase "...computationally impractical to reverse" appeared in both the patent application and bitcoin's whitepaper.[5] All three inventors explicitly denied being Satoshi Nakamoto.[64][65] In May 2013, Ted Nelson speculated that Japanese mathematician Shinichi Mochizuki is Satoshi Nakamoto.[66]

Nakamoto's involvement with Bitcoin does not appear to extend past mid-2010.[67] In April 2011, Nakamoto communicated with a Bitcoin contributor saying he had "moved on to other things".[68]

The fork of March 2013

On 12 March 2013, a Bitcoin miner running version 0.8.0 of the Bitcoin software created a large block that was incompatible with earlier versions of the Bitcoin software due to its size. This created a split or "fork" in the block chain since older versions of the software did not accept this block as valid. Computers with the recent version of the software accepted the block and continued to build on the diverging chain, whereas older versions of the software rejected it and continued extending the block chain without the offending block. This split resulted in two separate transaction logs being formed without clear consensus, which allowed for the same funds to be spent differently on each chain. In response, the Mt.Gox exchange temporarily halted Bitcoin deposits.[69] The exchange rate fell 23% to $37 on the Mt.Gox exchange but rose most of the way back to its prior level of $48.[38][39]

Developers at bitcoin.org resolved the split by recommending that users downgrade to "version 0.7", which utilized the oldest transaction log in the split. User funds largely remained unaffected and were available when network consensus was reached.[70] The network reached consensus and continued to operate as normal a few hours after the split.[71]

Regulatory issues

On 18 March 2013, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (or FinCEN), a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury, issued a report regarding centralized and decentralized "virtual currencies" and their legal status within "money services business" (MSB) and Bank Secrecy Act regulations.[43][48] It classified digital currencies and other digital payment systems such as Bitcoin as "virtual currencies" because they are not legal tender under any sovereign jurisdiction. FinCEN cleared American users of Bitcoin of legal obligations[48] by saying, "A user of virtual currency is not an MSB under FinCEN’s regulations and therefore is not subject to MSB registration, reporting, and recordkeeping regulations." However, it held that American entities who generate "virtual currency" such as bitcoins are money transmitters or MSBs if they sell their generated currency for national currency: "...a person that creates units of convertible virtual currency and sells those units to another person for real currency or its equivalent is engaged in transmission to another location and is a money transmitter." This specifically extends to "miners" of the Bitcoin currency who may have to register as MSBs and abide by the legal requirements of being a money transmitter if they sell their generated bitcoins for national currency and are within the United States.[41]

Additionally, FinCEN claimed regulation over American entities that manage bitcoins in a payment processor setting or as an exchanger: "In addition, a person is an exchanger and a money transmitter if the person accepts such de-centralized convertible virtual currency from one person and transmits it to another person as part of the acceptance and transfer of currency, funds, or other value that substitutes for currency."[42][43]

In summary, FinCEN's decision would require Bitcoin exchanges where bitcoins are traded for traditional currencies to disclose large transactions and suspicious activity, comply with money laundering regulations, and collect information about their customers as traditional financial institutions are required to do.[48][72][73]

Patrick Murck of the Bitcoin Foundation criticized FinCEN's report as an "overreach" and claimed that FinCEN "cannot rely on this guidance in any enforcement action".[74][non-primary source needed]

Jennifer Shasky Calvery, the director of FinCEN said, “Virtual currencies are subject to the same rules as other currencies. … Basic money-services business rules apply here.”[48]

In its October 2012 study, Virtual currency schemes, the European Central Bank concluded that the growth of virtual currencies will continue, and, given the currencies' inherent price instability, lack of close regulation, and risk of illegal uses by anonymous users, the Bank warned that periodic examination of developments would be necessary to reassess risks.[75]

In 2013, the U.S. Treasury extended its anti-money laundering regulations to processors of bitcoin transactions.[76][77]

In June 2013, Bitcoin Foundation board member Jon Matonis wrote in Forbes that he received a warning letter from California's Department of Financial Institutions accusing the foundation of unlicensed money transmission, Matonis denying the foundation is engaged in money transmission and saying he viewed the case as "an opportunity to educate state regulators."[78]

In late July 2013, the industry group Committee for the Establishment of the Digital Asset Transfer Authority began to form to set best practices and standards, to work with regulators and policymakers to adapt existing currency requirements to digital currency technology and business models and develop risk management standards.[79]

2013 bitcoin prices

The bitcoin to USD exchange rates at one of the exchanges

The price of a bitcoin reached an all time high of US$230 on 9 April 2013, up from just $13 at the start of the year.[80] Among the factors which may have contributed to this rise were the European sovereign-debt crisis—particularly the 2012–2013 Cypriot financial crisis—statements by FinCEN improving the currency's legal standing and rising media and Internet interest.[81][82][83][84]

As the market valuation of the total stock of Bitcoins approached 1 billion USD, some commentators called Bitcoin prices a bubble.[85][86][87] In early April 2013, the price per bitcoin dropped from $266 to around $50 and then rose to around $100. Over two weeks starting late June 2013 the price dropped steadily to $70. The price began to recover, peaking once again on October 1st at $140. On October 2nd, The Silk Road was seized by the FBI. This seizure caused the price to collapse to $110 before closing at $123.[88]

Economics

Large fluctuations in the value of bitcoins have led to criticism of bitcoin's usefulness as a currency.[89][90] An April 2013 article in The Atlantic drew attention to bitcoin's deflationary bias which, unlike a regular currency, encourages hoarding.[91] Forbes contributor Louis Woodhill suggested that, rather than money, bitcoins are "the cyber equivalent of rare postage stamps" or other collectibles.[92]

Nevertheless, there is evidence that bitcoin is being accepted by mainstream businesses[93][94] and hoarded by individuals,[95] given the absence of transaction fees and Bitcoin's availability in countries not accepting PayPal.[94] Bitcoins have gained traction in Argentina as an alternative to the official currency[96] because of its double-digit inflation and strict capital controls.[97] There is also growing awareness of their usage in black market transactions, frustrating bitcoin's promoters. Despite its volatility, bitcoin had been used on the black market Silk Road website[98] and by Iranians to evade foreign currency sanctions.[99]

Financial journalists and analysts have speculated that there was a correlation between higher bitcoin usage in Spain and the 2012–2013 Cypriot financial crisis, through which bank deposit levies as high as 40% could have been placed on bank deposits; conceding that bitcoin is serving as a sort of financial haven for some European savers.[100][101][102] Nick Colas, a financial analyst, claimed a rally in the price of bitcoins was “One hundred percent...due to Cyprus,” and that “It means the Europeans are getting involved.”

In contrast, as of 2013, the use of bitcoin as a haven is limited for large amounts. As Colas also claims, “Bitcoin is good if you want to make a deposit of between $1,000 and $10,000. But the liquidity is just not there in the system for multimillion dollar transactions...”[103]

Distribution

Estimated total bitcoins over time

Bitcoin has no central issuing authority.[104][105][106] Nodes on the network are programmed to increase the money supply according to a pre-determined schedule until the total number of bitcoins reaches 21 million.[7] Operators of these miner nodes can then hold their new bitcoins, sell them on exchanges or trade them for other goods and services at their discretion.

Currently, 25 bitcoins are generated with each block found which occurs every 10 minutes on average. This amount, called the block reward, will be halved to 12.5 bitcoins within the year 2017 and again roughly every 4 years thereafter until a hard-limit of 21 million bitcoins is reached around the year 2140.[5][21] As of March 2013 over 10.5 million of the total 21 million bitcoins had been created; the current total number created is available online.[107] In November 2012, half of the total supply was generated, and by end of 2016, three-quarters will have been generated. By around 2140, all bitcoins will have been generated with the final years producing only fractional units.

To ensure sufficient granularity of the money supply, clients can divide each bitcoin down to eight decimal places (providing a total of 2.1 × 1015 or 2.1 quadrillion units).[108]

Exchanges

Through various exchanges, bitcoins are bought and sold at a variable price against the value of other currency. Bitcoin has appreciated rapidly in relation to other currencies including the US dollar, euro and British pound.[80][109][110]

In May 2013, one bitcoin traded at around $125. Taking into account the total number of bitcoins mined, the value of the money supply of the bitcoin network stands at over 1.4 billion USD.[111][112]

According to Reuters, undisclosed documents indicate that banks such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have visited Bitcoin exchanges as often as 30 times a day. Employees of international banks and major financial organizations have shown interest in Bitcoin markets as well.[113]

Bitcoin as an investment

Although the Bitcoin Project describes bitcoin exclusively as an "experimental digital currency," [114] bitcoins are often traded as an investment.[115] Critics have accused bitcoin of being a form of investment fraud known as a Ponzi scheme.[116][117] A case study report[118] by the European Central Bank observes that the bitcoin currency system shares some characteristics with Ponzi schemes, but also has characteristics which are distinct from the common aspects of Ponzi schemes as defined by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Bitcoins have been described as lacking intrinsic value as an investment because their value depends only on the willingness of users to accept it.[119][120][121] In addition, a study indicated that 45 percent of Bitcoin exchanges end up closing with many customers losing their money.[122]

Like many assets, bitcoins are also subject to theft.

Derivatives on bitcoins are thinly available. One organization offers futures contracts on bitcoins against multiple currencies.[123]

Several bitcoin investors have become entrepreneurs in the evolving bitcoin universe. Efforts are underway to build financial services, new exchanges, and new payment products using bitcoin. Interest in the bitcoin sector has arisen from investment funds, with recent Peter Thiel's Founders Fund investing US$3 million in the sector and the Winklevoss twins making a US$1.5 million investment.[124]

Implications

Privacy

Bitcoin transactions are seen as relatively anonymous [125] and are the medium of exchange used in the online black market website Silk Road.[126][127] Some Bitcoin proponents are concerned that such associations may bring about negative perceptions of the currency.[128]

The privacy of Bitcoin is the subject of active academic research.[129] Because Bitcoin transactions are broadcast to the entire network, they are inherently public. Using external information, it is possible, though usually difficult, to associate Bitcoin identities with real-life identities[130][131] through analysis of past Bitcoin transactions to reveal patterns that can unmask user identities.[97] Unlike regular banking,[132] which can preserve customer privacy by keeping transaction records private, loose transactional privacy is accomplished in Bitcoin by using many unique addresses for every wallet even though all transactions are published. However, according to the Mercatus Center's Primer for Policymakers (2013), after Bitcoin intermediaries comply with the same bank secrecy regulations required of traditional financial intermediaries, anonymity will be less protected because Bitcoin intermediaries will be required to collect personal customer data.[97]

An IEEE paper proposes a cryptographic extension to Bitcoin called Zerocoin, which would make Bitcoin anonymous and untraceable.[133][134][135][136][137]

Criminal activities

Named a "shady online currency [that] is starting to gain legitimacy in certain parts of the world" by CNN,[138] The Washington Post has labled it "the currency of choice for seedy online activities."[139] The FBI stated in a 2012 report that "Bitcoins will likely continue to attract cybercriminals who view it as a means to move or steal funds".[140] Steven Strauss, a Harvard public policy professor, suggested in 2013 that "if Bitcoins facilitate too much drug-dealing or money laundering, the U.S. government could make their possession illegal."[141] A 2013 SEC filing made by a Bitcoin investment vehicle also mentioned the possibility that Bitcoins would become illegal.[15]

In 2013 The Guardian reported that the currency was primarily used to purchase illegal drugs and for online gambling,[142] and The Huffington Post stated that "online gambling accounts for a huge portion of Bitcoin activity."[143] Legitimate transactions are thought to be far less than the number involved in the purchase of drugs,[144] and roughly one half of all sales made using Bitcoins are bets placed at a single online gaming website.[145]

Several news outlets reason that the popularity of Bitcoins hinges on the ability to use them to purchase illegal substances.[12] In addition to such utility, Bitcoins are thought by the FBI as a potential tool of money launderers,[146] and The Huffington Post stated in 2013 that Bitcoins are the "preferred currency of some online gun dealers," which allows the purchase of arms without background checks.[147] Such links to illicit activity have attracted the attention of financial regulators, legislative bodies, and law enforcement.[148]

Although there are fears that Bitcoins may be used to launder money, the FBI stated in 2012 that, while the potential for money laundering exists, there were no known instances of this occurring.[146] However, in 2013 US authorities seized assets belonging to Mt. Gox, a service that allowed users to exchange Bitcoins for US dollars.[149] Some say one obstacle to Bitcoins becoming widely used to launder money may be the fact that transaction history is public although the individuals themselves are thought to remain anonymous.[150]

Energy use and environmental impact

An April 2013 estimate[151] showed that the amount of energy being used every day to mine bitcoins was equivalent to the amount capable of powering about 31,000 American homes. This was estimated to be about USD $147,000 worth of energy. In comparison, profits made from a day's worth of bitcoin mining were given at about $681,000.

Botnet mining

In June 2011, Symantec warned about the possibility of botnets engaging in covert mining of bitcoins,[152][153] consuming computing cycles, using extra electricity and possibly increasing the temperature of the computer. Some malware also used the parallel processing capabilities of the GPUs built into many modern-day video cards.[154]

Later that month, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation caught an employee using the company's servers to generate Bitcoins without permission.[155]

In mid-August 2011, Bitcoin miner botnets were detected again,[156] and less than three months later bitcoin-mining trojans infecting Mac OS X were also discovered.[157]

Theft and technical vulnerabilities

There have been incidents of theft of bitcoin balances:

  • On 19 June 2011, a security breach of the Mt.Gox bitcoin exchange caused the nominal price of a bitcoin to fraudulently drop to one cent on the Mt.Gox exchange, after a hacker allegedly used credentials from a Mt.Gox auditor's compromised computer illegally to transfer a large number of bitcoins to himself. He used the exchange's software to sell them all nominally, creating a massive "ask" order at any price. Within minutes the price corrected to its correct user-traded value.[158][159][160][161][162][163] Accounts with the equivalent of more than 8,750,000 USD were affected.[160]
  • In July 2011, the operator of Bitomat, the third largest bitcoin exchange, announced that he lost access to his wallet.dat file with about 17,000 bitcoins (roughly equivalent to 220,000 USD at that time). He announced that he would sell the service for the missing amount, aiming to use funds from the sale to refund his customers.[164]
  • In August 2011, MyBitcoin, a now defunct bitcoin transaction processor, declared that it was hacked, which resulted in it being shut down, with paying 49% on customer deposits, leaving more than 78,000 bitcoins (roughly equivalent to 800,000 USD at that time) unaccounted for.[165][166]
  • In early August 2012, a lawsuit was filed in San Francisco court against Bitcoinica — a bitcoin trading venue — claiming about 460,000 USD from the company. Bitcoinica was hacked twice in 2012, which led to allegations of neglecting the safety of customers' money and cheating them out of withdrawal requests.[167][168]
  • In late August 2012, an operation titled Bitcoin Savings and Trust was shut down by the owner, allegedly leaving around 5.6 million USD in bitcoin-based debts; this led to allegations of the operation being a Ponzi scheme.[169][170][171][172] In September 2012, it was reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had started an investigation on the case.[173]
  • In September 2012, Bitfloor, a bitcoin exchange, also reported being hacked, with 24,000 bitcoins (roughly equivalent to 250,000 USD) stolen. As a result, Bitfloor suspended operations.[174][175] The same month, Bitfloor resumed operations, with its founder saying that he reported the theft to FBI, and that he is planning to repay the victims, though the time frame for such repayment is unclear.[176]
  • On 3 April 2013, Instawallet, a web-based wallet provider, was hacked,[177] resulting in the theft of over 35,000 bitcoins.[178] With a price of 129.90 USD per bitcoin at the time, or nearly 4.6 million USD in total, Instawallet suspended operations.
  • On 11 August 2013, the Bitcoin Foundation announced that a bug in a pseudorandom number generator within the Android operating system had been exploited to steal from users' wallets, the vulnerability affecting wallets generated by any Android app; fixes were provided 13 August 2013.[179]

Taxation

The Cryptocurrency Legal Advocacy Group (CLAG) stressed the importance for taxpayers to determine whether taxes are due on a bitcoin-related transaction based on whether one has experienced a "realization event": when a taxpayer has provided a service in exchange for bitcoins, a realization event has probably occurred and any gain or loss would likely be calculated using fair market values for the service provided."[180]

In August 2013 the German Finance Ministry characterized Bitcoin as a unit of account,[59][181] usable in multilateral clearing circles and subject to capital gains tax if held less than one year.[181]

Reception

Although bitcoin is promoted as a digital currency, many commentators have criticized bitcoin's volatile exchange rate, relatively inflexible supply, high risk of loss, and minimal use in trade. [182][183][89][122]

CNN has called Bitcoins a "shady online currency,"[184] and its links to criminal activities such as money laundering have prompted scrutiny from the FBI, US Senate, and the State of New York.

Bitcoin has been reviewed by several financial journalists and economists to mixed acclaim. Its sustainability as a currency is often questioned:

  • In 2011, economist Paul Krugman, wrote that "[bitcoin] has fluctuated sharply, but overall it has soared. So buying into [bitcoin] has, at least so far, been a good investment. But does that make the experiment a success? Um, no. What we want from a monetary system isn’t to make people holding money rich; we want it to facilitate transactions and make the economy as a whole rich. And that’s not at all what is happening in [bitcoin]."[89] In 2013, Krugman stated that unlike gold or paper currencies, bitcoin derives its value solely from a self-fulfilling expectation that others will accept it as payment.[185] He also stated that it is unnecessarily wasteful to consume real resources, such as electric power, on the creation of bitcoins.[186]
  • In March 2013, Nick Colas a Chief Market Strategist at ConvergEx Group, a Bank of New York Mellon investment firm – analyzed bitcoin, saying "there is much to learn from [bitcoin] in the world of stateless currencies," and that "confidence in money as a store of value is the ultimate driver of its value, both in the cyber and real worlds. I have no idea which way [bitcoins] will trade in the next 2 days or 2 years, but the whole process of starting a new Internet currency is a great case study in how real people use real currency."[187]
  • In April 2013, an analysis by financial journalist Felix Salmon—formerly of Portfolio Magazine and Euromoney, and a blogging editor for Reuters—considered the current price of bitcoins to be a bubble. He noted that while the value of bitcoins is strongly affected by news media exposure and that they are an "uncomfortable combination of commodity and currency," Bitcoin was "in many ways the best and cleanest payments mechanism the world has ever seen."[188]
  • Economist John Quiggin has claimed that "Bitcoin is perhaps the finest example of a pure bubble", and that it provides a conclusive refutation of the efficient-market hypothesis (EMH).[189] While other assets used as currency—such as gold, tobacco and U.S. dollars—have value independent of people's willingness to accept them as payment, Quiggin argues that "in the case of Bitcoin there is no source of value whatsoever" and that:

Since Bitcoins do not generate any actual earnings, they must appreciate in value to ensure that people are willing to hold them. But an endless appreciation, with no flow of earnings or liquidation value, is precisely the kind of bubble the EMH says can’t happen.

  • Carnegie Mellon Professor Nicholas Christin studied online black market Silk Road and concluded that law enforcement authorities could stop it by disrupting its use of bitcoin for anonymous transactions.[190] As of September 2012, Christin estimated that on Silk Road, where all transactions are required to use bitcoin, volume amounted to approximately $1.9 million per month.[191] Online arms merchant Executive Outcomes, which dealt in illicit goods, accepted only bitcoin in payment, allegedly to ensure anonymity. Christin stated that bitcoin increased the level of anonymity in such transactions, possibly making it more difficult to identify the buyer of a weapon used to commit a crime.[192]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bitcoin.

References

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