Is Bitcoin For Real?
Recent headlines have started getting people to come out of the woodwork about bitcoin. Go to Market Watch today, and one whole side above the fold is bitcoin articles including one with the headline: “What delivered the best return of 2017’s first half?” – The answer is bitcoin (and ethereum, another digital cryptocurrency). How Is Bitcoin Worth Anything? Alright, this is a little complicated, so stay with me here. First, although you may have stopped thinking about it long ago, American dollars aren’t “real.” In reality, all a dollar bill is, is a special, paper-like fabric, printed with an intricate design in green and black. That’s it. You can’t eat it. You can’t use it as transportation, or for housing, or for anything really. It’s not even good as paper since there is almost no blank space. Dollars exist as currency, only because we as a society agree they represent value. That value is created by a limited supply regulated by the Federal Reserve, for something we give value. In other words, the only thing that makes money valuable is a limited supply that can be exchanged for goods and services. Bitcoin, works in pretty much the same way. Bitcoin …