Bitcoins: The New Age of Currency
A look at the most popular virtual currency.
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Digital Currency at the Tip of Your Digits - Bitcoins are the most popular “crypto currency” in the world. Satoshi Nakamoto, a group of anonymous developers, introduced bitcoins to the world five years ago. But the digital currency is taking off now; sparking conversations between the US Federal Reserve's Ben Bernanke and the Bank of England. Cafes and restaurants in San Francisco and Massachusetts already accept bitcoins as a form of payment, but what exactly is the bitcoin and how does it work? BET.com goes inside the latest digital currency trend. — Dominique Zonyéé(Photo: REUTERS/Jim Urquhart)
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What Is a Bitcoin? - A bitcoin is digital money. It is the first decentralized peer-to-peer payment network that is powered by its users with no central authority or middlemen such as the Federal Reserve. Bitcoins have digital addresses, with the balances stored and documented in an online ledger called a “blockchain.”(Photo: George Frey/Getty Images)
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What Are the Advantages? - Since bitcoins are transferred from person to person with the exclusion of a third party bank, users are not subjected to high banking fees, limited account access or signing any arbitrary agreements. You can also use bitcoins as the same currency in any country without paying an exchange fee. (Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
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How do Bitcoins Work? - One bitcoin is worth about $800 right now, and they are generated all over the Internet by anyone running an application called a bitcoin miner. For each block of coins there is a “mining” system, which is regulated by the network so that they are always within a certain rate. Once they are mined, your bitcoins are stored in bitcoin wallet, which allows users to send and receive bitcoins with a unique digital signature or a mix of alphanumeric coding that serves a function similar to a social security number.(Photo: David Ryder/Getty Images)
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Bitcoins Rise in the US - The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs held its first-ever hearing on virtual currencies on Nov. 19 to outline the potential benefits and liabilities of bitcoins. "The Department of Justice recognizes that many virtual currency systems offer legitimate financial services and have the potential to promote more efficient global commerce," said Mythili Raman, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's criminal division.(Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
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