Introduction
Bitcoin is like nothing you’ve ever dealt with before. It’s a form of money, but it doesn’t physically exist as a coin or paper currency. You can spend it (at some merchants) or save it, or even buy and trade it as a type of speculative commodity. Some people have gotten rich trading in Bitcoin; others have been burned by fraud and hacks and just plain incompetence. And everybody’s talking about it, even though few really understand what it’s all about.
Some people think that Bitcoin is the currency of the future, destined to replace dollars and euros and other traditional currency. Other people think Bitcoin is a get-rich-quick scheme, this week’s bubble that’s bound to burst. Others think Bitcoin is a complete and total scam.
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