Understanding Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies
You cannot pay your taxes with it, buy products at major retailers or pay for your hotel room with it. Still, Bitcoin — and other cryptocurrencies such as Litecoin, Ethereum, Dash and Ripple — are considered by many financial experts to be at the forefront of a monetary revolution. Investors are making and losing big sums of money on these volatile currencies, whose values ascend and plummet dramatically from month-to-month and even week-to-week. Criminals have used cryptocurrencies to keep private their financial transactions. Even the leader of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has suggested his country is considering creating its own cryptocurrency to circumvent U.S. and European sanctions that have been enacted against Russia. Some argue the beauty and power of cryptocurrencies is they are both easily transferrable, person-to-person, and that those transactions are anonymous. Others argue they are currencies that aid and abet outlaw activities. How? The identities of those who possess cryptocurrencies are hidden through the use of … (click on the headline to continue reading)