Why BITCOIN??

Why Bitcoin?

6 years ago my husband asked me if he should buy bitcoins worth a $100? They were 1$ a pop, then. 100 BITCOINS, worth almost $2,70,000, today. But, as it usually goes with us, I said "Your wish, baby!" and he in his usual fashion, procrastinated. Its 2017 today.

I could kick myself today, I'd have bought the house I'm currently renting and 2 others like it. But, why cry over spilt milk, right? Instead, I decided to understand what gave bitcoin it value.

If you ask Bitcoin believers why a Bitcoin is worth anything at all, you may hear a lot of gobbledegook about, blockchains and cryptography and Merkle trees. I am not a programmer and don't understand its technicalities. But I did understand that Bitcoin is payment platform, a type of currency, that is highly secure. It easily facilitates global transactions, with minimal regulations, in a cost effective manner. Its popularity and acceptance has risen, especially with those who want to avoid capital control. Simply put, if you buy Bitcoin using Bank A and send them to another wallet (maybe even your own) connected to a Bank B, which may very well be in some other country, you can sell it and withdraw the sale proceeds to Bank B. Not only will the government have an extremely hard time tracking this down, you just made an international wire transfer, without any hassle of foreign exchange regulations.

So, Is Bitcoin's value simply a function of all of the technological aspects, and its unregulated nature? I dont agree. Today there so many crypto currencies, some simply an improved updated versions of Bitcoin with better features. For example Litecoin, a similar currency has faster confirmation times and the whole system can handle more volume than Bitcoin, but it is still priced at $40.

Bitcoin is a hybrid of three things: A currency, an equity, and a social network . As a currency, you can buy things with it, but its real value in in its equity. Similar to equity its value seems to grow as the whole Bitcoin ecosystem grows. The growth of the ecosystem, is entirely dependent and akin to a social network. In simpler terms, more and more people across the world have joined the bitcoin ecosystem, as miners, as investors, as users. And it is their trust and faith in bitcoin, that has increased its value to its present $2700. Till the time more people continue to join its ecosystem, its value will continue to rise.

So should you buy Bitcoins? I don't know. It has great potential, with some predicting its value going up to $10000, in the coming years. Some governments like Japan are even giving it a legal status and accepting it. Then there are others like US who are trying to regulate it by treating it as a security. How, these regulations and control will affect its price, is anyone's guess. Government acceptance can make people feel more secure and attract fresh blood in to the market, helping strengthen Bitcoin's position. On the alternate, government regulation and capital control, will take away its biggest benefit and its value may fall as fast as it has gone up. I am thinking of it as going to the casino, betting only that what I don't mind losing, in the hope of winning the JACKPOT!

P.S. If you don't want to spend money, but still want to be a part of the crypto world, you can get free tokens as a part of intitial ICO promotions. Here is one such offer that I just found!
https://wcex.co/?ref=RKYGkuV