{"id":16165,"date":"2017-12-07T14:36:45","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T14:36:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dentons.net\/localinfo\/?p=16165"},"modified":"2017-12-07T14:36:45","modified_gmt":"2017-12-07T14:36:45","slug":"buying-into-bitcoin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dentons.net\/localinfo\/buying-into-bitcoin\/","title":{"rendered":"Buying into Bitcoin"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s talk that Amazon will soon be accepting payments in Bitcoin<\/a> \u00a0and although I haven\u2019t personally come across one yet, there are reportedly many small businesses out there accepting cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fact that Microsoft, Bloomberg, Expedia, Virgin, Subway (yes, the sandwich people) and WordPress already accept Bitcoin as payment.<\/p>\n

Should you \u2026 would you \u2026 trade in Bitcoin or similar in your business dealings?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a big question that I would not dare give a definitive answer to, but it\u2019s possible (if not probable) that at some point all businesses will be forced<\/em> to transact in cryptocurrencies to survive.<\/p>\n

THE BITCOIN STORY<\/strong><\/p>\n

It all began as something rather obscure and geeky, but of course in recent weeks the media has been flooded with stories of Bitcoin hitting new highs and instant billionaires being made (those who invested in the currency early on in its evolution).<\/p>\n

Now, as the value soars, so does the speculation about whether this trend can continue before the bubble bursts.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not sure what this phenomenon is all about, let me try to enlighten you (though it\u2019s very difficult to understand the concept thoroughly!).<\/p>\n

Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, was \u201cinvented\u201d as open source software in 2009. The originator was believed to be a Japanese man named Satoshi Nakamoto, but the man himself has consistently denied this fact.<\/p>\n

The value of a Bitcoin unit was initially $0, but since then it has risen (with a few fluctuations), until it hit the headlines this week as having breached the $15,000 mark. If you invested when Bitcoin was selling for, say, $10 a unit, you\u2019d certainly be smiling now!<\/p>\n

What many of us find hard to grasp is that Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, and the newest one, Iota) are not hard cash in the accepted sense of the word. There is no actual coin \u2013 just a piece of computer code residing somewhere in cyberspace. Unlike traditional currency, there is no stash of gold in a vault somewhere to back up the value of the notes and coins issued.<\/p>\n

This means that the currency is decentralised, and not controlled by any government or commercial regulation. Essentially, transacting with Bitcoin cuts out the middle man and involvement of any financial institution.<\/p>\n

MINING<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where does the supply of Bitcoin come from? They are created by people called \u201cminers\u201d who put them into the \u201cblockchain\u201d after solving incredibly complicated computer maths problems, which use up a huge amount of power. The Bitcoin enter the chain and can be bought from exchanges that swop them for regular currency. You can also, of course, choose to accept them as payment for your goods and services.<\/p>\n

The reason the value of Bitcoin is rising is that the inventor designed the software to ensure the flow of Bitcoin will stop when 21 million exist. There are currently around 16 million, so the cap is not far off. In theory the scarcity will continue to drive up the value.<\/p>\n

It gets even more complicated if you try to fathom out the second generation cryptocurrencies with more advanced functions that are already emerging.<\/p>\n

Back to what it means for your business to accept payment in Bitcoin.<\/p>\n

When you receive Bitcoin, you can be sure you are totally in control of your money. It does not need to be deposited in a bank, and be subject to any bank charges. It is also more secure than it would be in a bank. All transactions can be made instantly, anonymously and securely, with no payment provider to take a fee.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s especially in security that Bitcoin transactions score well. It\u2019s all down to your Bitcoin wallet being stored within the Blockchain technology, which is apparently\u00a0 impossible to penetrate.<\/p>\n

Cryptocurrency is definitely the finance of the future; it\u2019s all part of the new industrial revolution that is disrupting every facet of the business world. As a business owner, you can\u2019t afford to ignore it, so you\u2019d be wise to learn all you can, as soon as you can.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s talk that Amazon will soon be accepting payments in Bitcoin \u00a0and although I haven\u2019t personally come across one yet, there are reportedly many small businesses out there accepting cryptocurrency. It\u2019s a fact that Microsoft, Bloomberg, Expedia, Virgin, Subway (yes, the sandwich people) and WordPress already accept Bitcoin as payment. Should you \u2026 would you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":16163,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3224],"tags":[3227,3228,3226,3225,3122],"class_list":["post-16165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-payment","tag-bitcoin","tag-blockchain","tag-payment-provider","tag-payments","tag-small-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dentons.net\/localinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dentons.net\/localinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dentons.net\/localinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dentons.net\/localinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dentons.net\/localinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16165"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dentons.net\/localinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16166,"href":"https:\/\/dentons.net\/localinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16165\/revisions\/16166"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dentons.net\/localinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dentons.net\/localinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dentons.net\/localinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dentons.net\/localinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}