Bitcoin and digital currency in Europe - statistics & facts
"A bitcoin is worth $4000 - why you probably should not own one" said Forbes in a headline on 15 August 2017. The opposite happened. As of the end of December 2017, one Bitcoin was almost worth 20,000 U.S. dollars with interest in cryptocurrencies reaching an all-time high with public endorsements from celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Floyd Mayweather. A cryptocurrency is a digital currency that uses blockchain technology as a means of security. This technology was first conceptualized by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, as the basis for its first known application: Bitcoin. Not only private investors were interested in the technological concept. During the summer of 2017, for example, Swiss start-up Tezos successfully developed a digital currency and used it as a way to raise money from its users: a so-called initial coin offering (ICO). Total money raised: 200 million euros. With so much talk about blockchain and cryptocurrencies, this article aims to take a look at the following: 1) where this technology comes from; 2) cryptocurrencies as a financial payment method; 3) what sparked the interest in this digital currency; 4) negative connotations of investing in Bitcoin and similar currencies. Text continues below.
