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Pros And Disadvantages Of Bitcoin

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Technology plays a major role in our lives. Technological advancements have made significant contributions to how our world operates today and how we go about our daily lives. One question many have is this: will our money become completely digital like so many other things have? Digital money should not become the United States' only way of payment in the future because technology is not always reliable, hackers can easily use it for personal gain, and it is only controlled by its users. The word Bitcoin is one you may have heard in the last few years. There are more organizations similar to Bitcoin, but Bitcoin is the most commonly known, so it is the only one that will be discussed in this essay. The idea of digital money was first suggested nineteen years ago, in 1998, but it became a reality in 2009 ("Frequently asked questions"). Bitcoin is one of a few digital, online forms of currency, and it is used throughout the world, not just one country (Popper, "What Is Bitcoin and How Does It Work?"). Bitcoin is a crypto-currency, which means transactions are encrypted to keep them private (Lambert). When Bitcoin first started in 2009, one Bitcoin was worth $27 USD. Today, as of December 2017, one Bitcoin is worth $11,663 USD, and the price is constantly rising. Obviously things cost less than that, but a Bitcoin can be divided into sub units, known as bits; there are one million bits in one Bitcoin. Only 21 million Bitcoins will be distributed, which is something that makes

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