Bitcoins: Is This Online Currency a Glimpse of the Future or a Flash in the Pan?

Bitcoins are a relatively new development in online currency that allows users to purchase Bitcoins and then spend them safely on the Internet. The idea of an online currency is confusing, but the easiest way to think of Bitcoins is like a virtual cash system. The Bitcoins are untraceable on the Internet since they are exchanged through a system of "wallets" from user to user. The anonymity of the Bitcoin currency has raised questions about the legality of the currency since they have been linked to drug trafficking.

The process for acquiring Bitcoins gets even stranger. Bitcoins can only be acquired (without someone giving them to you) through a process called "mining," which requires you to solve complex mathematical problems in order to find hidden Bitcoins in an encrypted computer program.

The easiest Bitcoins have already been found, but there are still around 10 million Bitcoins out there. Many critics are comparing Bitcoin to the Gold Standard in the way that it gains value the longer that you hold onto it.

Richard Weston, the DC Bitcoin Users' Group organizer, said, "Bitcoin lets you send money anywhere in the world with a very low transaction fee, free of censorship and relatively free of fraud. People can find a way to steal Bitcoin, but they can't counterfeit it. Bitcoin definitely has intrinsic value. People who say otherwise don't understand Bitcoin."

Do you think Bitcoin is a good idea, or do you think that it is a scam to get people to spend their money? Let us know in the comments!