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Francisco G. Alvarez
Roxanna Dewey
ENG 101 #13562
1st April 2015
Bitcoin
Changing the world one coin at a time
The world is changing every single day, some of the greatest technological advances and
feats are now just relics of the past. Everyday new developments and creations are making once
long standing equipment now foils, one of the most surprise is the slow extinction of physical
money. In todays modern world less and less do we get a check in the mail and more often do
we see numbers added to our accounts. Money has been reduced to numbers on a screen rather
than bills in your hand. Bitcoin one of the longest enduring online only currencies in the world,
has value in real world money. Bitcoin or online currencies is money based solely (unlike other
real world currencies) on the trust of the online market and not on a central bank. Bitcoin was
created as a growing distrust in the central bank grew, to receive a Bitcoin you can buy them
with real world currencies or mine the with a computer tasked with decoding and creating new
Bitcoin kind of like your central bank printing money. Bitcoin is the largest online currency and
at the time of writing this is currently worth $244.31 USD. You will never hold a Bitcoin and
will never see one beyond the computer screen. The effects of this new online only currencies are
vast with future developments in real world money, the illegal purchase of goods online, and
spending money in the real world.

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To begin with as Bitcoin and other online currencies grow in popularity the future of real
world currencies might change. With more and more people using Bitcoin instead of other
tradition currencies, the world is slowly growing aware of this new wave of change. Bitcoin
effects government agencies at its very core as with no central bank or official group it cannot as
easily regulate it causing some nations to ban the use of this currencies. Government such as
china, Singapore, Russia and many others fear that with the spread of this unregulated and
nonphysical money the values of their currencies will decrease over time as more trust is place
with this online currency rather than their physical currencies( Negurita ,par 14). Other nations
such as the United States have taken different approaches to the on-line currency allowing the
use of Bitcoin however some fear that with this the U.S has positioned itself to try and regulate
this currency(Negurita, par 1) that cannot be manipulated by any government Bitcoin has set a
new precedent unseen by any other, with the growing popularity countries may slow start to
decrease the amount of physical money produced and distribute money to the banks and other
sectors. Instead using digital currencies as opposed to physical money. Less and less is physical
money changing hands with this governments could actually save money creating less physical
money and instead create their own digital currency like Bitcoin. This new online only Bitcoin
has set in motion something that will revolutionize the way we see money and the way we see
the numbers on the screen.
Another effect of this online crypto currency Bitcoin is the relative ease there is to
purchase illegal goods off the internet. Bitcoin is one of the most secure and accepted forms of
monetary value online, with no central banks the transferring of money from the customer to the
supplier is done through a peer to peer network a person buys something online a computer sends
this information to the supplier and the transaction is complete. This is almost untraceable for

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both parties involved, this is why illegal goods are often purchased using Bitcoin. With all the
positive attributes it has this new form of money has the biggest criticism is its ability to buy
guns, drugs and other items with relative safeness even launder money (Emily little). Bitcoin is
untraceable just as real world money however with physical money one must find the place that
sells the illegal goods you are looking for, then go to said place and run the risk of begin arrested,
with Bitcoin a few click here and there and poof you get a package in the mail with the items you
bought little risk high reward. This is one of the very glaring negatives Bitcoin presents how you
can track money that has no source no central authority. If nations such as the U.S does start to
use online currencies such as Bitcoin will it become easier to buy illegal item or will the U.S
monitor every single transaction taking away privacy in purchases legal or not? One of the
biggest negatives is the increase in sales of illegal goods online all thanks to currencies such as
Bitcoin
The slow growth of bitcoin has started to show in our everyday life more and more are
there more places accepting this new kind of currency both online and in the real world. Bitcoin
is become more accepted as a adequate form of money as business start to offer payment in this
currency, so fair however this businesses are few in number. There are even Bitcoin atms now
allowing people to deposit real world cash in exchange for this online currency. This new way if
spending money will change the way we spend no longer will we need to carry cash on our
pockets or plastic cards in our wallets all well need is our phone. Aps and other devices have
allowed the safe storage of this online currency without all the fees and limits other main stream
card companies often use. We can pay for what we want when we want to no more transaction
fees and limits we will no longer need plastic or cash. The way we look at money will change as
the acceptance of this new kind of online currency grows. Nations may start to create their own

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kind of variant allowing for more and more freedom to spend how we want to and when we want
to. This new kind of trend can help to set a new world more connected with easier transactions
and unshackled by the huge corporations that hold our money hostage.
Bitcoin one of the longest enduring online currencies has set into motion something great
a new way of looking at the world a new way to be free. No longer limited by the fees we pay to
pay for something or the money controlled by the hand of governments. This online currency
may not be the first and will most certainly not be the last and may not be in existence in the next
five years. It has left a mark a new way of thinking about money, about how we spend and how,
we should spend in the future. This in currency has help to show change and what the definition
of money might change to.

Work cited

Little, Emily M. "Bitcoin." The Investment Lawyer May 2014: 22+. Academic OneFile. Web. 6
Apr. 2015

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Negurita, Octav. "Bitcoin--between legal and financial performance." Contemporary Readings in
Law and Social Justice 6.1 (2014): 242+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 6 Apr. 2015.