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 What is Bitcoin?
 By Dan Macadam & Daniele PalumboBusiness
reporters - 11 December 2017
 The value of digital currency Bitcoin is
making headlines again. Bitcoin's value: very
volatile during its nine year history.
  In November and December, it hit a peak of
more than $17,000 at one point - a staggering
rise, given that it started the year at $1,000.
 So what exactly is Bitcoin, and what's behind the
buying frenzy?
 There are two key traits of Bitcoin: it is digital
and it is seen as an alternative currency.
 Unlike the notes or coins in your pocket, it
largely exists online. Although there are some
special ATMs which issue bitcoins, it may be
best to think of them as being more like virtual
tokens.
 And secondly, Bitcoin is not printed by
governments or traditional banks.
 That means it is "not legal tender, you can't pay
your taxes or use it to settle debts", says Dr
Garrick Hileman of the Judge Business School
at University of Cambridge.
 There's a steady stream of about 3,600 new
bitcoins a day - with about 16.5 million now in
circulation.
  However, like all currencies its value is
determined by how much people are willing to
buy and sell it for.
 Why is it so wanted this year?
 No one is entirely sure. Some say it's a classic
economic bubble: frenzied investors paying far
more for an asset than it's worth for fear of
missing out.
 How do people buy Bitcoin?
 There are now thousands of different crypto-
currencies, but Bitcoin is still the best-known. To
receive a bitcoin a user must have a Bitcoin
address - a string of.