Using metaphors for cryptocurrencies helps people feel more familiar with the technology. But there's a downside – we expect it to work just like regular money.
If Bitcoin is a bubble, it will be because its price rises are too great and can't continue. If it isn't, it will be because the Bitcoin market is still expanding. We just don't know which one yet.
Bitcoin has been viewed as a liberating path out of the corporate monetary system. But the process of 'mining' the cryptocurrency is a massive energy drain - and potential environmental disaster.
The astronomic rise of the price of bitcoin over the past 12 months raises fears that the cryptocurrency is set to crash which could see many people lose money.
You may have imagined the blockchain would lead to a world without governments or institutions veryifying transactions, research shows that it probably won't.
The price of Bitcoin has slumped after a failure to agree on a new direction.
Shutterstock
The introduction of Bitcoin futures contracts will remove a lot of the financial risk associated with the cryptocurrency.
When using a cryptocurrency, you interact with a system like the blockchain, an online ledger that records transactions, directly. Bitcoin, is an examples of this.
www.shutterstock.com
A digital Australian dollar could remove the role of middlemen and creates a cheaper electronic currency system, while at the same time enabling the government to fully regulate the system.
Senior Lecturer & Director of the LLM. Research interests - AI and the law; Social relationships of trust; Sustainable futures, Australian National University