Weekend Thinking: Will Bitcoin Ever Be Common?
Bitcoin has been around for a while now. You probably know it as the currency of the internet, favourite of ransomware hackers and super private, bank distrusting types.
But after over seven years since Bitcoin was first made accessible, it’s still unclear whether or not it will take off as a widely accepted form of currency.
Bitcoin has most notably gotten a bad rap thanks to those ransomware hackers locking down digitally stored information and only releasing it upon payment of an amount of the sometimes dramatically fluctuating currency.
Radiolab gave us a frustrating and sometimes humorous story of ransomware victims and their struggles to get their hands on the elusive Bitcoin.
But behind what gets much of the Bitcoin’s media attention is complex work being done to make the currency a more viable option for everyday users. Quartz breaks it down here.
While Bitcoin ATM’s, used for buying and sometimes selling Bitcoin for cash, are fairly widespread across the US, they’re less so in Canada (the closest one to New Brunswick is in Québec City).
It might seem like there is still a long way to go before you’ll see your Aunt Pam buying her daily lunch salad with Bitcoin here in Canada, but with a growing number of online retailers accepting the currency and apps like Circle popping up to help you transfer funds from your accounts to individuals and businesses (without fees), it’s at least worth keeping up with.