That gave me a grounding to begin understanding this, but Bitcoin has turned into a very different kind of financial market. Certainly one part of this requires understanding the technical details of how Bitcoin and other digital tokens work. It is also the real-world usage that tests whether Bitcoin and other virtual currencies are able to live up to the big promises that they are making. With most virtual currency projects, I’ve found that there are relatively few real-world transactions to back up the big, speculative bets that investors are making. Bitcoin has an elaborate system of carrots and sticks designed to attract followers and to increase the cybersecurity of the Bitcoin network.

Source: New York Times January 22, 2018 15:56 UTC