Alva Review-Courier -

Bitcoin: cryptocurrency outside the grasp of governments and banks. Bitcoin: creating hysteria as its price soared 85-fold, at times reaching a value of $20,000 for a coin that doesn’t exist.

Stoked by the distrust in financial institutions sown by Wells-Fargo and others, geopolitical unease, and even Brexit, bitcoin use has surged and is an assumed hedge against hyperinflation in countries like Venezuela.

Ransomware attacks often require bitcoin for payment. Currently not traded on the traditional stock market, exchanges are in operation such as Coinbase, which has signed up 12 million customers, surpassing the number of accounts at Charles Schwab, a 46-year-old brokerage.

So, where do you stand on an elusive investment whose value floats as regulatory barriers and compliance issues keep many institutions from committing to the “Bitcoin Boom?”

Unlike U.S. currency backed by faith in the government or gold backed by consumer supply and demand, bitcoin rely totally on electronic transactions, aimed at moving assets seamlessly throughout the world, courtesy of the internet.

It’s not unreasonable to assume that this is the future, as Amazon opens a store where you walk in, shop and walk out without showing identification or credit authenticity.

As Wall Street dips its toes in the current, is it a sound investment or the housing bubble all over again? The first universal currency: equivalent to “digital gold,” a good place to park money, but impractical to buy coffee or pizza. “It’s valuable because we collectively decide it is.” – Fred Ehrsam