Bitcoin Past Present and Future (Review)

This paper concerns the open source software project Bitcoin, which is often described as vir-tual cash. The paper investigates what 'virtual' signi=ies when applied to 'cash' and in turn what 'virtual cash' says about Bitcoin. Bitcoin is the latest cryptographic effort to create digital cash-like tokens, where Bitcoin's designer Nakamoto argues that users now no longer have to trust a third party, traditionally the bank. Paradoxically, for Bitcoin it is key that nodes in the network agree on the status of the shared block chain database. Trust remains to be established, albeit in a different manner. Power is not destroyed, but transferred from banks to Bitcoin's protocol. The paper concludes that 'virtual' refers to Bitcoin's model of how cash appears to function in everyday exchange, allowing user privacy. Bitcoin does not model another aspect of cash, its function as a credential referring to debt. Bitcoin discontinues the concept of debt. * Email: [email protected] To cite this article: Jansen, M. (2013) 'Bitcoin: The Political 'Virtual' of an Intangible Material Currency' International Journal of Community Currency Research 17 (A) 8--18 <www.ijccr.net> ISSN 1325--9547

Innovations bring forth potential revolutions in a variety of fields, including the legal one. The advent of the Internet posed a threat to the traditional legal framework, challenging the sustainability of the established legal institutes and regulations worldwide. Nonetheless, after an initial phase of 'legal inertia', legal systems resorted to regulate the innovations of the digital era through the existing legal instruments. Over the past years, the virtual world has given rise to a new conceptualization of money and currency exchanges, fostered by the ongoing progress in the field of Information Communication and Technology (ICT). Cash payments seem to be obsolete, supplanted by mobile payment systems, electronic money and the flourishing category of virtual currencies and cryptocurrencies, whose most debated example is represented by Bitcoin. Presently, another regulatory challenge lies ahead: identifying the proper legal framework-if any-applicable to cryptocurrencies. So, the essay aims at analyzing the main features characterizing these innovative 'currencies', the risks inherent in their architecture as well as the benefits they offer, with a specific focus on the case of Bitcoins.

The existence of monetary instruments complementary to those so-called “official” ones is not a recent phenomenon. Throughout history, many have been the forms and occasions in which complementary currencies were put in circulation. Recently, however, these instruments merged with technology, reaching almost unlimited potential and bringing to light consequences which we do not yet know how to estimate. This dissertation’s objective is to analyze a specific case of highly technological complementary currency: the Bitcoin. This should constitute a clearer approach directed to jurists, since most of the vocabulary involving cryptocurrencies involves IT and economical concepts. The study proposes a discussion as to what does it mean to regard the Bitcoin as a complementary currency – even though the discussion as to whether it is or not a currency at all constitutes only one of the possible approaches. I also explore which are the regulatory options adopted by different jurisdictions that have been forced to take a position regarding virtual currencies in general and Bitcoin in particular. As I will present, the terminology chosen by countries while regulating the Bitcoin results in its inclusion under different law categories and, as a direct consequence, the legal implications vary according to the terminology first embraced. The main treatment given to Bitcoin translates in taxation, in which we can clearly notice the concern from each State to classify the instrument according to the specific regulation one wants to invoke. From the survey carried out here, 62 jurisdictions have already taken a position towards the Bitcoin. With more and more attention from international regulatory agencies – such as the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund – the Bitcoin increases its potential and its limitations, especially regarding the challenges faced by an efficient regulation. The conclusion of this dissertation reinforces the notion that the juridical treatment given to new phenomena is not homogeneous, that is, Law does not have one right way to deal with situations found in the world of facts. Also, regarding the Bitcoin as a parallel currency may help regulators to better understand and regulate this cryptocurrency.

Internet Policy Review, 2018

How promising is Bitcoin as a currency? This paper discusses four claims on the advantages of Bitcoin: a more stable currency than state-backed ones; a secure and efficient payment system; a credible alternative to the central management of money; and a better protection of transaction privacy. We discuss these arguments by relating them to their philosophical roots in libertarian and neoliberal theories, and assess whether Bitcoin can effectively meet these expectations. We conclude that despite its advocates' enthusiasm, there are good reasons to doubt that Bitcoin can fulfill its promises and act as a functioning currency, rather than as a mere speculative asset.

The Internet and other telecommunications systems have reshaped the means by which markets are accessed, generated, and transformed. Recent innovations in computer science have led to the development of a virtually bound, decentralized, encrypted currency system known as bitcoin. Unlike conventional currency systems, the Bitcoin protocol is cryptologically defined with a virtual structure that allows it to simultaneously operate as currency, commodity, and market shaping socio-political force. Its decentralized design permits it to function as a free-market response to fiat currencies vulnerable to inflation, regulation, and manipulation. Given the cultural significance anthropologists and other social scientists have assigned to various modes and mediums of exchange over the years, the socio-economic impact of this novel currency system warrants particular consideration. This research describes the Bitcoin community that has emerged alongside the currency, including the entrepreneurs, developers, and consumers who are dedicated to bitcoin's perpetuation and acceptance as an internationally recognized medium of exchange. Ethnographic interviews and participant observation were utilized to collect information from users in the Central Florida area, detailing their experiences and interactions with the Bitcoin protocol and its associated community. This research provides new levels of anthropological insight into currency development, market interaction, and economically embodied social commentary. Moreover, its exploratory nature helps create a viable framework around which qualitative inquiry of virtual crypto-currencies may be designed in future studies. iv

R E V I S TA C H I L E N A D E D E R E C H O Y T E C N O L O G Í A CENTRO DE ESTUDIOS EN DERECHO INFORMÁTICO • UNIVERSIDAD DE CHILE, 2016

ABSTRAC T Digital currencies pose several questions. First, finding the best definition. Digital currencies have specific features that make necessary to mention in its definition. The second puzzle that they present is the function of Internet. It is important because Internet is the vehicle for the good functioning of digital currency schemes. The network provides all the facilities to digital currency, but it also may be a place for criminal activity. The third question is the relation of digital currencies and the e-commerce. The electronic commerce is an antecedent of virtual currencies. The necessity to make the payment quicker and easier makes possible the growth of virtual currencies. Finally, there is the puzzle of the regulation. A complete regulation does not exist in the digital area. It is the nature of the Internet. It is a place where there are no financial rules. Criminal activity and improper use of Internet will increase over time.

Revista IBERC, 2019

A inserção das criptomoedas no cotidiano negocial é uma realidade inexorável, sendo o bitcoin a espécie mais popularmente conhecida e trocada no mundo todo. Com variações de preço constantes, as negociações envolvendo bitcoins têm o potencial de aviltar ou insuflar a quantificação da contrapartida pecuniária que investidores estão dispostos a pagar, gerando danos. Isto levou o Tribunal Supremo espanhol a proferir decisão inédita: a Sentencia nº 326/2019, fruto de um processo criminal relacionado à suposta prática de estelionato com criptomoedas, que impôs, ademais, a reparação civil dos danos causados às vítimas nas operações de trading, mas em moeda corrente – não em bitcoins. Partindo deste tema-problema, estes comentários analisarão o enquadramento do bitcoin (e de tecnologias correlatas que utilizem o blockchain) como moedas e os impactos disso para a quantificação do dano na responsabilidade civil. A pesquisa utilizará o método indutivo, investigando aspectos centrais do aresto sob escrutínio, com amparo bibliográfico-doutrinário, para, em sentido progressivo-ampliativo, identificar alguns institutos jurídicos afetados pelo desfecho do julgado. Ao final, serão apresentadas as considerações finais, das quais se procurará extrair uma compreensão mais assertiva quanto à problemática explicitada.

Bitcoin is an innovative virtual currency, which has gained much commercial traction, yet is widely overlooked by the accounting profession. Due to its parallels with actual currencies and its growing use, accountants should be aware of what bitcoin is, including its risks and benefits, in order to properly leverage its business uses. Of the existing financial instruments, derivatives stand out in their potential to stabilize the bitcoin market. Bitcoin regulation is sparse, but evolving, especially in the face of the emerging bitcoin securities and derivatives markets. The accounting profession is poised to play a major role in facilitating the future of proper regulation and oversight of Bitcoin.

The development of E-Commerce in the world has impacted to the payment system which requires such fast, secure, and private. In 2008, a new payment method was introduced by Satoshi Nakamoto which called Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a series of programming code that secured by using cryptographic method as a peer-to-peer virtual and independent currency. Since its launching in 2009, it has generated volumes of debate in economic press whether will Bitcoin be an opportunity or merely a disruptive innovation in the future. Besides, the legality of Bitcoin in Indonesia is also questionable. The fact in the field approximates Bitcoin users in Indonesia reached 700,000 in the late 2017. According to the Article 1 of Indonesian Currency Law 2011, Currency is a money which issued by the State. Meanwhile, Bitcoin is not completed that qualification due to the independent issuance of it. Conjointly, Cybercriminals are attracted to choose Bitcoin as the currency in crime. It is because the distinctive characteristics of decentralization and pseudo-anonymity in general, and yet Bitcoin has assessed as representing only a low money laundering risk. By using secondary data and juridical-normative method, the research aims to analyze the legal existence of Bitcoin as a new payment method in the form of virtual currency and to provide best solutions for preventing disadvantages resulted from Bitcoin's existence itself. Furthermore, the research also highlights three strong factors should be settled by Indonesian government in dealing Bitcoin's matters i.e. demystifying of Bitcoin concept, providing strict substantial provision in preventing Cryptocurrency misuse, and promoting the awareness among criminal justice professionals and law enforcement officers.

ISA, 2019

The study ought to bring an analsis of the impact of cryptocurrencies in Zimbabwe: an analysis of bitcoins. The study specific objective was to gain an understanding of bitcoins used by banks in Zimbabwe; to find out if Bitcoins can solve liquidity crunch in Zimbabwe, to ascertain factors that influence the adoption of bitcoins by banks in Zimbabwe. The study adopted a conceptual framework to show a diagrammatic relationship between independent variables and dependent variable. To strengthen the conceptual framework, the researcher used theories such as mises regression theory. The study adopted primary data which was gathered through use of questionnaires with respondents were from selected sample of Zimbabwean banks such as CBZ, Stewart bank and Cabs. The sample size was fifty. A modified Likert scale questionnaire was developed categorized into five parts. A pilot study was conducted to refine the instrument. Data analysis was performed on a computer using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS Version 24) for Windows. Analysis was done using frequency counts, percentages, means and standard deviation, regression, correlation and the information generated was presented in form of graphs, charts and tables. The study concluded there are many meanings attached to cryptocurrency, it is beneficial to adopt cryptocurrency and there are many challenges faced in adopting cryptocurrency. The study recommended that banks in Zimbabwe need to adopt cryptocurrency and banks should enhance cryptocurrency.