The Downside of Bitcoins

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Imagine a world where there are no banks or even a need for wallets. This may sound like a nice freedom at first until illegal activities sky rocket; including the drug and sex trade. The economy will crash and millions of people will be left high and dry with a worthless currency. This type of chaos will not only devastate the United States but will also be seen world wide. With the way technology has been advancing this could be a very plausible future, thanks to Bitcoins. Bitcoins are a new form of digital currency in which the consumer uses and stores all of their money on a computer. This allows for quick trade, not only within your own country but others as well (Ethley par. 2-4). Although there may seem to be great benefits that Bitcoins offer, they are actually more damaging then beneficial. Bitcoin use will have a huge negative effect on the economy, they are filled with security issues, and support criminal activity due to their anonymous nature.

Bitcoins function as a completely anonymous form of digital currency. They allow people to make peer-to-peer transactions without ever making contact with the individual or exchanging any type of personal information (Zetter par. 6). This allows for quick worldwide transactions but also allow for more criminals to access an account. Since Bitcoins are a digital currency, they are kept and traded completely online. This digital currency functions mainly on the “Deep Web”, which is a part of the internet where many hidden illegal activities take place. To access the Deep Web, all one needs is software (Grossman par. 1-5). This is the area in which Bitcoins thrive since it is hard to regulate what happens on the Deep Web.

A Bitcoin account is also very easy to make but hard t...

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...Evans, Pete. "Bitcoin Bank Flexcoin Shuts Down After $600,000 Theft." CBC News. 4 Mar. 2014. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

Grossman, Lev, et al. "The Deep Web." Time 182.20 (2013): 26. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

Lee, Timothy. "Four Reasons You Shouldn't Buy Bitcoins." Forbes. 3 Apr. 2013. Web. 10 May 2014.

Matthews, Christopher. "Why Economists are Right to Hate on Bitcoin." Time.Com (2014): 1. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

Pagliery, Jose. "Bitcoin is Under Attack." CNN Money. 12 Feb. 2014. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

Pagliery, Jose. "Drug Site Silk Road Wiped Out by Bitcoin Glitch." CNN. 14 Feb. 2014. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

Yermack, David. "Bitcoin Economics." Technology Review 117.2 (2014): 12. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

Zetter, Kim. "FBI Fears Bitcoin's Popularity with Criminals." Wired. Conde Nast, 9 May 2012. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

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