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Bitcoin Circulation Hits Record High Of $14 Billion (theguardian.com)
Bitcoin, the digital currency that most people have never actually used, has hit a record value of $14 billion after jumping 5 percent on Thursday. From a report on The Guardian: The price of one bitcoin reached $875 on the Europe-based Bitstamp exchange, its strongest level since January 2014, putting the cryptocurrency on track for its best daily performance in six months. That compared with levels around $435 at the start of the year, with many experts linking bitcoin's rise with the steady depreciation of the Chinese yuan, which has slid almost 7% in 2016. Data shows the majority of bitcoin trading is done in China, so any increase in demand from there tends to have a significant impact on the price.
There is little point in using bitcoins for normal everyday business-to-consumer transactions. So most people do not, and maybe never will, use them. But there are still uses for bitcoins. My company employs a graphic artist living in Karachi. The transaction costs of transferring and converting dollars to pak-rupees are exorbitant. So we pay her in bitcoins. It works well, and, since it is below the radar, we don't have to worry about the 35% tax that our soon-to-be-president will impose on offshoring.