Bitcoin buyers with a libertarian bent drive prices to records - Jon Swartz, USA Today:
"September 21, 2017 - "Aaron Hanson, a software engineer from Chicago ... uses bitcoin wherever he can — to buy food at an empanada restaurant, airline tickets, his honeymoon in Africa this year — listing it alongside technology and individual freedom as his three beliefs in life.
"Austin Craig, a practicing Mormon who attended Brigham Young University, went a step further: He lived entirely on bitcoin during the first three months of his marriage and chronicled it in a documentary, Life On Bitcoin....
"For many, it is a lifestyle, something to be valued more than gold for financial investments and shielding personal information from the prying eyes of a distrusted government.
"Most Americans (78.5%) are familiar with the cryptocurrency, according to a survey of 1,000 Americans by LendEDU, a personal finance comparison site. But 48% aren't sure it's legal and 11% consider bitcoin ownership illegal in the U.S. Still, 40% were open to using bitcoin in the future, says Michael Brown, research analyst at LendEDU....
"The digital currency, whose finite quantities are created by computer programs, trades outside the traditional financial system, an attraction for people who have doubts — or at least seek an alternative — to mainstream institutions.
"'There’s certainly a libertarian feel' to the beliefs of bitcoin users, says Melanie Shapiro, CEO of Token, an identity-ring maker in New York. 'But we’re technologists, and technology provides freedom' from centralized government systems....
"The currency, which surfaced in early 2009 from someone using the name of Satoshi Nakamoto, has slowly evolved from cult curiosity to widespread lifestyle choice, with elements of political and religious fervor.
"What began as a currency championed by libertarians advocating decentralized currency or criminals trying to avoid law enforcement has been embraced by venture capitalists and investors. It's not mainstream yet — too many people are wary of its high risk and complicated tools — but it's getting there.
"'It is the first global, highly liquid form of currency,' says Mike Jones, CEO of Science, a business incubator that owns and trades cryptocurrency. 'Much more so than than gold. It is about opening financial markets globally.'
"'It is digital gold,' says Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, whose online retailer was one of the first to accept bitcoin payment."
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/09/21/bitcoin-buyers-libertarian-bent-drive-prices-records/594971001/
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"September 21, 2017 - "Aaron Hanson, a software engineer from Chicago ... uses bitcoin wherever he can — to buy food at an empanada restaurant, airline tickets, his honeymoon in Africa this year — listing it alongside technology and individual freedom as his three beliefs in life.
"Austin Craig, a practicing Mormon who attended Brigham Young University, went a step further: He lived entirely on bitcoin during the first three months of his marriage and chronicled it in a documentary, Life On Bitcoin....
"For many, it is a lifestyle, something to be valued more than gold for financial investments and shielding personal information from the prying eyes of a distrusted government.
"Most Americans (78.5%) are familiar with the cryptocurrency, according to a survey of 1,000 Americans by LendEDU, a personal finance comparison site. But 48% aren't sure it's legal and 11% consider bitcoin ownership illegal in the U.S. Still, 40% were open to using bitcoin in the future, says Michael Brown, research analyst at LendEDU....
"The digital currency, whose finite quantities are created by computer programs, trades outside the traditional financial system, an attraction for people who have doubts — or at least seek an alternative — to mainstream institutions.
"'There’s certainly a libertarian feel' to the beliefs of bitcoin users, says Melanie Shapiro, CEO of Token, an identity-ring maker in New York. 'But we’re technologists, and technology provides freedom' from centralized government systems....
"The currency, which surfaced in early 2009 from someone using the name of Satoshi Nakamoto, has slowly evolved from cult curiosity to widespread lifestyle choice, with elements of political and religious fervor.
"What began as a currency championed by libertarians advocating decentralized currency or criminals trying to avoid law enforcement has been embraced by venture capitalists and investors. It's not mainstream yet — too many people are wary of its high risk and complicated tools — but it's getting there.
"'It is the first global, highly liquid form of currency,' says Mike Jones, CEO of Science, a business incubator that owns and trades cryptocurrency. 'Much more so than than gold. It is about opening financial markets globally.'
"'It is digital gold,' says Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, whose online retailer was one of the first to accept bitcoin payment."
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/09/21/bitcoin-buyers-libertarian-bent-drive-prices-records/594971001/
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