By now, you’ve probably heard of it -- Bitcoin. Invented in 2009, the cryptocurrency has grown far beyond its humble beginnings. For many years, the only people trading bitcoins were programmers due to the technical nature of it. In the early days, the only way to fill up your bitcoin wallet besides trading was through “mining.” Users run complex calculations on their workstations, effectively selling the use of their energy and hardware for bitcoin. This process is expensive, time-consuming, and difficult to set up. Fortunately, there are now many ways for consumers to access the currency. A quick search on the iOS App Store yields dozens of wallet apps with hundreds of thousands of reviews and high ratings, notably Coinbase and Binance. With these mobile apps, users can buy bitcoin and other similar currencies such as Etherium and Litecoin, providing access to millions of people. Based on the overwhelmingly positive ratings, it’s clear: people love buying bitcoin on their phones.

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While many praise Bitcoin for its security, freedom, and transparency as a currency, others view it as an investment, similar to forex trading. In 2009, a single bitcoin was nearly worthless. For context, the first bitcoin transaction where Laszlo Hanyecz purchased two pizzas from another trader with 10,000 bitcoin (BTC) occurred in 2010. At the time, his 10,000 BTC was worth roughly $40, less than a cent per BTC. Only three years later, the price of 1 BTC rose to over $123 and by December 2017, the all-time high price surpassed $19,700. According to Independent, one trader may have been behind the entire surge. Unfortunately, bitcoin is incredibly volatile. One year following the massive 2017 rally, bitcoin notoriously fell to a staggering $3300 in December 2018. Starting in May 2020, the currency hovered at around $10,000. Since then, bitcoin has shattered all-time highs: $19,850 on Nov. 30th, 2020, and $58,419 on Feb. 21st, 2021, following a bull run when Tesla purchased $1.5 billion of the coin. With a market cap of $897 billion, Bitcoin far exceeds Visa’s market cap of $455.28 billion.

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"While many praise Bitcoin for its security, freedom, and transparency

as a currency, others view it as an investment"

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Despite the possibility of an 84% year-to-date loss as seen from December 2017 to December 2018, Bitcoin is here to stay. This October, Paypal partnered with Paxos, a Greek financial firm, to introduce a cryptocurrency buying feature to its over 300 million users. Further broadening the consumer base of Bitcoin, Paypal allows users to easily deposit and withdraw money between Paypal Cash, cryptocurrencies and their bank accounts. Unlike Paypal, most bitcoin wallets do not allow withdraws, meaning users can only send their bitcoin to other wallets and cannot easily obtain USD for them. Conversely, Paypal does not allow users to send or pay with their cryptocurrencies. Aware of the risks, Paypal states on its website that, “Buying and selling cryptocurrency is subject to a number of risks and may result in significant losses.” 

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With the influx of new users from Paypal and those eager to adopt after the news of all-time highs, more people will want to pay for goods with bitcoin. In 2018, Ohio became the first state to accept bitcoin as a medium for tax payments. Unfortunately, the program was ruled unconstitutional the next year. If more government entities embrace the technology rather than reject it, the value and opportunity associated with Bitcoin will continue to rise. Currently, Microsoft, AT&T and Overstock are a few of the most-prominent acceptors of cryptocurrencies. In Venezuela, due to the bolívar collapse and economic sanctions, Pizza Hut and Burger King take bitcoin as payment, showcasing the benefit of the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies.

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While Bitcoin is not a safe investment, great for purchasing goods, or widely acknowledged yet, it has promise. The framework for full integration and use within society is laid and only now coming to fruition. If Paypal integrates bitcoin as a payment method, the ability for consumers to pay directly with their investments will transform the economy. While I won’t tell you to buy any bitcoin now, I think in five years we’ll all wish we did.