With the price of a bitcoin reaching record highs of more than $10,000, more and more people consider investing in the crypto-currency. The recent price surge, however, comes with tremendous risks. Investors should be prepared for the possibility that they could lose their entire investment. Bitcoin was launched in 2008 by an anonymous author under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto as a means of transacting with participants without the need for intermediaries. Since the beginning of 2017, the price of bitcoin has increased by 1,300% as more consumers flock to it hoping to profit off its increasing popularity and the associated increase in value. Crypto-currencies are not currencies at all. As the Financial Times explains, bitcoin is a string of computer codes which means that new bitcons can be created — up to an agreed limit — by computers that gain the right to do so by solving complex puzzles. Transactions are recorded in a database called a blockchain. Bitcoin, like other assets suc...
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