The bitcoin is it something else that sell drugs?

Past October, when the FBI shut down Silk Road, the price of bitcoin has suddenly dropped. The site called "The Amazon of drugs" allowed holders bitcoins anonymously buy illegal drugs and weapons. But the anonymity of transactions and money laundering (which is far from being unique to bitcoin) are they really the main advantage of virtual currency?

Bitcoin is a decentralized currency, born in January 2009, which is not controlled by a central authority. It operates through a network. Each transaction must be validated by solving mathematical equations, to ensure that the same bitcoin will not be resold several times.

Validation of transactions with the computing power of a computer can earn bitcoins: the mining. Today, it has become extremely difficult to undermine the bitcoins unless appropriate facilities (see " In pictures: warehouse mining of bitcoins in Hong Kong "). Alternate procure: buy. But for what purpose?

WordPress, Reddit and Square begin to bitcoin
First, because the payment in bitcoins is extremely simple. Simply download an application "e-wallet" on their PC or smartphone. It then indicates the recipient's address, payment amount, and send. Often, the destination address is also replaced by a QR code (so just the scanner then indicate the amount to be transferred) or NFC (the amount is done by simple linking smartphones ).

More merchants accept Bitcoin, although in France the practice remains very marginal. A site lists businesses , mainly in Anglo-Saxon countries, which accept virtual currency. If they remain extremely rare in France, their numbers are growing in the United States or Germany, for example.

 Web, WordPress or Reddit adopted the bitcoin as payment. Square has announced that users of its marketplace, Market Square, will now buy their products and services with virtual currency. Similarly, the payment company Stripe has launched the bitcoin payment in testing with a small number of users.