Bitcoin; the Future of Currency or a Scam?

Ireland’s first bitcoin ATM opened for business on the 13th March 2014. The ATM is located in GSM Solutions, an electronics repair shop which now accepts payment through bitcoin for its services. The ATM is operated by a company called Bitvendo.

So what is Bitcoin anyway? It is an online form of payment which you can use to buy almost anything from websites such as Overstock.com and Tigerdirect.com. You can also send small amounts of money to people in other countries without having to worry about conversion fees or exchange rates.

Just like stock there are a fixed number of bitcoins. The value of each bitcoin will vary based on supply and demand. The more that people want to use them, the higher their value.

Bitcoin started from a concept called Crypto Currency by Wei Dai who suggested a new form of money that uses cryptography to control its creation and transactions rather than an central authority. Which basically means you can make a transaction with someone even if you don't trust them with your credit card number or other personal information, they will never find anything about your finances.

Why you should use Bitcoin

Bitcoin allows its users to be in full control of their money. You can send and receive any amount of money at any time to anywhere in the world with little to no fees, much lower than PayPal or credit card networks.

Bitcoin transactions are secure, irreversible and do not contain personal information, protecting merchants from losses caused by fraudulent chargebacks and users from identity theft.

Disadvantages of Bitcoin

Many people are still unaware of bitcoin meaning many businesses that are accepting bitcoin are not benefiting from it.

Bitcoin software is still in beta with many incomplete features in active development. Most