08 Dec 2013 / UT San Diego – YES Bitcoin is a new Internet-based, completely digital currency that facilities transactions between people without a middleman. So it substantially reduces transaction costs, making it valuable to everyone, including merchants. Bitcoin allows ordinary people to store, transfer and exchange money (bitcoin) without banks or credit card companies, and is faster, cheaper, more accurate, more flexible and more secure (in some ways) than traditional forms of currency. Bitcoin will not replace money, but it will build on the success of the Internet’s virtual shopping/trading network — in other words, a potential game changer in an increasingly global marketplace.
YES As fiat monetary systems (especially including the U.S. dollar) continue to debase national currencies, alternative forms of money become more appealing as standards of exchange. This is particularly significant as the U.S. dollar loses its monopoly power as the world’s reserve currency. Virtual currencies may legitimately serve as “legal means of exchange” with significant advantages as payment networks having vast utility for their currency units. However, a major drawback in bitcoin currency is not having intrinsic value. Unless the alternative currency can be directly exchanged for gold, silver, oil, “Beanie Babies” or something, it is more speculative asset than currency…… Read more
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/dec/08/tp-is-bitcoin-an-alternative-form-of-money-here/
