20 Jan 2014 / CBC – In cities across the country, the ability to buy Bitcoin is becoming easier.
Just last week, Toronto and Ottawa had their first Bitcoin ATMs installed, allowing people to exchange cash for the digital currency. This comes three months after the world’s first Bitcoin ATM was installed in Vancouver.
Bitcoin can be traded online for goods and services. Unlike conventional currencies such as dollars or euros, Bitcoin is not tied to any central bank or government.
Demand for the new currency has risen sharply in recent months.
In November, the price of a single Bitcoin went from around $250 per coin to over $1,000 per coin in a matter of weeks. In mid-December, the price dropped by about half after the Bank of China ordered third-party payment providers to stop using it.
Right now, one Bitcoin is worth roughly $900.
Cuts through regulatory controls
Tony Tang, a finance professor at Wilfrid Laurier University who researches digital currencies, says Bitcoin in and of itself has no value.
But he says it has created some functions that meets certain payment and monetary needs, which has attracted investors who give Bitcoin real financial value through speculation….. Read more
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/why-are-canadians-buying-bitcoin-1.2501496
