Bitcoin Versus Electronic Money

Rotman, Sarah

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: BARRIERS TO ENTRY;    BLACK MARKET;    BLOG;    CENTRAL BANK;    CLARITY;   

RP-ID  :  88164

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Bitcoin has had a volatile journey sinceit was launched in 2009, attracting attention amongconventional investors as well as the black market.Regulators and policy makers are also following Bitcoin,raising the occasional eyebrow as they evaluateBitcoin's risks and benefits and how to regulate thislittle understood virtual currency. Some media reports haveconfused Bitcoin with more popular electronic money(e-money) schemes used in many low-income countries to reachthe unbanked. But the two are markedly different and shouldnot be conflated. This brief provides information aboutBitcoin and contrasts Bitcoin with e-money to avoid alarmabout the former to the detriment of the latter.