Last week, Bitcoin reached a high of about $20,000 on some exchanges. The cryptocurrency has rapidly shot up in value.
Last month, one Bitcoin was valued at about $7,000. People are mortgaging their homes and taking out lines of credit to get in on the action, according to Joseph Borg, president of the North American Securities Administrators Association. What is bitcoin? How do cryptocurrencies work? And is the run-up in its value a bubble or something more consequential?
Guest:
Nathaniel Popper, a San Francisco-based reporter covering finance and technology for The New York Times, and author of Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money
Web Resources:
New York Times: Bitcoin’s Price Has Soared. What Comes Next?
New York Times: Coinbase: The Heart of the Bitcoin Frenzy
New York Times: Bitcoin Hasn’t Replaced Cash, but Investors Don’t Care
New York Times: In South Korea, the Virtual Currency Boom Hits Home
Investopedia: The 6 Most Important Cryptocurrencies Other Than Bitcoin
Investopedia: Cryptocurrency