4 Ways That Bitcoin Has Affected the World

Bitcoin is seen as different things by different people, but if one thing is to be agreed upon, it is the fact that it has changed the world since first hitting the market in 2009. Brokerage firms may view it as being too volatile. Technology enthusiasts label it as innovative and ground breaking. Some countries believe it to be dangerous, assuming it greatly supports money laundering and drug trafficking. All the while most investors simply see bitcoin as the future of money as we know it, and one of the most worthwhile investments they have made.

In other words, it is clear that bitcoin has had some effect on the people using it, those just discovering it, and those avoiding it altogether, but what about the world as we know it? The following are four ways in which bitcoin has affected the world.

1. Opening the market for other cryptocurrencies

The founding of Bitcoin in 2009 opened up the market to the world of cryptocurrencies that was bound to follow in Bitcoin’s footsteps. It paved the way for so many innovative competitors that would later hit the cryptocurrency market. The extent to which cryptocurrency has affected the world and has yet to affect the world would never have been possible if it weren’t for Bitcoin taking that first step towards the future of technology and currency as we know it.

2. Things you can do with bitcoin

Bitcoin started off as a currency that you couldn’t do very much with. You may have been able to order pizza or clothing, but the number of merchants accepting bitcoin as a verified method of payment was fairly slim. Now, however, bitcoin is expanding as a payment method offered by countless facilities. You can pay for food, clothing, flights, hotels, real estate, cars or even an education with bitcoin.

3. What an investment in bitcoin could mean for you

Bitcoin is associated with countless success stories. Investors around the world, both experienced and inexperienced have been able to enjoy high returns thanks to a bitcoin investment. The smallest of investments a couple of years ago have grown to become hundreds of thousands of dollars today.

There is obviously a substantial amount of risk involved with an investment in bitcoin, as is involved with any investment, but a large majority of its investors are more than happy with their choice to invest.

4. Ease of private and anonymous transactions

Of course, the ease that bitcoin has provided in completing transactions privately and anonymously, unmonitored by any government-affiliated or financial institutions, was bound to attract some of the wrong people. It was not bitcoin’s intention to provide a currency that could so easily solve the problems of criminals laundering money and dealing drugs, or addicts that now have the tools to purchase narcotics at their fingertips.

Bitcoin was created in order to allow consumers and merchants alike, both senders and receivers of money, a cost-effective, timely, decentralized payment method that could easily replace PayPal and financial institutions. It was intended as a peer-to-peer payment network, not a criminal playground.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that bitcoin has affected the world in more ways than one. It has allowed investors to grow once minimal funds, consumers to purchase basically anything under the sun, and the world of currency and technology to combine and expand to an incredible extent. Of course, it has also had its negative effects on the world, but these are easily cancelled out by the positive.