I had to google bitcoin because I never heard of it before. After reading up on it, I'm not sure I understand it. It sounds like issuing a steady stream of new stock on a non existent company. The bitcoin only has any value as long as people are willing to buy it, work for it, or accept it as payment for goods or services. I suppose the same is true of the US dollar or any other official currency. But what gives a bitcoin value other than people thinking it's cool?
As an online business owner, if I accepted bitcoins as payment for a t-shirt, what would I do with it besides sell them for dollars?Is there a single expense we have where we could pay with bitcoins instead of dollars?
Instead of buying them, you can get bitcoins just for running some "mining software" on your computer. This is the only way new bitcoins are made, they are made at a preset rate, and there is predetermined limit to how many will ultimately be made. Companies sell devices just to mine bitcoins, but they don't take bitcoins as payment. If the bitcoins are only generated at a fixed rate, isn't having everyone buy faster and faster hardware to mine bitcoins a losing proposition?