In the gorgeous New York Times Square, known as the crossroads of the world, pedestrians from all over the world are constantly flowing, either stopping or taking photos...
"Bitcoin, I I know a little, but not much. I have never bought it. Isn’t it all over? Bitcoin is a concept that may play a greater role in the future.” Chris from Buffalo, New York, told reporters.
Chris was one of the two people randomly asked by reporters in Times Square who said they knew about Bitcoin. The other said he only knew a little bit about Bitcoin. The people asked came from the United States, China, India, Ireland, Angola... This result seems to be expected, but it is still somewhat disappointing.
“There are still 3 billion people in the world without bank accounts. Bitcoin can provide them with access to the global financial network.” Austin Alexander, deputy director of the Bitcoin Center in New York City, has placed a lot of hope on Bitcoin. Great expectations.
Of course, in order for Bitcoin to serve the general public, it first needs public understanding and acceptance. For a virtual currency that has only been around for five years and has a very complex generation method, it does still have a long way to go.
“If you asked two years ago, none of the people you asked might know Bitcoin.” Marc Anthony, who once served as a foreign exchange trader and now studies Bitcoin, told reporters. He believes more people will understand and use Bitcoin.
In Anthony’s view, the commodity attribute of Bitcoin is currently greater than its monetary attribute, but in the future, Bitcoin’s monetary attribute will become larger and larger.
At present, not many people in the world know about Bitcoin, but Wall Street, the financial hinterland of the world, has already paid attention to Bitcoin, and some have already benefited from investing in Bitcoin. As a technological innovation, Bitcoin has also attracted the attention of regulatory authorities.
At the beginning of this year, the New York City Bitcoin Center was established. It is only 30 meters away from the New York Stock Exchange. It is the world’s first Bitcoin trading center and has attracted more and more people to visit. training or trading.
The center provides a place for Bitcoin trading every Monday night and Saturday afternoon. This trading place is called Satoshi Nakamoto Square. It is rumored to be named after the founder of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. Anyone who opens a personal e-wallet on the B lockchain.info website can buy and sell Bitcoin on-site, with a minimum price of The transaction amount is $100. Ankit, who works at a financial institution in New York, told reporters that he has bought Bitcoin online and hopes to get more information at the Bitcoin Center. He feels that face-to-face transactions feel very different from online transactions.
It was also the first time for Rahim to come to the Bitcoin Center. He wanted to know what Bitcoin was all about, and he hoped to use Bitcoin to buy things at the party one day.
“For now, Bitcoin is an investment tool for me. Now is the time to buy Bitcoin.” Retired Michael Robinson admitted that he earned some money from Bitcoin trading money. Robinson said that he took advantage of the opportunity after the Bitcoin bubble burst in May last year to buy 100 US dollars worth of Bitcoins. After that, he successively bought a lot at prices between 100 and 700 US dollars, and now holds 100 Bitcoins. coins, worth the equivalent of more than $60,000.
“I have been looking for selling at high points and buying at low points. Of course, it is not easy to seize this opportunity.” Robinson said. However, Robinson also hopes to be able to do more with Bitcoin in the future as he does with the U.S. dollar. Overall, he is bullish on Bitcoin’s prospects, although he believes the Bitcoin bubble will reoccur. Another man, also named Michael, said he had hired two "miners" to "mine." "I estimate there are still two weeks to 'dig' Bitcoin. I don't want to buy Bitcoin with cash, 'mining' is more cost-effective."
As the co-founder of the New York City Bitcoin Center Nick Spanos spoke passionately about Bitcoin to reporters. "Bitcoin is the world's first financial currency protocol, and that's what attracted me to it."
Spanos, who founded and still runs a real estate agency in New York, said that all things Bitcoin Transactions are implemented through the blockchain, all transactions are recordable, and anyone can query this open source software. "You don't need a judge, you don't need a lawyer, you don't need anything." Spanos revealed that their center is waiting for the government’s trading license, which may take several months. Once the license is obtained, it will be able to charge for Bitcoin transactions.
Currently, the Bitcoin Center does not charge commission for transactions. The transactions between buyers and sellers are purely personal [Weibo]. The Bitcoin Center only provides a place, more like an open bar. However, once Bitcoin Center obtains a trading license from the government, it will have far-reaching consequences. It means that Bitcoin transactions will have more government supervision, and it also promotes Bitcoin to enter the eyes of more people.
The New York State Department of Financial Services recently issued a statement saying that companies can submit proposals for establishing Bitcoin exchanges, and then regulatory authorities will work with the company to develop a set of regulatory measures for Bitcoin or virtual currencies. This was the first step towards the establishment of a Bitcoin exchange.
There are various signs that the controversial Bitcoin seems to be struggling to move from Wall Street to the public step by step, although there may still be setbacks and challenges ahead.
(The author is a reporter from Xinhua News Agency in New York)