“it’s one of the first attempts to create a real-world currency with no governments, no central banks, and no rules. More than 6,500,000 Bitcoins are in circulation, in an online economy, which was worth over $180m”
The $180 is no longer accurate. There was an online heist and a run on the exchange in June.
Bitcoins are kind of the next evolution of World of Warcraft Gold and Second Life Lindon Dollars. But where these are game currencies that have leaked into the ‘real’ world, Bitcoins are a digital currency targeted at the real world. Read the Guardian article, it explains it better than I can.
I suspect Bitcoins will be a fad, having said that, they have already been around long enough to royally stuff up some people.
I don’t think the concept of a feral digital dollar will go away. It will probably be a moving feast for the technogeek underground for some time to come, but who knows, a single model may gain acceptance. Maybe in the not too distant future we will see rises and falls in digital dollars being reported alongside the Euro and USD.
I can certainly see it being an issue for some accountants when an online business holds a percentage of their cash in a currency not recognized by the Tax Office.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jun/22/bitcoins-how-do-they-work
http://cdn.rocketboom.com/video/rb-daily/2011/bitcoins_hd.m4v