| Bitcoin has had a highly volatile period amidst some difficult events. The Wall Street Journal today weighs the pros and cons of it as an investment or payment system. It is treated as a commodity by the IRS and the same as gold in this category. The past year has brought publicity to Bitcoin due to the Silk Road incident of drug dealing on its website and the anonymous hacking theft that left Mt. Gox, the largest Bitcoin Exchange, in bankruptcy this past February.
Campbell R. Harvey, a professor of finance at Duke University in Durham, N.C., makes an important distinction about bitcoin as an investment or currency. The fall to bankruptcy of Mt. Gox is not the fault of Bitcoin. He states, "Blaming bitcoin for the Mt. Gox bankruptcy is like blaming the U.S. dollar for the downfall of Lehman Brothers.”..............................................Full Article: Source
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