‘Bitcoin is strictly for speculative retail investors’

As a new and accessible form of money, bitcoin is being used in a wide variety of situations and contexts. It is true that some users speculate on the price of bitcoin, but this is by no means its only application. Examples of bitcoin in use include:

• As a medium to facilitate domestic and international commerce for independent merchants
• By international charitable organisations such as the Human Rights Foundation, the Nigerian Feminist Coalition and Doctors Without Borders
• For donations to political dissidents under authoritarian regimes, to avoid censorship or confiscation
• As an investable asset by individuals, corporations and institutions.