Summary
The new economy based on bitcoins, the computer-generated crypto-currency, is the subject for discussion. What can you buy with them and as the market fluctuates wildly, can investors hold their nerve? The programme will look at how the bitcoin craze began and whether the world really does need another currency. Evan Davis's guests are from new companies hoping to cash in - one trades bitcoins, another stores them and the third enables you to spend them online.
Contributors :
Marc Warne, Bittylicious Nicolas Cary, Blockchain Moe Levin, Bitpay
Producer : Rosamund Jones.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Thank you for downloading this program. In this edition of the bottom line, Evan Davis and |
| 0:04.4 | guests discuss the economy surrounding Bitcoins, the computer-generated cryptocurrency. |
| 0:10.7 | Hello and welcome to the program. We are taking on the topic of Bitcoins today. You've probably |
| 0:17.0 | heard the name. You probably never handled one. But it is a very clever currency. |
| 0:21.7 | A cryptocurrency, it is usually called. It is computer generated and it was launched in 2008. |
| 0:28.5 | Today, a Bitcoin is worth about £300 or £400. The currency has its own ecosystem. |
| 0:34.5 | And with me are three people running businesses within it. |
| 0:39.4 | Before we find out more about it, |
| 0:44.7 | let me briefly introduce my guests and then we'll sort out the mechanics of Bitcoin. |
| 0:49.9 | First, Nicholas Carey, chief executive of blockchain. Nick, just tell us a little bit about your company where it is, how many people work for it? We have about 20 employees. The entire company |
| 0:54.8 | is running 100% on Bitcoin. We do not have a corporate bank account. Our employees are paid |
| 0:59.6 | in Bitcoin. Everyone travels on Bitcoin and we are growing very, very quickly. We have about |
| 1:05.3 | 1.7 million users today. Just in this last year, we've added over 500,000 new users. |
| 1:10.2 | And you're based in York. Yeah. So I currently live in York, but in the last year, we've added over 500,000 new users. And you're based in York. |
| 1:11.7 | Yeah. So I currently live in York, but in the last four months, I have traveled over 500,000 miles |
| 1:16.5 | across the planet in meeting people that are interested in Bitcoin and advocating on behalf of |
| 1:20.7 | the industry. So I don't spend much time in any one place. On airline tickets paid for by |
| 1:25.1 | Bitcoin. Correct. Well, next is Mo Levin, director of European business development of a company called BitPay. And how old is BitPay mode? BitPay is three and a half years old. Right. And how big a company is that? How significant? Currently, we're about 40 people. Based in... Based in San Francisco, New York, Amsterdam, and Atlanta where the headquarters are. |
| 1:45.1 | And you're based in Amsterdam yourself? |
| 1:46.6 | I'm based in Amsterdam. |
| 1:47.7 | But you're Canadian? |
| 1:48.5 | Yes. |
... |
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