While opinion remains divided about the future of Bitcoin, analysts believe that cyber currency is here to stay, whether it is through the experimental Bitcoin exchange or a future clone.<\/p>\n
The digital currency, which enables instant payments to anyone across the globe, has seen rather wild fluctuations in recent weeks as analysts, regulators and investors grapple with its relevancy.<\/p>\n
Bitcoin has seen highs exceeding $1,000, but quickly fell back to $500 before moving to a level at around $700.<\/p>\n
Last week, the People’s Bank of China announced it was barring the country’s banks from dealing in Bitcoins.<\/p>\n
However, in the US, Bank of America became the first top local financial institution to cover Bitcoin, in a note to clients, when analyst David Woo estimated a maximum fair value of $1,300 and a maximum market capitalisation of $15 billion.<\/p>\n
\u201cBitcoin to me is a Canary in the Coal Mine of what we are going to face over the next ten years, or 20 years, which is cyber currency,\u201d said Bloomberg political analyst Matthew Dowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd whether nor not Bitcoin lasts\u2026cyber currency is here to stay, and somebody is going to be the next Bitcoin and the next Bitcoin, and the next Bitcoin,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said that the critical mass is going to come out into the open on cyber currency, \u201cthere is no going back at that point, the horse is out the barn\u201d.<\/p>\n
The analyst noted that while government gets their share of the monetary take currently – that doesn\u2019t happen with Bitcoin. Governments, he said, are going to have to get into bed with cyber currency at some point.<\/p>\n
Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said that Bitcoin prices were unsustainably high, Bloomberg reported.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a bubble,\u201d Mr Greenspan said in a Bloomberg TV interview. Bitcoin \u201chas to have intrinsic value\u2026you have to really stretch your imagination to infer what the intrinsic value of Bitcoin is. I haven\u2019t been able to do it. Maybe somebody else can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bitcoin South Africa appeal<\/b><\/p>\n
A South African student made headlines last week when he used Bitcoin to pay tuition towards an online MBA Degree at the University of Nicosia.<\/p>\n
On November 27, Francois Rossouw, a new UNic student in South Africa, made a payment of 1 BTC, the equivalent of EUR 670 ($910), toward tuition for an online Master of Business Administration degree.<\/p>\n
“I am honored to be a part of this historical occasion. Being able to pay for a world-class tertiary education with Bitcoin was a dream of many but few believed that it would become a reality so soon,” said Rossouw.<\/p>\n
In addition to accepting Bitcoin, UNic is also launching the first Master of Science Degree in Digital Currency in Spring 2014.<\/p>\n
According to CoinMap<\/a>, a few South African companies have already started to accept Bitcoin, predominantly in the Western Cape.<\/p>\n They include a paintball shop, a taxi service,\u00a0Fire & Ice – Fire dancers Cape Town,\u00a0\u00a0an internet marketing company, and a tax consultancy.<\/p>\n China bans bitcoin trading<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n US regulator mulls Bitcoin rules<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Bitcoin volatility due to growing pains: backer<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Bitcoin economics: a primer on a volatile currency<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nMore on Bitcoin<\/h3>\n