Lhe bitcoin, at the time of writing, or rather at the second we consult its price, is showing a slight decline. It fell back below the symbolic bar of 100,000 dollars (94,500 euros), crossed on December 5 a little before 3 a.m. universal time. But perhaps it will have broken a ceiling again when this article is read, as cryptocurrency is so volatile and speculative.
On June 17, 2011, when Laurent Checola described it for the first time in The World, Bitcoin has just exceeded $20. The currency launched in 2009 by a certain Satoshi Nakamoto, whose real identity is still not known, is still only a geek’s toy. The mysterious inventor defines his creation as “a peer-to-peer electronic payment model, allowing money to be sent directly from one person to another, without going through a financial institution.”
Laurent Checola recalls that multiple attempts at cryptocurrency had preceded bitcoin. And failed. A specialist contacted by The World also questions the sustainability of such a discovery, as virtual as it is libertarian, freeing itself from financial institutions and state guarantees. Question still pending, almost fourteen years later, despite the stated support of Donald Trump, elected President of the United States, and Elon Musk, the richest man in the world.
“Nothing very impressive”
The 1is December 2012, while the price plunged“a high of 30 dollars” At only around ten dollars, David Larousserie and the evening daily’s infographics department are working to explain to uninitiated blockchains how a bitcoin token works.
The article is educationally titled: “Pay and sell without banks”. “Peer-to-peer technology”, “dual-key encryption”, “file hashing”, “digital fingerprint” : not easy and damn courageous to explain all that to philistines… The effort is all the more laudable and even sacrificial as the future of bitcoin is still in doubt. The network is limited to 15,000 computers. “About a thousand websites accept bitcoins as donations or as payment. (…) Nothing very impressive, compared to global exchanges in real money or financial products,” then recognizes David Larousserie.
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