NPR logo NPR
Stories About

bitcoin
Bitcoin isn't just for shady business — it can also buy you some delicious goodness. The Old Fitzroy pub in Sydney is one of many food and drink businesses beginning to accept bitcoins as a valid method of payment.

Bitcoin isn't just for shady business — it can also buy you some delicious goodness. The Old Fitzroy pub in Sydney is one of many food and drink businesses beginning to accept bitcoins as a valid method of payment. Cameron Spencer/Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

The Salt

Order Up! Food Businesses Find An Appetite For Bitcoin

From Subway to food trucks, diners have a growing number of options for satisfying their hunger with bitcoins. For food vendors, the virtual currency offers substantial financial benefits — and risks.

Cameron (left) and Tyler Winklevoss testified Wednesday at a hearing about virtual currencies held by the New York Department of Financial Services.

Cameron (left) and Tyler Winklevoss testified Wednesday at a hearing about virtual currencies held by the New York Department of Financial Services. Craig Ruttle/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Craig Ruttle/AP

All Tech Considered

New York Looks To Bring Bitcoin Out Of The Shadows WNYC

Bitcoin has been tied to the dark side of the Internet, where it's been linked to drug trafficking. But New York's financial regulators say they want to foster innovation and are looking to legitimize the virtual currency by licensing it.

Listen Loading… 4:02
The world's first Bitcoin ATM opened at a Canadian coffee shop in Vancouver last year. But, Bitcoin use is far from mainstream at the moment.

The world's first Bitcoin ATM opened at a Canadian coffee shop in Vancouver last year. But, Bitcoin use is far from mainstream at the moment. David Ryder/Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption David Ryder/Getty Images

All Tech Considered

How Virtual Currency Could Make It Easier To Move Money

It isn't just Bitcoin. You can now choose from more than 70 virtual currencies, and people are using them partly because it could be a free way of transferring money online. Given more time and widespread use, that could change the playing field for companies like Western Union and banks.

A Welsh man has realized that he threw out a stash of Bitcoins along with an old computer hard drive. At an exchange rate hit today, they would be worth around $7.5 million. Here, a photo of tokens representing Bitcoins.

A Welsh man has realized that he threw out a stash of Bitcoins along with an old computer hard drive. At an exchange rate hit today, they would be worth around $7.5 million. Here, a photo of tokens representing Bitcoins. Rick Bowmer/ASP hide caption

itoggle caption Rick Bowmer/ASP

The Two-Way

Man Laments Loss Of Thousands Of Bitcoins, As Value Hits $1,000

"You know when you put something in the bin, and in your head, say to yourself 'that's a bad idea'? I really did have that," James Howells says. And boy, was his intuition right: Howells tossed a hard drive that held millions of dollars' worth of Bitcoins, the currency whose value has skyrocketed this year.

Economists say small-business owners — especially farmers dealing in high volume and low profit margins — are more likely to accept a volatile currency like Bitcoin than bigger businesses.

Economists say small-business owners — especially farmers dealing in high volume and low profit margins — are more likely to accept a volatile currency like Bitcoin than bigger businesses. Allen Sheffield/Flickr hide caption

itoggle caption Allen Sheffield/Flickr

The Salt

Have Bitcoin To Burn? Next Stop Could Be The Farm

There aren't many businesses accepting Bitcoin just yet, so what's bringing together the futuristic currency with the age-old profession of farming? Some say credit card fees play a big role.

A screen grab from a December 2012 StoryCorps interview with Ross Ulbricht, the alleged mastermind of the online marketplace known as Silk Road.

A screen grab from a December 2012 StoryCorps interview with Ross Ulbricht, the alleged mastermind of the online marketplace known as Silk Road. YouTube hide caption

itoggle caption YouTube

All Tech Considered

The Man Behind The Shadowy Illicit Drug Market, Silk Road

Federal agents arrested Ross Ulbricht, 29, known as "Dread Pirate Roberts," and took $3.6 million in Bitcoin. They're calling it the largest seizure of the popular digital currency in history.

Listen Loading… 3:27
A chart shows the sharp rise of bitcoin against the U.S. dollar in the past five days. Only two months after exchange rates put a single bitcoin's value at around $20, it surpassed $200 Tuesday.

A chart shows the sharp rise of bitcoin against the U.S. dollar in the past five days. Only two months after exchange rates put a single bitcoin's value at around $20, it surpassed $200 Tuesday. Bitcoin Charts hide caption

itoggle caption Bitcoin Charts

The Two-Way

Bitcoin Surpasses $200 Mark, Continuing 'Epic' Rise

Bitcoin, the digital currency that trades outside the control of central banks and international borders, reached new heights Tuesday, surpassing the $200 mark for the first time. That level comes just five days after bitcoin approached $150, a development that Mt.Gox, the largest exchange service for the currency, deemed to be "epic."

An image depicts the SatoshiDice website, which exclusively uses Bitcoin, not dollars, for gambling.

An image depicts the SatoshiDice website, which exclusively uses Bitcoin, not dollars, for gambling. NPR hide caption

itoggle caption NPR

All Tech Considered

Is Online Gambling Legal If Bitcoins, Not Dollars, Are At Stake?

With no government ties, Bitcoin is used to buy everything from blogging services to Brooklyn-made cupcakes. Theoretically, millions of dollars are being kept in the digital currency. And it's increasingly being used by specialized websites to offer online gambling. But is Bitcoin gambling legal?

Listen Loading… 3:32