Bitcoin is a fully virtual currency that has the ability to transcend national borders and online payment portals, such as PayPal, like no other currency can. Last year, $150 million could have bought you every Bitcoin in circulation. Today, the global supply of Bitcoin is estimated at $10 billion (Foley 1). As the value of coins has increased, the conflict between those who are happy with the current financial system and those who are not has increased. In the battle for the future of the global financial system, there are two teams. banks take on libertarian businessmen and technologists. I am on the side of the technologists; I believe Bitcoin will become an even more important part of the financial system. Bitcoin differs from traditional financial systems in the system it uses to verify transactions. In order to verify user transactions, each Bitcoin transfer is added to the blockchain. When funds are sent to another Bitcoin user, the transaction is blocked with other recent Bitcoin transactions and then locked by a complex mathematical equation. Unverified transactions then remain in custody while high-performance computers, called nodes or miners, work to solve the equation locking the group of transactions. Once the equation is solved, the transactions are released from escrow as verified transactions, the miner who successfully solves the equation receives a reward of 25 bitcoins, and the solved block of transactions is added to the blockchain, a virtual history book of every bitcoin transaction that ever took place (Bryans 447). For coin supporters, this means you can completely avoid the global banking system, money changers buying goods worldwide, and online deposit service...... middle of paper... ...'to protect you against the risk of Bitcoin Review'"]. People's Bank of China. People's Bank of China, December 3, 2013. Web. April 2, 2014.20131205153156832222251_.html>. Yuzhe, Zhang and Li Xiaoxiao. "The PBOC Rule Means Bitcoin Websites in China Must Shut Down, Expert Says. "Caxian.com. Np, March 27, 2014. Web. April 2, 2014.2014-03-27/100657518.html>. Wiley, Robe. "Warren Buffet: "stay away from Bitcoin, it's a mirage." Business Insider. Np, March 14, 2014. Web. April 5, 2014. warren-buffett-bitcoin-is-a-mirage-2014-3>. McMillan, Robert. “The Inside Story of Mt.Gox, Bitcoins $450,000 Disaster.” Wired. Wired, March 3, 2014. Web. April 8. 2014. .