A.STAR FUTURISTIC

What is Bitcoin? Bitcoin arrived on the scene in 2009. The digital currency is created and held electronically. Its value stems partly from the fact that it's decentralized; no single institution or government controls the network. It was developed based on a proposal from a software developer called Satoshi Nakamoto, according to CoinDesk, which tracks cryptocurrency prices and reports on events in the crypto space. Low transaction costs are another feature along with instantaneous transfers. Perhaps its biggest attraction is that its supply can't be increased or decreased at the whim of a controlling entity. Similar to gold and other precious metals, Bitcoins can be "mined," but it's done by using computing power in a distributed network. And like gold, Bitcoin supply is limited. And it's headed toward terminal creation. Bitcoin rules state that only 21 million Bitcoins can ever be created, though the coins can be split into smaller parts. Tha...

BITCOIN  broke above the $12,000 mark Wednesday morning Asia-time, as the cryptocurrency continued its march higher. As of 11:33 a.m. SIN/HK, the digital token was selling for $12,198.57, according to industry site CoinDesk. The asset began 2017 at less than $1,000 per token, but it has been on an absolute tear in recent months: It crossed $5,000 in October and touched above $11,000 for the first time less than two months later, according to CoinDesk data. With Wednesday morning's spike, the cryptocurrency now has a total market value of about $203 billion — more than twice Goldman Sachs' market cap. All of the digital asset's explosive growth has come against a backdrop of steady criticism from many financial luminaries. For one, Stephen Roach, Yale University senior fellow and the former Asia chairman and chief economist at investment bank Morgan Stanley,  told CNBC on Tuesday  that he was deeply skeptical of investing in bitcoin. "This is a toxic co...