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EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – Bitcoin, crypto, and block-chain are terms we’re hearing more and more of these days from both fans and skeptics alike.
First News at Nine’s Phoebe Murray takes a closer look at crypto-currency as an area business embraces bitcoin’s growing popularity.
’Bitcoin,’ ‘crypto’ and ‘blockchain’ are terms we’re hearing more and more of these days from both fans and skeptics alike.
A form of payment that can be exchanged online for goods and services.
“What it is, is a complicated question,” starts Thomas Kemp.
Digital currency, where the value is speculative.
“People are purchasing it on the idea that more people will want to purchase it in the future and therefore its price will go up.”
Thomas Kemp is the economics department chair at UW Eau Claire.
He says accessibility is the key of any currency, but it’s hard to pin down reasons why cryptocurrencies rise in price.
“One of the big selling points of digital currency is their limited track ability,” Kemp says. “Economically speaking there is no real reason why it should have any real value at all right, but yet it does.”
Cryptocurrencies work using a technology called blockchain, allowing Bitcoin and other crypto to operate without the need for a central authority, a substitute the U.S. dollar.
Bjorkstrand Metal Roofing in New Auburn is looking to cash in on the currency’s rising popularity by offering potential clients a discount for paying in various crypto.
“If people want to get a roof, we go ahead and say this is how much you’re going to pay for the roof but if you want to save $300 we’ll let you go into cryptocurrency and almost no one knows what’s going on in cryptocurrencies just yet,” says owner Bruce Bjorkstrand.
An offer that has been trafficking intrigue.
“We’ve got some that say ‘I’ll have my son help me,’ I say well, I can help you or I can have people help you…. if you want to use our token I’ll give you even more money,” Bjorkstrand explains.
Building on a future of unknown risks, one blockchain at a time.
Phoebe Murray First News at Nine.
Bitcoin began in 2008 and reached all-time highs in early 2021 with more companies, including PayPal and Xbox, accepting bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as payment.
You can even find two, bitcoin ATM’s in Eau Claire.