Bitcoin price continues to rise

As of July 13, the price of Bitcoin rose from 1,432 yuan to 1,967 yuan in one month, and the surge attracted many young Bitcoin investors to enter the market. The reporter interviewed several investment experts on whether Bitcoin investment is legal and safe. Most experts said: The Bitcoin market lacks supervision from relevant departments, and the risks are relatively high, so investors should be particularly careful.

Rising prices spark investment boom

In the past month, the price of Bitcoin has soared, which has driven many Bitcoin investors crazy.

Qin Fangyun, a citizen of Nanning, said that he sold his stocks and bought Bitcoin in May, "and now has a 30% profit."

"The recent possibility of Greece's default and exit from the European Union will also bring a wave of market conditions for Bitcoin," said investor Chen Laijun.

Different from their investment methods, Xiao Shao, who works in a public institution, said that he owns three "mining machines". "The market has been good recently, so I quickly sold all the bitcoins I mined before and now, and made some money."

It is reported that Bitcoin is a special currency, also known as electronic currency. It is a man-made electronic currency invented by Satoshi Nakamoto. This currency does not need to be issued by a central bank or a third-party institution in the real world, nor does it need to be cleared through a specific network. It can currently be exchanged for currencies of many countries.

Lack of supervision leads to frequent violations of laws and regulations

Bitcoin investment is more likely to be favored by young investors. However, there has always been a lot of controversy about it internationally. So, as a domestic investor, is it safe to invest in Bitcoin? The reporter interviewed several experts on this issue. Most experts said: Bitcoin is still lacking in supervision in China, and illegal and irregular phenomena are frequent, so investors need to be particularly careful.

There are two ways to invest in Bitcoin. One is to buy a "mining machine" to mine. A "mining machine" is actually similar to a computer host, but after being modified, the computing power is much stronger. As long as you plug in the Internet cable and power supply and configure the account information, you can automatically "mine" - produce Bitcoin.

However, as time goes by, more and more people are engaged in "mining", the number of bitcoins is also increasing, and "mining" is becoming more and more difficult. Xiao Shao told reporters: "The difficulty of bitcoin mining will gradually increase, about 30% every 13 days, and the bitcoin income generated by a mining machine will gradually decrease. When the bitcoins it mines are not enough to pay for the electricity it consumes, it will reach the end of its life. This cycle is about four months."

Unlike computers, Bitcoin mining machines can only mine and cannot do any other work. At this time, the mining machines will become a useless pile of scrap metal. "Mining machines used to be expensive, about 36,000 yuan per unit, and it was difficult to recover the cost."

Another way to invest is to trade and invest on Bitcoin trading websites, but there are also risks in trading on websites. It is reported that virtual currencies are not regulated, have no guarantees, and are not legally enforceable. Once they are exchanged with real currencies or used as a means of payment, they will cause financial risks, and there are many money laundering tricks. "It is very easy to set up a Bitcoin trading platform. Just build a website. Some small platforms often change trading rules or even run away." said a person with many years of Bitcoin investment experience.

In addition, virtual currencies are highly speculative and bring financial risks to holders. Gu Yunjun of Yunjun Financial Studio said: "This is still a gray area in my country. Currently, no institution can provide security guarantees for the storage space for virtual currencies. Once a cyber attack occurs, virtual currency holders will face losses. In addition, no institution can guarantee the convertibility between virtual currencies and real currencies. Once real currencies are converted into virtual currencies, they cannot be converted back into real currencies, and investors will suffer losses."

At the same time, trading platforms for virtual currencies to exchange for real currencies have not been authorized by relevant Chinese institutions, nor do they need to assume anti-money laundering obligations, which provides a breeding ground for money laundering crimes. A Bitcoin website manager told reporters: "Due to the anonymity of cyberspace transactions, virtual currencies can easily escape supervision as a means of payment, become a means of money laundering, and even be used by terrorist organizations."