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Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a decentralized online payment system and the name of a digital currency. Payments by Bitcoin are encrypted. It is possible to send and receive Bitcoin without giving any personally identifying information.

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All Content on this topic

Elon Musk | CEO | SpaceX und Tesla

Tweets from Musk send price of Dogecoin soaring

Prices of Dogecoin rose by 50% less than 24 hours after world's richest man tweeted a meme about the cryptocurrency.
Digital WorldFebruary 4, 2021
A Bitcoin coin

Will Bitcoin become 'millennial gold'?

Millennial interest in Bitcoin could make the cryptocurrency the gold of the future, analysts have said.
BusinessJanuary 8, 2021
A gold Bitcoin

Bitcoin soars past $20,000

Bitcoin has been on a tear this year, but is it primed for another bust? The crypto aficionados have other ideas.
BusinessDecember 16, 2020
Cubans in front of a Western Union store in Havana waiting to cash remittances from the United States

Digital startups in Cuba dodge US sanctions

A recent US ban on dollar remittances to Cuba is forcing locals to go digital for keeping curcial funds flowing in.
BusinessDecember 2, 2020
A generic picture showing Facebook's logo on a smartphone next to a imaginary digital coin

Digital currency: a lexicon

From blockchain to bitcoin to Libra and beyond, DW breaks down who's who in the world of digital currencies.
BusinessOctober 15, 2020
A stack of two-euro coins

The euro prepares for a digital makeover

The European Central Bank has announced plans to develop an electronic form of Europe's most used currency.
BusinessOctober 9, 2020
A visual representation of the digital Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin

Africa's quiet cryptocurrency revolution

Virtual currency offers many advantages for Africa's young, tech-savvy population.
TechnologyOctober 8, 2020
John McAfee on his yacht in 2019

Founder of anti-virus giant McAfee arrested in Barcelona

Police said they arrested John McAfee as he was about to board a flight to Istanbul. The US wants him for tax evasion.
Law and JusticeOctober 6, 2020
A bitcoin logo imposed over a Chinese flag

China leads in race for digital currency

China's central bank is making steady progress toward launching the world's first major sovereign digital currency.
BusinessOctober 5, 2020
DW's Kate Ferguson

The truth about digital currencies

Central banks are preempting changing consumer behavior by preparing to launch digital currencies.
BusinessAugust 28, 2020
Symbolbild - Twitter Logo auf Handydisplay

Twitter says large-scale hack due to 'phone spear-phishing'

Hackers called Twitter employees on the phone and tricked them into giving away private information like passwords.
SocietyJuly 31, 2020
The Twitter logo on a smartphone

Twitter says hackers saw direct messages of 36 accounts

One of the accounts accessed by the hackers belonged to an elected official in the Netherlands.
BusinessJuly 23, 2020
Twitter Logo displayed on a phone screen

Twitter hack targets high-profile accounts

US politician Joe Biden, Microsoft's Bill Gates and tech giants Apple and Uber were among the victims of the hack.
TechnologyJuly 16, 2020
The Telegram messenger app

Telegram gets the message

The go-to social media platform for neo-Nazis has fallen foul of US financial authorities.
BusinessDecember 24, 2019
Heckler & Koch submachine gun MP5 (file photo)

Nazi memorabilia and weapons collector sentenced

The man had spent over a decade in near-complete isolation from the outside world.
CrimeNovember 28, 2019
Boehme Henrik Kommentarbild App

Libra and the power of money

Henrik Böhme
Ever since Facebook started pursuing its own currency, financial authorities in the Western world have been nervous.
BusinessOctober 25, 2019
A silhouette of a young girl

Hundreds arrested in dark web child porn investigation

An international investigation to uncover people buying child porn on the dark web has led to 337 arrests.
CrimeOctober 16, 2019
external

Blockchain is here to stay

Immutable Insight CEO Katharina Gehra tells DW that lawmakers should realize potential of cryptocurrencies.
BusinessSeptember 25, 201903:19 min
Facebook's cryptocurrency Libra

Facebook's Libra faces EU antitrust scrutiny

Facebook's plan has been met with intense skepticism, not only from data protection activists, but also from regulators.
TechnologyAugust 21, 2019
Facebook's Libra logo

Are the days of unregulated cryptocurrencies numbered?

The G7 ministers said this week they want to clamp down on cryptocurrencies like Facebook's Libra.
BusinessJuly 19, 2019
MADE in Germany Banking

Cryptocurrencies and social change

Could cryptocurrencies help people in the Philippines become more financially independent?
BusinessJuly 16, 201904:40 min
external

Do you know what blockchain is?

Will blockchain really change financial services, make supply chains transparent and our society democratic?
BusinessDecember 18, 201801:04 min
Artist Luis Buenaventura

The art of cryptocurrency

Self-described 'crypto artist' Luis Buenaventura shows how he created his artwork 'Supper at the Bitcoin Moonbase.'
BusinessDecember 18, 201801:43 min
Miguel Cuneta, founder of Satoshi Citadel Industries

The Dream of New Money — Founders' Valley (3/5)

Startups in the Philippines are helping lead the charge on cryptocurrencies - disrupting the old monetary structures.
SocietyDecember 12, 201826:04 min
04.2015 DW Business Sendungslogo

DW Business – Europe & America

White House says China trade deal 'good possibility' - Double burden for China's coal communities
BusinessNovember 27, 201811:19 min
external

Blockchain technology fuels Bitcoin

Blockchain is the technology behind Bitcoin. Expert Thomas Schouten explains the full potential of Blockchain.
BusinessNovember 2, 201804:08 min
external

Blockchain to live on despite bitcoin bubble

Bitcoin's spectacular rise may be short-lived, but the potential of the blockchain technology hasn't faded
BusinessOctober 31, 201803:25 min
Symbolic description of blockchain technology used by Bitcoin

Bitcoin meltdown or rebirth?

The financial world is still split down the middle over the future of the virtual currency.
BusinessOctober 31, 2018
Berlin Logo of Longhash Crytpo Festival

Berlin comes of age as blockchain mecca

The German capital is fast becoming a major center for the development of cryptocurrency systems.
BusinessOctober 28, 2018
Made in Germany 25.09.2018 Krypto

What is a cryptocurrency?

There are almost 2,000 of them nowadays. How do they work?
BusinessSeptember 26, 201801:56 min
Made in Germany 25.09.2018 Hyde

Bitcoin - bastion or bubble?

Bitcoin aimed to revolutionize the banking system. What, if anything, has it achieved?
BusinessSeptember 26, 201803:55 min
DW Made in Germany Sendungslogo englisch

New currencies -- old problems?

What are cryptocurrencies, what is distributed-ledger technology? Are they for real?
BusinessSeptember 26, 201826:04 min
MADE Tacheles Design Englisch

Face-to-Face: Cryptocurrency pro and contra

A senior banker calls cryptocurrencies 'alchemy'. An investor has made millions with them. A debate.
BusinessSeptember 25, 201803:38 min
A pair of dice and some Bitcoins

Can cryptocurrencies recover their fortunes?

A further drop in the value of Bitcoin and other digital currencies has recently left investors nursing heavy losses.
BusinessAugust 21, 2018
BdT - Mond von Frankfurt aus gesehen

The new gold rush

We live on a planet of finite resources but our demand for new consumer products and technologies keeps growing. That's driving a race to extract materials from ever-more remote corners of the Earth – and beyond.
Nature and EnvironmentJune 14, 201829:59 min
Symbolbild Bitcoin

Bitcoin's carbon footprint

For a currency that only exists in the virtual world, bitcoin could be surprisingly damaging to our real world. DW asked bitcoin expert David Malone to unpick claims that the cryptocurrency is consuming as much energy as a small country.
Nature and EnvironmentJune 14, 201809:16 min
Symbolbild Blockchain

Blockchain for climate action

Blockchain can trace supply chains and emissions cuts, enable green energy trading and convert plastic waste into cash.
Nature and EnvironmentMay 8, 2018
DW Sendung Made in Germany IOTA

Yet another cryptocurrency

IOTA is a cryptocurrency that is attracting a lot of interest.
BusinessMay 8, 201804:57 min
Internetcafé in Hanoi, Vietnam

Vietnam crypto scam prompts crackdown

Vietnam has launched an investigation into a multi-million-dollar cryptocurrency scam, ordering a crackdown on trading.
BusinessApril 12, 2018
A view of Bitcoin physical coins. Futures on Bitcoins increased by more than 20% after their American debut on the Chicago Cboe Futures Exchange.

Race for first blockchain phone heats up

Apple Inc supplier Foxconn has agreed to manufacture a mass-market blockchain phone from startup Sirin Labs.
BusinessApril 10, 2018
Blue screen with the inscription "blockchain"

Blockchain: Energy transition's next revolution

The technology that made bitcoin possible could solve key challenges of a renewables-based energy system.
Nature and EnvironmentMarch 29, 2018
Gold bars on show in Berlin

Trading gold with Bitcoin's blockchain tech

Several financial groups are attempting to bring more transparency and security to the trading of precious metals.
BusinessMarch 28, 2018
An aerial view of Kwajalein Atoll

Marshall Islands plans legal tender crypto coin

As cryptocurrencies become increasingly mainstream, a small island nation will launch the first digital legal tender.
BusinessMarch 3, 2018
The Bitcoin cryptocurrency peaked at around $18,000 in late 2017

Bitcoin 'creator' slammed with $5 billion lawsuit

The family of a dead IT programmer has filed a $5 billion lawsuit against the man who claimed to have invented Bitcoin.
BusinessFebruary 28, 2018
04.2015 DW Business Sendungslogo

DW Business – Europe & Africa

Bitcoin rises back above $10,000 – Leaving money matters to the machines
BusinessFebruary 23, 201811:16 min
Symbolbild Bitcoin rutscht ab

Bitcoin: charting the chaos

As the cryptocurrency's value continues to fall, we chart its dramatic journey to date.
BusinessFebruary 23, 2018
Bitcoin

Japanese still snapping up cryptocurrencies

Consumers, retailers and the Japanese government are all committed to the widespread adoption of virtual currencies.
BusinessFebruary 16, 2018
Ripple effect

Bitcoin and the Ripple effect

Bitcoin is no doubt the best-known virtual currency around. Strong rivals such as Ripple deserve attention too though.
BusinessFebruary 9, 2018
04.2015 DW Business Sendungslogo

DW Business – Europe & America

New German coalition could soften austerity - UK retailer Tesco faces huge equal pay lawsuit - Warm bitcoin welcome from Iceland
BusinessFebruary 7, 201811:16 min
DW Sendung Fokus Europa Island Bitcoins

Iceland's Bitcoin boom

Cold Iceland offers favorable conditions for Bitcoin mining and hopes to attract more producers in the future.
BusinessFebruary 7, 201801:52 min