Bank of America recently said in a report that Bitcoin could become 'a major means of payment for e-commerce,' and as an avid observer of digital currencies, I believe this to be a major step toward globalized finance.The recent controversy surrounding Bitcoin, however, lies within the fact that 90 percent of Bitcoin buyers are market speculators, according to Nicholas Colas of the ConvergEx group.While Bitcoin is an ideal proof of concept for what digital currencies might look like in the future, I think entrepreneurs should be thinking big picture.The explosive popularity -- and price -- of Bitcoin is temporary, but understanding the brass tacks value behind Bitcoin and its upstart competitors are where you'll find the next-level thinking that will shape the future.The Good: Digital currency needs a champion.The most exciting element of Bitcoin -- and most dangerous for speculators -- is that technology is iterative and Bitcoin is only the first wave.While there is a hard cap of 21 million Bitcoins available to be mined, the number of routes digital currency can take are infinite.

Alternative cryptocurrencies such as Litecoin, Peercoin and Namecoin have been gaining traction by offering users separate systems of economic growth and even simulating inflation.A mainstream competitor is already in the works, and the Let's Talk Bitcoin blog recently uncovered a patent filed by JPMorgan Chase to develop a solution to the primary issue of international online money transfers that independently produced digital currencies could potentially solve.Related: Why Bitcoin Is Better Than Other Currencies Bitcoin, crypto capitalist or not, revealed a gaping hole in the online marketplace.While supporting Bitcoin may be a hassle for most mom and pop retailers, a stable digital currency could make buying stuff online easier as well as providing an alternative to Western Union fees to transfer money by simply sending their recipient a 'Chase Coin.'The Bad: After you've bought your Bitcoin, there isn't much that you can do with it.Bitcoin is a great idea.Publicizing it to people who may or may not fully understand the concept, however, is a big reason for its explosive success.

Instead of a separate form of currency, Bitcoin has become a sort of volatile gold for would-be investors.Bitcoin has managed to pick itself up from supposed 'crashes,' but that's not because of the inherent usefulness of the currency.In a Quora post, Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz said that while digital currency is a ripe pasture for experimentation, the Bitcoin craze is 'overhyped.'He goes on to cite a UC San Diego and George Mason University study that found that 60 percent of spent Bitcoins were exchanged through a Bitcoin-supported gambling service, Satoshi Dice.bitcoin is nonsenseDigital currency is neat.litecoin stock chartIt's only natural to want to buy some after hearing about it online, but the global demand for Bitcoin currently far outweighs its intended purpose.litecoin asic buy

Just as curious newbies make their first stop at Mount Gox to buy their coins, they notice the upward trajectory of the price graph and are enticed into the volatile world of Bitcoin speculation.Related: Coinbase Nets $25 Million in Largest Ever Bitcoin Fundraise The Ugly: With legitimacy comes oversight.The initial interest in Bitcoin was driven by crypto libertarians willing to invest their money and computer processing power into a decentralized, self-limiting system of currency.wiki litecoin minerThe price of Bitcoin has, ironically, grown as the currency moves further away from its fringe roots and into the public eye.bitcoin borsen vergleichThe harbinger of Bitcoin's arrival into the mainstream was a senate hearing that bumped the price of Bitcoin up to $750 on Nov.bitcoin ppt report

After creeping up to a peak of about $1,300, the People's Bank of China denounced Bitcoin, plummeting its price on Mount Gox to $700 the next day.The Chinese government cited both the volatility of the currency and the possibility for illiquidity for buyers in its statement.For the same reason, a finance professor at The Boston University School of Management has even claimed that Bitcoin could fall as far as 99 percent by June in a Washington Post interview.bitcoin plus service unavailableThe anarchistic glee that attracted early Bitcoin adopters missed the intrinsic inevitability of any digital currency: widespread use.bitcoin mining windows 7 nvidiaIs the current price of Bitcoin the result of a bubble?ethereum time per blockYes, but the bubble was formed around a hole in the market that digital currencies will soon fill.

While I wouldn't suggest exchanging your money for Bitcoin, I'd definitely urge any entrepreneur to make the time investment and research cryptocurrencies over the coming months.The next big tech disruption could rethink how we buy stuff online, who knows about it and whether a bank will need to keep track of your finances.Related: SecondMarket CEO: Wall Street Will Put 'Hundreds of Millions' Into BitcoinPhysical bitcoins have been around for years, but they are anything but mainstream and there are very few companies involved in this fledgling industry.Some try to appeal to consumers through quality and the use of precious metals, others offer good designs at relatively low prices, while some offer neither.The market for physical coins is limited and this is a niche for collectors and diehard enthusiasts.Rather than being truly practical, physical bitcoins are usually marketed as conversation pieces, limited series collectibles or 'geek gifts'.The limited size of the industry is a problem, as a number of firms have already gone out of business, while others never even started shipping their products.

Many physical bitcoins are limited series affairs, so after a few hundred are produced and sold they simply vanish from the market.If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then, while there are some truly spectacular designs, others may not impress most users.Fraud is another concern, as cases of fake coin sales on online auction sites have been reported in the past, so please exercise caution and conduct extensive research before placing an order.Below are 10 physical bitcoins on the market.We will start with a familiar face and a familiar coin: Mike Caldwell and his Casascius coin.Caldwell started minting his coins a couple of years ago, but late last year he was banned from selling pre-funded coins.The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) classified his activities as 'money transmitting' and Caldwell was forced to start selling empty coins.Sales resumed earlier this year and Casascius is currently listing three coins, along with a gold-plated savings bar.However, none of them are priced and it is unclear whether or not Casascius simply ran out of stock or stopped selling them directly altogether.

In addition to these silver, brass and gold-plated products, Casascius also sells aluminium promo coins.A bag of 500 costs 0.39 BTC.Alitin Mint offers two premium coins, with a third design on the way.The first two coins commemorate economic pioneer Adam Smith and French patron saint Joan of Arc.They are pure silver coins and weigh two ounces.Both coins were designed by presidential sculptor John B Andelin.Only 600 coins of each series were struck and the pricing reflects the exclusivity.The Adam Smith coin is priced at 2.92 BTC and it ships with 2 BTC, while the Joan of Arc coin costs 1.45 BTC and comes with one embedded bitcoin.Titan Bitcoin is going after the premium market with the priciest Titan One Gold coin priced at $2,279, but then again it contains 1 troy ounce of 24-karat gold and one bitcoin.The Titan One Silver is a one-ounce .999 silver coin and it costs $729, with one bitcoin on board.The company has some less expensive options too, with three more coins in triple-digit territory and denominations ranging from 0.5 BTC to 1 BTC.

In addition, there is the Titan Tenth coin, which is currently on sale for $96.It is a 12g nickel-silver alloy piece pre-funded to the tune of 0.1 BTC If you’re not willing to spend a small fortune on a novelty item and the Titan Tenth sounds like a good proposition, Cryptmint is also selling a $99 silver coin.This .999 silver coin measures 39mm in diameter and weighs in at 1 troy ounce.The company also sells copper coins at $42 apiece.Customers can choose from six different QR designs on the back.The coins ship without any bitcoin preloaded.Antana offers relatively affordable novelty coins and the mint has a healthy sense of humour.Each batch contains network statistic data for a period and a particular theme.Different batches have different names that should amuse most bitcoiners.There was the ‘Goodbye Mt Gox’ batch and the ‘Transaction Malleability’ batch, preceded by batches such as ‘Pump and Dump’ and ‘Race for ROI’.The coins sell for 0.02 BTC to 0.04 BTC and the full set of 20 Antana bitcoin statistic coins costs 0.41 BTC.

Although they are not physical coins with QR codes and holograms, they still make for an unusual bitcoin-themed product.Ravenbit is offering the Satoshi coin and the kit is priced at $25.The kit includes a coin, two security holograms, a pouch, display stand a few other goodies.The Satoshi coin is composed of 85% copper, has a 39mm diameter and is 3mm thick.The front features an outline of person filled out in binary code that converts to ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’.Each coin is individually numbered.Staying on the more frugal side of things, CoinedBits coins are priced at $14.99 for North American consumers or $19.99 for overseas orders.Like Antana coins, CoinedBits are novelty items with no bitcoin value and they are not physical wallets.The coins are 38mm in diameter, 3mm thick and weigh one ounce.The material is pure brass with 18-karat gold plating.Lealana offers a wide range of unfunded coins with prices ranging from 0.042 BTC to 0.325 BTC for the flagship gold-plated silver  Lealana 1 BTC coin.

A four-coin silver bitcoin set is available 0.891 BTC.The company also offers several litecoin designs.There were a number of physical bitcoin projects that never amounted to anything.Most are either defunct or delayed.Although they never got off the ground, some them had certain features that make them stand out from the crowd. blog earlier this summer.The coin weighs one standard ounce (rather than one troy ounce) and is made from 24-karat gold.The 1 BTC coin was apparently supposed to ship pre-funded.The current status of the project is unclear.Alderney, one of the British Channel Islands, considered launching a physical coin of its own.Plans for a physical coin were announced late last year, but appear to have been shelved for the time being.There is another way of getting your hands on a physical bitcoin – make one yourself.We are not suggesting that you set up a foundry and mint in your garage; a simple 3D printer will do the trick.There are a number of print-ready 3D designs out there and they are just a Google search away, usually on 3D print marketplaces like Shapeways.

The trouble with this approach is that most designs are relatively expensive, even before you include the cost of actually printing them.While it is relatively cheap to do a few plastic prints on semi-professional fused-filament printers, making a proper metal coin on an expensive laser-sintering printer tends to cost a lot.In any case, 3D printing is an alternative way of producing unique physical coins by tweaking existing designs or developing your own.One example of an affordable design that relies on nylon plastic with a matte finish is the Bitcoin Address Keeper by Ayame Deude.The 3D model costs €8.50 and, if you have access to a printer, the actual cost of printing a single coin should be low.3D printing fulfilment services are another option, but in many cases the cost of shipping a single coin would be higher than the cost of printing it.Disclaimer: This article should not be viewed as an endorsement of any of the companies mentioned.Please do your own extensive research before considering investing any funds in these products.