bitcoin

Last week my coworker told me about a new alternative online currency called bitcoin.

Image: bitcoin.org

I thought it wasn't very special since a lot of companies/websites come up with their point/coin/credit/etc. system in which users pay USD money for the "currency". Xbox points, D&B tokens, istockphoto credit, gift cards, frequent flyer miles or credit card reward point anyone? But then he told me there was an exchange rate that allowed transfer both ways.

I don't completely understand it still. How do you have an exchange rate with no central regulating authority? But then again, paper money is no longer tied to the gold standard and according to TAL, "money is fiction".

Check it out here: http://www.bitcoin.org/

FYI: Apparently, it's doing rather well.