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One of the major concerns about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies was whether they would be considered legitimate forms of payment by businesses and other entities. Traditionally, financial institutions and retailers did not recognize Bitcoin. These past negatives are no longer true. Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) has launched Bitcoin futures with the ticker symbol XBT. Retailers such as NewEgg, Dell, Overstock, and TigerDirect accept bitcoins as a method of payment.

This article will discuss how Bitcoin has become a legitimate investment through the acceptance of financial institutions as a financial instrument and retailers as a means of payment. Additionally, it will help to explain what is ethereum and other cryptocurrencies available.

The announcement of the start of Bitcoin futures on the Cboe created a huge new demand for Bitcoin as many investors saw Bitcoin becoming a legitimate investment. For those not knowledgeable on futures contracts, a futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell a particular asset at a later date. Bitcoin futures on the Cboe mean that investors can make an investment on the future price of Bitcoin through a regulated exchange where Bitcoin must follow the regulations of trading.

Bitcoin is listed by the symbol XBT and allows an investor to obtain economic exposure to Bitcoin without a digital wallet. Even though the listing on Cboe is the largest step that led to Bitcoin becoming a legitimate financial instrument, there were additional intermediary steps that led to the listing. Forex brokers over the last few years have created platforms to trade Bitcoin. Some names of the forex brokers that have Bitcoin trading are FXTM, Plus500, and AVA Trade. These Forex brokers have regulations on them as well from regulators such as Central Bank of Ireland, IFSC, CySEC, and ASIC that shows Bitcoin as a legitimate investment.

One of the other major issues with Bitcoin was that bitcoins were not accepted as a means of payment due to legal concerns and other factors. Bitcoin has become an accepted means of payment for large companies such as OverStock and Dell. What is great about Bitcoin is that it is also accepted as a means of payment worldwide without having to pay fees such as a converting currency fee or a credit card fee. Bitcoin can be used to buy a flight in Latvia through AirBaltic and can also be used to buy coffee in the Czech Republic through the Prague espresso bar Bitcoin coffee. There are many examples of Bitcoin being used worldwide.

Even though Bitcoin has the highest market capitalization and was the first cryptocurrency, there are many other digital currencies that have been and are being developed that have great use. Litecoin and Ethereum are the two largest competitors to Bitcoin. Litecoin and Ethereum are considered to be generally faster and cheaper versions of Bitcoin. However, Litecoin and Ethereum do not even have close to the same levels of use as Bitcoin. There are other digital currencies that are in the process of being developed that have more particular uses.

For example, Zcash offers a lot of features for E-commerce and Siacoin offers a lot of features for cloud storage that are not available in Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum. The fact that there are so many new projects with real-world usage shows that digital currencies are here to stay and are a legitimate investment option.

Many investors believed that Bitcoin was just a fad product. Currently, the fact thatBitcoin value is surging and the currency is being used as a financial instrument and method of payment shows that Bitcoin is a legitimate investment option. Also, the fact that there are many new projects involving cryptocurrency shows that there will be many new developments.

Source: CyprusMail