Virtual currency is becoming big business. With a market cap of over 10 billion dollars, Bitcoin is leading the pack. Whether you are selling peanuts or private jets, once your market cap gets over a billion dollars, people are going to start noticing you.
It’s almost easy these days to become a millionaire, but to add 3 zeros to that takes some work. This list of billionaires on the planet is small, there are only about 1400 of them in existence. Two of the most well know are Warren Buffet, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group. You wouldn’t think either would have an opinion about Bitcoin, but they both do.
Warren Buffet felt the need to mention the virtual currency during the last Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting.(http://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-we-havent-moved-any-of-our-cash-to-bitcoin-2013-5) His implications were, that Bitcoin is not worth investing in.
Richard Branson on the other hand, recently had the following to say: “I think the fact that there’s going to be a limited number of bitcoins out there and it will ultimately be capped — unlike normal currencies where governments can print more currencies — gives it a sense of security,” Branson told CNBC, referring to the 21 million bitcoin cap.”Obviously there are risks involved in new ventures like this,” Branson added, citing the spikes and dips in the value of bitcoins. “But I think one day it will settle at a price that, I personally believe, is higher than the price today.”(http://www.space.com/23732-virgin-galactic-bitcoin-spaceflight-payments.html)
Which billionaire will be right? Only time will tell.
The entire world is migrating towards a paperless society. In 1980, if you wanted to get a copy of a court case, you had to go down to the clerk, pay for the paper, and wait. It could take hours. By 1990, you could pay over the phone, and it could be faxed to your lawyer. You still had to wait, but now it was your paper and you saved a trip. By 1995, the fax could go right into your computer. No paper needed unless you wanted to make a copy. Forward to 2013, and many cases can be downloaded right from government websites, free of charge. There is not a single industry that hasn’t been impacted by the rush to replace paper with technology.