????用比特幣支付就和發送一封電郵一樣簡單，只需找到一位比特幣“客戶”，像比特幣ID一樣，將款項付至另一個人的比特幣“錢包”中。有一些類似貝寶（PayPal）的合法（嚴格來說，并不那么合法）比特幣服務和比特幣“交易平臺”可以簡化流程。與通過傳統渠道付錢不同，比特幣交易可以完全匿名，對于那些希望逃避法律監管的人堪稱完美。一旦交易完成就可以隨時輕松銷號，另立新賬戶，用戶借此可以盡可能地隱瞞身份。

????非常規支付渠道的資金轉移和交易業務給金融行業帶來了嚴重沖擊。比特幣網絡是免費的，任何人任何時候都可以付款和收款。相比之下，由萬事達、Visa、美國運通（American Express）和Discover等工商運營的其他支付網絡都會向商家收取網絡使用費用，同時留下書面記錄。轉移大筆現金時，大銀行往往收取大筆手續費。正如信用卡支付，銀行交易會留下書面痕跡，政府監管部門會對此密切監控，時時留意包括從逃稅到洗錢等在內的、任何形式的不法貨幣行為。

????但是不能因為比特幣網絡免費，就認為它是最好的轉移財富方式。事實上，這是迄今風險最高的資金轉移方式，因為它只限于比特幣這一種交換媒介。不像普通貨幣有主權國家的信用擔保，沒人為比特幣提供擔保，因此比特幣在國際外匯市場中總是大起大落。由于比特幣仍是一種虛擬貨幣，買賣雙方在自身比特幣賬戶中移入/移出貨幣時都承擔著巨大的匯率風險。比特幣誕生以來的兩年里，比特幣/美元的匯率最高為30美元，最低為2美元。今年夏天隨著安全擔憂導致人們大批拋售比特幣，比特幣匯率大跌。應景的觀察人士寫了一些比特幣的文章后就轉而關注其他主題去了，但比特幣的匯率隨后開始呈現緩慢而穩定的回升，最近報14美元左右。

????如果比特幣要想作為一種貨幣和支付網絡繼續存在下去，形成相對穩定的匯率是關鍵。但對于那些本幣疲弱的人們來說，比特幣正在贏得青睞。以伊朗為例，超高通脹已促使一些精通科技的伊朗人轉向用比特幣來保存他們不斷貶值的財富。過去伊朗人用過美元，但隨著美國和其盟國實施嚴厲的國際銀行業制裁，如今已很難在伊朗街頭找到美元的蹤影。

????比特幣的命運或許能夠就此實現轉變：從深層網絡的交易貨幣升級為合法的替代貨幣；現在通過這種貨幣，美國的一個人可以瞬間將現金轉給他在伊朗的表弟，零痕跡，零費用。隨著比特幣市場的流動性和價值上升(目前流通的比特幣僅有1,050萬個，價值1.40億美元)，比特幣將來甚至可以被伊朗政府用于買賣武器和石油。

????Sending a Bitcoin payment is as easy as sending an email, you just need to access a Bitcoin "client," like BitcoinID, and send the payment to another person's Bitcoin "wallet." There are a bunch of legitimate, and not so legitimate, PayPal-like Bitcoin services and BitCoin "exchanges" that streamline the process. Unlike sending money through traditional channels, Bitcoin transactions can be done completely anonymously, perfect for someone trying to skirt the law. Once a transaction is complete, it is easy to liquidate an account and open a new one at any time, allowing users to stay as incognito as possible.

????Passing money and making transactions outside of normal pay channels has serious repercussions for the financial industry. The Bitcoin network is free and can be used by anyone at any time to send and receive payments. That compares to other payment networks run by MasterCard (MA), Visa (V), American Express (AXP) and Discover, all of which charge merchants fees for using their network and leave paper trails. The big banks charge large fees to move large blocks of cash. As with credit card payments, bank transactions leave paper trails, which are closely monitored by government regulators, who are constantly on the lookout for any sort of monetary malfeasance, ranging from tax dodging to money laundering.

????But just because the Bitcoin network is free to use doesn't mean it's the best way to move wealth. Indeed, it is by far the riskiest way to send money as it is only as good as its medium of exchange -- Bitcoins. Unlike currency backed by the full faith and credit of sovereign nations, Bitcoins are backed up by, well, nothing, leaving it open to wild swings on the international currency market. Since Bitcoins are still a virtual currency, buyers and sellers take on massive exchange rate risk moving money to and from their Bitcoin accounts. In the two years it's been around, the Bitcoin has been valued as high as $30 to as low as $2. A wild swing occurred last summer when security concerns cause people to dump their Bitcoin en masse. Casual observers wrote off Bitcoin and moved on, but it has slowly and steadily regained its value, last trading at around $14 per Bitcoin.

????It is critical for Bitcoin to establish a relatively stable exchange rate if it is to survive as a currency and as a payment network. But for those living in nations with weak currencies, the Bitcoin has started to gain traction. In Iran, for instance, hyperinflation has caused some of the more technologically savvy Iranians to turn to Bitcoin to store their fleeting wealth. Before, Iranians used the US dollar, but those have become hard to find on the streets of Iran these days thanks to the tough international banking sanctions levied by the US and its allies.

????It is here where Bitcoin may make a turn – rising from the deep web into a legitimate alternative currency; one where someone in the US can transfer cash to his cousin in Shiraz in a blink of an eye, with no trace and no fees. As the Bitcoin market becomes more liquid and more valuable (there are currently just 10.5 million Bitcoins in circulation valued at $140 million), it could even eventually be used by the government of Iran to buy and sell weapons and oil.