has entered into the real economy also, see discussion in @peters2014opening. The goal of the most successful crypto-currency thus far, Bitcoin, is in fact in line with that of the companies mentioned above, i.e. reducing transaction costs, but with the additional aim of completely eliminating the need for financial intermediaries.

![Location and industry for 318 startups in Bitcoin. Source: <http://www.creandum.com/318-records-and-counting-the-bitcoin-database-is-now-available-for-everyone-2/>](figures/comps.png "fig:"){width="99.00000%"} \[fig:comps\]

While one of the objectives of Bitcoin was to become a form of electronic cash for online payments, its main use thus far has been for speculation. However, this is beginning to change, and there are numerous emerging intermediaries that are beginning to operate within the Bitcoin network, which include exchanges, merchant processes and money transmitters. In fact, Bitcoin has been traded in various exchanges since at least 2010[^2], and it has experienced various boom-bust cycles in this time with regard to its exchange to the US dollar, UK pound, Euro and other important fiat currencies. This price volatility is seen as an impediment to its more widespread use as a medium of exchange, and there have already been suggestions (e.g. by @brito2014bitcoin) for the creation of financial instruments to aid in the reduction of volatility. Section \[sec:trends\] 