A virtual asset built on the Blockchain distributed ledger.
Labelled a “currency”, Bitcoin may be used to buy a limited range of goods and services and can be exchanged for other virtual currencies as well as hard currencies such as the US dollar (subject to restrictions). Its main use to date, however, has been as a means of speculating on the potential value of the underlying technology. Both Bitcoin and the market in which it operates are unregulated, which makes it highly risky as an investment.