Bitcoin: A SWOT Analysis (PDF)

Bitcoin is a digital currency that exists purely in electronic form and that enables instantaneous and borderless peer-to-peer transactions to take place. In order to take place, transactions in bitcoin require no central authority or banks as the underlying blockchain technology is both peer-to-peer and autonomous.

Initially billed as a medium of exchange by its founder- Saitoshi Nakamoto, bitcoin has risen exponentially in value- from a low of $0.17 in December 2010 to a historic high of $19,498.63 in December 2017- a rise of 11.47 million % (not a typo) in 7 years. Due to this very high valuation, bitcoin has lost any functionality as a medium of exchange (to replace or rival fiat currency) and is increasingly being viewed instead as a store of value. It has earned the title- ?digital gold'.