Bitcoin was born nine years ago as an anarchic project — a digital currency detached from any central bank. It promised a revolutionary alternative to the existing international payments system, where a central administrator was replaced by a multitude of decentralised digital verification points. Bitcoin and the technology it uses, blockchain, are drifting towards the mainstream. Regulators have their sights set on bitcoin and other crypto assets it inspired. More than 75 of the world’s biggest banks, meanwhile, are turning to blockchain to fight the threat of new payments rivals.
比特幣作爲一個無政府主義計劃誕生於9年前——一種獨立於任何央行的數位幣。它曾有望成爲現行國際支付體系的革命性替代方案，用大量去中心化的數字確認節點代替一個居於中心的管理者。比特幣及其使用的技術——區塊鏈——正走向主流。監管機構把目光投向了比特幣以及受其鼓舞誕生的其他加密貨幣資產。與此同時，逾75家全球最大銀行正採用區塊鏈來應對新的支付競爭對手的威脅。