A few weeks ago, the wannacry virus expanded chaos in British hospitals, in Spanish state telephony and in the Russian Ministry of the Interior. The criminal virus had encrypted the files and the authors had requested compensation for their return. However, to make the rescue effective, they hadn't ordered a currency or gold, but a bitcoin. This currency has already been used before when it comes to paying for dark businesses. Bitcoin is a fully decentralized payment system and its exchanges are carried out without the guarantee of banks or states. Little is known about its origin, which was invented and guided by only one programmer – or some – in 2009.

It is a virtual currency, which has complied with a strict computer protocol since 2008. In fact, it uses the system of online payments by couples, without the guardianship of a third person or trusted institution. In the usual monetary system, financial institutions control all commercial and financial exchanges. In Bitcoin it is the users who validate the exchanges between peers or that are published on the P2P network and are made in a completely anonymous way. Therefore, there are no intermediaries or institutions issuing this currency, as the protocol provides for the creation of vitcoins. Bitcoins can be purchased on an internet platform in exchange for multiple official currencies, at a rate that sets supply and demand. That is, bitcoin is interchangeable and competitor to official money. After all, it is a ‘free’ currency, because no one can control bitcoin, unlike vulgar money that is a public monopoly or structural money generated by banks.

Because of these characteristics, ultra-liberal economists who oppose any kind of public intervention position themselves in favor of Bitcoin. They think bitcoin bonuses are plentiful: it is universal, it can be used anywhere, it is inefficient, it minimizes exchange costs, it retains anonymity when making the payment and, therefore, it avoids capital and tax control.

But the risk of this virtual currency is obvious. The Bitcoin network does not have any kind of rule or regulation because it has been specifically built as such, i.e. as a network without legal or regulatory jurisdiction. In the event of a lack of regulatory authority, people have anonymous access to the network and operate on it without limits or controls. Thus, the use of bitcoin is suitable for technologists who have the ability to understand their system well and bear their risks. As in the case of piracy, this network of exchange has often been the victim of cyber-attacks and the user affected by the lack of regulation is unable to respond. Moreover, its value is very volatile, it tends to have strong fluctuations with official currencies in its short history.

Today, bitcoin is more speculative than a means of payment, a high-risk asset. However, its figure has increased considerably in recent years, to reach five billion dollars of capital. The digital economy is being driven by the many giant institutions and companies that today accept bitcoin. However, its expansion and validation does not have as gold the physical base or as the official money behind the country's GDP. What holds it up? The conviction that its value will be increasing, that is, the definition of the traditional bubble.