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Bitcoin bonanza! This man is giving out free cryptocurrency and Twitter can't handle it

Bitcoin, launched in 2009, has no central bank backing it and no legal exchange rate.

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As concerns mount over Bitcoin breaking all records, the crypto currency in Asian markets is trading under $14,000, however, on European indices it had smashed the $15,000 mark and got as high as $16,777 before pulling back, according to Bloomberg data. 

Bitcoin, which came into being in 2009 as a bit of encrypted software, has no central bank backing it and no legal exchange rate. 

Off late the cryptocurrency has surged dramatically leading to increase in acceptance among traditional investors who are sceptical of it before. 

Even if the experts termed the success nothing more than a bubble that will burst soon, Bitcoin is not ready to stop rallying anytime soon and while the demand is massively shooting up, a twitter user is conducting a giveaway of the cryptocurrency. 

Yes, a user on the micro blogging site under the account name, @TravWeav, is claiming to own 1,500 bitcoin and wants to give it to people on the occasion of Christmas. 

Travis Weaver took to twitter and claimed that in 2011 he bought around 1,500 Bitcoin at a price of  $2.87 each. He further added that he will pick five random people who will retweet his tweets to give them his cryptocurrency for free. 


And the twitterati were quick to respond to this Bitcoin bonanza. following are some of the reaction Weaver got for his big Christmas miracle. 

However, there were many who were cynical about his claims.

Meanwhile, the heated debate is raging on the merits of such currencies. Some say they serve merely to facilitate money laundering and illicit, anonymous payments. Others say they can be helpful methods of payment, such as in crisis situations where national currencies have collapsed.

However, Bitcoin supporters say that miners of bitcoins and other virtual currencies help keep the systems honest by having their computers keep a global running tally of transactions which prevents cheaters from spending the same digital coin twice. Online security is a vital concern for such dealings. In Japan, following the failure of a bitcoin exchange called Mt Gox, new laws were enacted to regulate bitcoin and other virtual currencies.

Back home, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reiterated its warnings on the bitcoins. This is the third warning from the central bank on the virtual currency, a segment it does not regulate.

RBI had previously said those trading in virtual currencies were doing so at their own risk, given that the central bank has not given a licence or authorisation for any company to deal in such crypto currencies.

Compared to the global play in bitcoins, India's exposure is minuscule, but it is growing and capturing interest.

Compared with the global bitcoin capitalisation of $27 billion, Indian bitcoin landscape is at a very nascent stage. As per industry experts, the turnover of bitcoins in India stood at Rs 300 crore and is expected to grow exponentially in the next few years. In addition, the user base is set to explode by 200-300%. This is a clear reflection of bitcoin as an emerging asset class.

Way back in December 2013, RBI had issued its first warning that it has not given any licence or authorisation to any entity to operate such schemes or deal with bitcoin or any virtual currency, adding that any user holder investor or trader would be doing so at their own risk as RBI does not regulate such schemes.

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