In the words of Thomas Carper, a US Senator, ‘virtual currencies, perhaps most notably Bitcoin, have captured the imagination of some, struck fear among others, and confused the heck out of the rest of us’.
According to the website coinmarketcap.com2, the total market capitalisation of more than 800 different virtual currencies is about $ billion, of which Bitcoin makes up approximately 47%, followed by Etherium, Ripple, and Litecoin3. This is still significantly lower than the current value of all money (approximately $ trillion) or physical money (approximately $ trillion).