https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/18418"Bitcoin has had a volatile journey since
it was launched in 2009, attracting attention among
conventional investors as well as the black market.
Regulators and policy makers are also following Bitcoin,
raising the occasional eyebrow as they evaluate
Bitcoin's risks and benefits and how to regulate this
little understood virtual currency. Some media reports have
confused Bitcoin with more popular electronic money
(e-money) schemes used in many low-income countries to reach
the unbanked. But the two are markedly different and should
not be conflated. This brief provides information about
Bitcoin and contrasts Bitcoin with e-money to avoid alarm
about the former to the detriment of the latter."
